The Poo Doctor: This Cheap Spice Fixes A Damaged Gut!
Steven Bartlett (host), Dr. Will Bulsiewicz (guest), Narrator
In this episode of The Diary of a CEO, featuring Steven Bartlett and Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, The Poo Doctor: This Cheap Spice Fixes A Damaged Gut! explores healing Your Gut: Fiber, Fermented Foods, and Daily Rhythms Transform Health This episode with gastroenterologist Dr. Will Bulsiewicz explores how the gut microbiome drives inflammation, disease risk, and overall health, and how quickly it can be repaired with targeted lifestyle changes. He explains the science behind fecal transplants, leaky gut, and short-chain fatty acids, linking them to conditions from cancer and Parkinson’s to mood disorders and IBS. A large part of the discussion focuses on practical tools: fiber-rich and fermented foods, smart use of supplements, circadian-aligned routines, and why ultra-restrictive diet fads are harmful. The conversation ends on how emotional trauma, relationships, and forgiveness are intertwined with gut health and healing, both physically and psychologically.
Healing Your Gut: Fiber, Fermented Foods, and Daily Rhythms Transform Health
This episode with gastroenterologist Dr. Will Bulsiewicz explores how the gut microbiome drives inflammation, disease risk, and overall health, and how quickly it can be repaired with targeted lifestyle changes. He explains the science behind fecal transplants, leaky gut, and short-chain fatty acids, linking them to conditions from cancer and Parkinson’s to mood disorders and IBS. A large part of the discussion focuses on practical tools: fiber-rich and fermented foods, smart use of supplements, circadian-aligned routines, and why ultra-restrictive diet fads are harmful. The conversation ends on how emotional trauma, relationships, and forgiveness are intertwined with gut health and healing, both physically and psychologically.
Key Takeaways
Fecal transplants reveal how decisive the microbiome is for health.
Transplanting stool from a healthy donor can rapidly reverse life-threatening C. ...
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Most everyday gut symptoms are rooted in inflammation and dysbiosis, not just ‘sensitive stomachs.’
Bloating, gas, fatigue, brain fog, and mild aches often reflect chronic low-grade inflammation driven by a damaged gut barrier and disrupted microbiome, even in people who appear fit or lean.
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Fiber and fermented foods are the two biggest missing pieces in modern diets.
Over 90% of people are fiber-deficient and rarely eat fermented foods, starving beneficial bacteria and reducing production of anti-inflammatory short-chain fatty acids that protect the gut barrier and immune system.
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Not all ‘gluten problems’ are gluten—often they’re fructans and processing (like glyphosate).
Many people react more to fructans in wheat, barley, and rye or to processing chemicals such as glyphosate than to gluten itself, which is why sourdough or organic grains can be tolerated when standard bread or pasta are not.
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Daily circadian habits powerfully shape gut health and inflammation.
Consistent wake/sleep times, morning light plus movement, early high-fiber meals, social lunches, post-meal walks, and limiting late-night eating or intense evening workouts all support digestion, hormone balance, and microbiome rhythm.
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Alcohol and unnecessary antibiotics are major but overlooked gut disruptors.
Even moderate alcohol can acutely increase intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”) and inflammation, while antibiotics decimate microbial diversity, doubling short-term risk of inflammatory bowel disease and other immune problems.
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Emotional trauma, loneliness, and unresolved relationships quietly drive gut dysfunction.
Chronic activation of the brain’s stress circuits (amygdala, cortisol, CRH) from trauma or isolation dysregulates motility, weakens the gut barrier, and fuels inflammation; addressing psychological wounds and rebuilding connection is often essential for full gut healing.
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Notable Quotes
““60% of the weight of your stool is your microbiome.””
— Dr. Will Bulsiewicz
““We live in an industrial world where 95% of us are not getting even close to the amount of fiber that we need.””
— Dr. Will Bulsiewicz
““Loneliness will destroy your longevity faster than just about anything. It’s on par with smoking cigarettes.””
— Dr. Will Bulsiewicz
““Healing comes in many forms, and sometimes it’s the changes we make to our diet, and sometimes it’s the changes we make in our relationships.””
— Dr. Will Bulsiewicz
““Of all the things that I’ve studied, short-chain fatty acids are the most anti-inflammatory thing I’ve ever come across.””
— Dr. Will Bulsiewicz
Questions Answered in This Episode
How can I practically increase fiber and fermented foods without triggering more bloating at first?
This episode with gastroenterologist Dr. ...
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If I’ve taken multiple courses of antibiotics in my life, what’s the most effective long-term plan to rebuild my microbiome?
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How do I distinguish between a true food intolerance (like celiac) and a transient sensitivity from a damaged gut?
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What specific steps should I take to align my daily routine with my circadian rhythm if my job or kids make mornings unpredictable?
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How do I know when gut symptoms are being driven more by unresolved trauma or stress than by diet alone, and what kind of professional help should I seek?
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Transcript Preview
What's a fecal transplant?
You take a healthy person's poop and you transfer it into the person who's sick. For example, a patient of mine took an antibiotic which wipes out your gut, which became life-threatening. And so our choices were to remove the colon or give her a fecal transplant. And so I delivered a fecal transplant to her. By the next day, the entire infectious issue got shut down. So this is a great example to show how important our gut microbiome is, because 60% of the weight of your stool is your microbiome.
Really?
Yes. But it's not getting enough attention, and we need to talk about that.
World-renowned gastroenterologist Dr. Will Bulsiewicz is back.
This time he's sharing brand-new information regarding the gut microbiome...
And how poo might actually be the key to your health. 60% of people that listen are currently struggling with some kind of gut problem.
And it manifests in these subtle ways, like bloating, increased fatigue, difficulty concentrating, you don't sleep well at night, skin issues. So it flies under the radar, but ultimately leads to other health-related problems afterwards.
So I've got so many questions.
Totally.
What's the cause of bloating?
So constipation is the number one cause, but people who are bloated, please don't sip through straws, drink carbonated drinks, chew on gum, because you just make it worse.
Next, are there decisions that you make as a parent that will have a lasting impact on a kid's gut function?
Yeah. By three years of age, you are basically fully adult-sized in terms of your microbiome. But antibiotics, bottle feeding, and birth by Caesarian section are associated with an impact on the microbiome, such as an increased risk of allergic, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases. And I'll explain why.
And then, can I repair the gut?
Yeah, 100%. And every three to five days, you build a new gut barrier. And so I've identified four things missing in our diet, as well as a daily routine that can optimize our microbiome. And when you do these, you will thrive, and you will live longer and you will have less disease. And I'm gonna take you through all of these steps right now.
I see messages all the time in the comments section that some of you didn't realize you didn't subscribe, so if you could do me a favor and double-check if you're a subscriber to this channel, that would be tremendously appreciated. It's the simple, it's the free thing that anybody that watches this show frequently can do to help us here to keep everything going in this show and the trajectory it's on. So please do double-check if you've subscribed, and, uh, thank you so much, because in a strange way, you are- you're part of our history and you're on this journey with us, and I appreciate you for that. So yeah, thank you. Dr. Will, before we started recording, I asked you about this new book that you've written, and the way that you spoke about it was incredibly passionate. Why?
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