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Can you trust your gut? with GI doctor Trisha Pasricha | ReThinking

You’ve probably experienced a “gut feeling” before—that sense of uneasiness in your stomach that tells you something is off, but your brain hasn’t quite worked out what it is yet. But can you really trust what your gut tells you? In this episode, Adam is joined by Harvard gastroenterologist Trisha Pasricha to decode what’s really going on between your mind and your stomach. Trisha breaks down the science behind brain-gut communication and offers tips for when and how to listen to your gut when making decisions or assessing a new environment. She also seeks Adam’s advice on helping doctors empathize with patients’ pain and invites him to rethink his position on poop. Building on her book You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong, she explains what your bowel movements can tell you about your overall health, how to experience “poophoria,” and why you shouldn’t bring your smartphone to the bathroom. Join us in person at a TED conference: https://tedtalks.social/events Become a TED Member to support our mission: https://ted.com/membership Subscribe to a TED newsletter: https://ted.com/newsletters Follow our podcasts! Podcasts: https://www.ted.com/podcasts Fixable: https://www.ted.com/podcasts/fixable How to Be a Better Human: https://www.ted.com/podcasts/how-to-be-a-better-human ReThinking with Adam Grant: https://www.ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant TED Talks Daily: https://www.ted.com/podcasts/ted-talks-daily TED Business: https://www.ted.com/podcasts/ted_business TED Health: https://www.ted.com/podcasts/ted-health TED Tech: https://www.ted.com/podcasts/ted-tech The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com.

Trisha PasrichaguestAdam Granthost
Apr 9, 202636mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Gut feelings decoded: physiology, bias, and practical gut-health advice today

  1. Digestion begins in the brain, with thoughts and emotions rapidly changing gut activity through the gut–brain axis studied in neurogastroenterology.
  2. A “gut feeling” reflects physiological signals (including stress-driven rhythm changes) that should prompt pausing and interpreting context, not acting as an oracle.
  3. People over-trust gut instincts due to salience and memory bias—especially after being “burned”—and because discomfort is often misread as danger rather than novelty or growth.
  4. Common GI misconceptions are challenged, including overhyped probiotics and detox/colon cleanses, while emphasizing fiber, sleep, exercise, and fewer ultra-processed foods.
  5. The conversation extends to practical issues: advocating for women’s pain in medicine, addressing health misinformation through trust in reasoning processes, and everyday bowel-health tips (posture, avoiding phone time on the toilet).

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Digestion starts in the brain, not the stomach.

Mental imagery and emotion can trigger salivation, insulin release, and gut “revving” before food arrives, showing how strongly cognition influences digestion.

A gut feeling is a signal to slow down, not a verdict.

Stress hormones can disrupt stomach rhythms quickly, sometimes before conscious reasoning catches up; the right move is to pause and ask what threat, novelty, or bias might be driving it.

Discomfort is often misclassified as a “bad gut feeling.”

The amygdala processes emotion and novelty—not just fear—so butterflies or unease can indicate unfamiliarity or challenge rather than genuine danger.

Trust intuition mainly when you have expertise in a stable domain.

The discussion highlights research suggesting gut intuitions are more reliable when built on extensive experience and predictable patterns; big life choices often lack both.

Most probiotic marketing outpaces the evidence.

She argues probiotics are not recommended for most conditions because benefits are murky, and money spent on them can distract from better-supported lifestyle interventions.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Digestion begins in the brain, and we've known that digestion begins in the brain for a very long time.

— Trisha Pasricha

I think the way we get it wrong, though, is that we take that gut feeling and then we assign some value to it.

— Trisha Pasricha

It's not an oracle. It's just a message, and that message is just that you need to slow down.

— Trisha Pasricha

Your liver is the cleanse that you need. Like, there is nothing, there is no celery juice you could sip that is gonna do a better job than your liver.

— Trisha Pasricha

The first one is this, this should not be on women. This should be on medical professionals. Period, right?

— Adam Grant

Gut–brain axis and neurogastroenterologyPhysiology of “gut feelings” and stress responsesIntuition, expertise, and predictable domainsDiscomfort vs danger in decision-makingProbiotics skepticism and evidence qualityDetox/colon cleanse myths and liver functionPoophoria, constipation, and bathroom habits

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