(upbeat music) All right guys, welcome to our Let's Talk About Poop podcast where every week I do a podcast where I do a deep dive on a topic. When we answer questions, you guys may have. If you're joining for the first time, my name is Dr. Islam. I'm a board certified gastroenter I'll just train at the Mayo Clinic. I've been studying GI and teaching GI and treating gastroenterology patients for over 10 years. I published papers on this topic and I've treated thousands of patients with gut issues. If you are having any GI issues or you're wondering what is going on inside your gut, this is the podcast for you. So every Monday I do a podcast and I also do a live stream where I answer any questions you guys have as well. So a couple of housekeeping things. Number one, if you haven't already, like, share and subscribe both on the Facebook page, the YouTube page, Instagram, LinkedIn and our podcast as well. Number two, give us a five star review, Apple iTunes, Spotify, they enjoy these things. And number three as well, if you're having any GI issues, come see us live a gas share where we can take care of what is going on. So today we have a couple of different topics we're gonna talk about. One of the more common topics we're gonna talk about is gas and bloating and we'll do a deep dive into that as well. We'll talk about inflammatory foods and pre-inflammatory foods. We'll also talk about things that I wish my patients knew about heartburn and acid reflux and then we'll answer any questions about this in the below. But on the first topic, let us talk about gas and bloating. So gas and bloating is a very common symptom that literally every single patient that comes to see me in the clinic has. And a lot of people have these issues for a number of different reasons. So in this topic today, we'll discuss exactly why do you get gas and bloating? What do I mean in terms of symptoms when it comes to gas and bloating? What are common causes? You may not realize this, but you could actually be contributing to what's going on. We'll discuss some of the medical conditions that can predispose you to have gas and bloating. We'll talk about the common foods that cause gas and bloating. And at the very end of the video, I'll give you my recommendation on when you need to see a GI doctor for your gas and bloating. So what exactly is gas? Why do we have it? What is going on? So gas is the normal part of digestion. I don't want you to think it's something that's abnormal or something that's not at the ordinary as well. This is the process of getting rid of excess gas that we have either in your colon, in your stomach or your small intestine. As we digest food, and it goes from our mouth into our stomach into our small intestine to the colon, that whole process involves digestion of food and breaking down into its smallest components. And the way you can do that is with the various organs that you have inside your gut. The stomach, the small intestine, the colon, the main ones, the ulcer, the pancreas, the liver and the bile duct as well. But within these systems, you have what are called bacteria. The bacteria are the pretty much the troops going on inside the gut to actually make the changes that we need for our GI tract. And so whenever we're eating food, these microbes, these small bacteria, viruses and fungi actually go into the food, help break it down and digest those foods. And the process of digestion and fermentation is the reason why you get gas. Now, the reason you may have excess gas can be due to either too much gas is being produced, too much gas into the body or gas is actually trapped within the gut that cannot find a way to go. And so you can have some pains. And sometimes making some simple changes can do that. So when I say you have gas, what does that actually mean? So burping, constant burping is a very common symptom of a lot of gas. And there's gonna be a symptom of other things as well, including acid reflux. Yes, acid reflux can cause bloating as a symptom, but burping certainly is a very common symptom when it comes to gas. Feeling distended, like your belly's actually full or physically seeing your belly is full. There are a lot of patients that come to see me. They tell me, "Hey, Dr. Islam, "I don't know how to tell you this, "but I feel like I'm pregnant. "I'm like nine months pregnant and I know I'm not. "I have men who come see me and say, "Hey, Dr. Islam, I don't think I'm pregnant, "but it feels like that I am." And this is the gas and bloating that you feel. Also, it's feeling a fullness or just pressure in your abdomen. That is the gas and bloating that you can see as well. And sometimes you can feel very, very distended. And this can also be due. So a lot of the gas and bloating that we see kind of within the GI tract. So why do people get a lot of gas and bloating? One of the common reasons are what are we eating and what we are drinking as well. So we know certain foods can cause a lot of gas and bloating. So you know beans, we all know the limerick. Beans can certainly cause gas and bloating. Now beans are fantastic food, especially if you can digest it. But beans commonly are just a very common reason why you can have gas and bloating. Especially here in Texas, when we enjoy Tex-Mex, I love beans, but beans don't love me 'cause it produces a lot of gas that's there. Number two are certain fruits. No, fruits are healthy for you. It's absolutely you need to take fruits. But there are certain fruits that are known to cause gas and bloings. Things like pears, bananas, apples. These are certain fruits that are healthy for you, but are within the high-fod maps that can typically cause gas and bloating to occur as well. Vegetables. You know me, I am a veggie fanatic. I love vegetables and I want you to be on a much different vegetable diet, but vegetables absolutely can cause gas and bloating. So things like kale or even things like brussel sprouts, which I love, but I can't eat, can cause gas and bloating as well, and including things like broccoli, very healthy for you, that can also cause a lot of gas and bloating. And then lastly, milk. Milk is a certain drink, obviously we drink all the time, but a lot of us don't realize that as we get older, we can become lactose intolerant. And it's that intolerance of lactose that can cause you to have a lot of gas and bloating, which people don't realize until later on down the road. Now these are certain foods. Drinks can cause gas and bloating, carbonated drinks. So if you're drinking, like I'm drinking right here, a carbinated water, guess what I'm doing? I'm putting in gas into my gut that cause the gas and bloating to occur. And so by drinking that, I'm making the gas worse, saving with beer as well. Beer can bubbling as gas that has grains. This can cause bloating to occur. So if you're ingesting things that cause gas and bloating, you can have gas and bloating as well. Fiber, yes. If fiber actually can cause gas and bloating. For a lot of my patients, fiber can be a dual edge sword. We're having too much fiber, too quickly can cause a lot of gas and bloating to occur. So sometimes managing that fiber content or maybe not going so rapid into fiber content eating can make things worse as well. So kind of watch your fiber intake whenever you're having things eat. We know that sugar substitutes absolutely cause bloating. And you may not realize that these are in a lot of things that we eat, whether it's hard candy, diet drinks and things like that. They substitute sugar substitutes. So you don't have the calories, but a lot of my patients have a lot of bloating because they cannot digest these sugar substitutes. And that can cause bloating as well. So if you notice that your bloating tends to get worse after having certain sugar substitutes like Splenda, and that may be the reason what's going on as well. And then lastly, you actually may have food intolerances. So having a gluten intolerance is real. I have a lot of videos on this. And there are other intolerances you can have besides gluten and with certain foods, you're having a difficult time to digest. And so we know that these are some of the reasons why you can have bloating. But not only that, you actually can have medical conditions that can make it more likely for you to have gas and bloating as well besides what you're eating. Which means that sometimes more foods can be worse for your gut because of the condition that you already have. So constipation. Absolutely, if you are constipated, that is the first thing we try to treat when it comes to gas and bloating. In fact, one of the first questions that I try to figure out is are you actually constipated? And is that the root cause of why you're having the issues because if that's the case, then we need to treat that first. And so what I mean by that is do you have a full bowel movement? Do you, whenever you go, are like, ah, yes, I went, I feel so much better. Or do you feel like you have incomplete evacuation? Are things not empty out completely? Are things not being pushed out? Because if that's the case, you actually may be having constipation as it caused for bloating. Having a condition called small and intestinal bacterial overgrowth or SIBO, very common symptom is bloating. Absolutely. Now, sometimes we can test for this to see if you have this or not. And depending on the subtype, we can treat your bloating if that's taking care of you and hopefully get that resolved as well. Number three, having a condition called IBS or airdle bowel syndrome. IBS predisposes you to a lot of GI conditions, including bloating or even the feeling of feeling bloated, even though you physically may not be getting bigger yourself. So having IBS absolutely predispose you to have a lot of bloating issues as well. And then lastly, I get talked about as well, is also having certain food intolerances. So if you have bloating, what can you do? Here are my recommendations I recommend to all my patients. So number one, consider trying a probiotic. There have been some studies to suggest that taking a probiotic can help out when it comes to bloating and distension. So try a probiotic, try it for a couple of weeks, see if it helps out with your bloating and your distension as well. Number two, get your constipation taken care of. Constipation is a common cause of gas and bloating. And by getting your constipation taken care of, we're able to manage your bloating a lot more effectively. I cannot fix your bloating if you are still constipated and I cannot fix your bloating if things are just not moving through. Things have to move through for us to help out with the bloating if it's taken care of for you. Number three, consider removing sugar substitutes. So avoid hard candy, avoid diet drinks. Try to minimize that or eliminate that. Number four, eliminate dairy all the way. I recommend all my patients without bloating to automatically eliminate dairy to see if we can get you, just get that out of the way. You don't need dairy, it can certainly make symptoms a lot worse. And then lastly, absolutely, you can use over-the-counter treatments when it comes to bloating as well. Things like semethicone or bino. These are very effective options. When it comes to bloating and get that taken care of you. Now one thing I do have to stress is not all bloating is benign or okay. There are certain other symptoms. If you have this on top of bloating, you need to be careful because something else could be going on. So when do you need to see a doctor about bloating here? Five things you need to know. So number one, if the gas or the bloating pain is severe, you have severe pain when it comes to bloating. Like, oh my goodness, this pain's unbearable. What is going on? That is the time to see a GI doctor. Number two, if this bloating is accompanied by blood in the stool or a new change in bowel habits, those are warning signs in my world that makes me worried that something bad is going on inside your gut. So if you're having bloating with these other symptoms, this needs to be addressed to make sure without missing anything obvious as well. Number three, if you have recurrent nausea and vomiting, what I worry about when someone is bloating with recurrent nausea and vomiting is there an obstruction down the road, down the road? Is there something blocking causing this issue to occur? What's something bad going on as well? Number four, you have weight loss, especially unintentional weight loss. You don't want to be having weight loss with this because that is a sign that may not be doing well. Or the last thing, I see trouble swallowing as well. If you have bloating, but things are getting stuck in this area, that actually is a sign of something growing inside of your sauvages or narrowing, which is never normal I want you to have. And if you have these, don't ignore your symptoms because this may be something needs to be taken care of first and hopefully make sure everything's doing okay with respect to that. So I know bloating is very common. I hope this gave you a good way to approach bloating. It's how I approach that, the GI doctor. Obviously for having bloating issues, I have a lot of videos on this. Or if you're here locally or even in Texas, come see us where you can find out exactly what is going on when it comes to your bloating issues as well, all right. So second topic, anti-inflammatory foods. All right, I have patients ask me all the time, "Hey doctor, it's not one of the foods I recommend and don't recommend." So I'm gonna give you my top anti-inflammatory foods when it comes to taking care of your GI issues. And the benefit about this is that it actually helps to decrease inflammation. All over our body, we can have inflammation that's going on. And for the vast majority of people, it's not a big deal. When inflammation gets too bad, it can cause a lot of symptoms both in the gut and outside the gut. And we have found that treating those inflammatory conditions by giving you the foods that can hopefully minimize the inflammation is gonna get you feeling better. So here are the foods that I recommend for anybody that has any type of inflammatory condition. Food number one is avocados. Avocados are great. They're a source of healthy fat, fiber and magnesium and potassium. They have certain ingredients to them called chretinoids which help decrease inflammation. So try to add avocados to your diet. Food number two are beets. Now even though beets may turn your poop red, which is not good, or your teeth red, which is not good, is also packed with fiber, folates and other ingredients to help out what it comes to inflammation in your gut. I try to incorporate beets into my diet 'cause there's been studies to suggest that beets can actually decrease your risk of developing cancer. So try to incorporate that into your diet. Next are blueberries. Out of all the nature's foods that are out there, blueberries probably had the best bang for their buck when it comes to treating inflammation. By far it works and this small little blueberries can do so much benefit for your health, for inflammation and actually decrease the risk for you developing all times as well. Yes, it can actually help out when it comes to your brain. So this is a very effective anti-inflammatory food that I recommend. Next is dark chocolate. Yes, my favorite. I love dark chocolate. Now I'll tell you a little secret here. I have a piece of dark chocolate every single night. I love it. It's a great source of antioxidants. Here's the kicker is that you need to make sure that this dark chocolate has at least 70% cocoa in it for it to be considered dark chocolate. Has a lot of anti-inflammatory components in there. Next is fatty fish. Fatty fish has a lot of omega-3 fatty acids. So these are things like salmon, tuna. These fishes are good for your gut. These are the type of fats that you want to incorporate into your diet. I try to have at least one fish per week to help out when it comes to inflammation inside my body to hopefully decrease all the, anything else that could be going on inside my body. Next is garlic. I love garlic is a fantastic herb for your food and for your body as well. And garlic has been shown to also have anti-inflammatory effects. It has an organosulphur compound to help do this inflammation as well. And I try to add in garlic to all the foods I can into my diet as well. Next is ginger. I love ginger. It's very common in in-equ cuisine. And you can have ginger as a tea or as a spice onto your food as well. And it's actually been shown to have compounds actually reduce the chemical irritation going on into your diet, into your body. So tired and incorporate ginger if you can. I actually incorporate ginger into my teas. And I have this every single day as well. Grapes. I love grapes. It's a great snack. It's packed full of antioxidants. Heck, it's actually been studies to suggest that you can actually decrease inflammation of your heart as well. So if you've been prone to having heart issues or you know that you do, having grapes would be an option for you to make sure you're doing okay as well. Next, you know this, green leafy vegetables. I am a fan. You should be a fan as well. They have vitamin E, which you need to help out with antioxidants and inflammation as well. So try to incorporate things like spinach, which, you know, Popeye was right. Things like kale. These also have not only vitamin E, but iron and vitamin A as well. So try to incorporate at least one leafy vegetable in every single meal that you can. 'Cause not only are you getting these fibers, getting the vitamins and the nutrients as well. Next is green tea. Green tea has been around for centuries and we're just learning the beneficial effects for this. This contains ways to help decrease inflammation. And there are studies to suggest that green tea in some individuals can actually prolong your life as well. And so if you're looking for a ways, there's not only decreased inflammation, but maybe helping you live longer. Green tea is an option that you can do as well. Next are onions. Onions are also a very effective option. Keep in mind when it comes to onions that sometimes onions can be a little bit too potent for some individuals that can cause bloating, distension, maybe some diarrhea. So kind of be aware of that 'cause that's not the same thing for everyone as well. Next are raspberries. Same thing with blueberries. They also pack a high potent punch. When it comes to inflammation as well, there's also been studies to suggest that raspberries can decrease blood sugars. So if you're able to incorporate blueberries, grapes and raspberries, this may be a great option for you as well. And then lastly, turmeric. Turmeric, I love turmeric. Turmeric for me is like the end all be out when it comes to having and treating inflammation. So if you have GI conditions like colitis or ulceric colitis, there are studies to suggest that turmeric be an effective add-on to the medication that you're on to help decrease inflammation. In fact, there's even been patients who I've treated who had ulceric colitis. We got them on their treatment. We got them on turmeric. Their inflammation went away and we were able to manage their symptoms naturally by minimizing or removing some of the other medication they're on and keep them on turmeric alone. Now don't do this without the help of a doctor, but there's excellent evidence that turmeric can be an option when it comes to decreasing inflammation as well. So these are foods that I recommend to hopefully minimize inflammation and get you feeling better as well. I would highly encourage you, if you can, to incorporate these foods as much as you can in your diet. Your body will thank you, your gut will thank you, and your GI doctor will like me will thank you as well. All right, so next topic we're gonna talk about today are things that, three things, I wish my patients knew about acid reflux. So acid reflux is a very common problem that a lot of people have. And a lot of people, they get very confused about acid reflux because of all the things that are seeing on the internet and all the things that may be the case or may not be the case. So here are three things I want all my patients to know when it comes to acid reflux. Number one, why do you actually have acid reflux? So don't listen to this idea that acid reflux is a low acid problem. Now there are some individuals, and what's that's the case? But by and large, it is not a low acid problem. It is a valve problem. So the reason you have acid reflux, and the vast majority of people, is that the valve between the esophagus and something is open longer and more often. Meaning that valve pops open, it's like having the door open and acid just goes right up. This is why you have acid reflux. It's not just because you have low acid. By far, it is because that valve is not working correctly, and sometimes we need to fix that valve to get that taken care for you. The second thing I want you to know is how do we actually diagnose this? So the best way for us to diagnose this are two main things. Number one, we talk to our patients. Yes, I talk to you and say, hey, do you have symptoms of acid reflux? Do you have burning? Do you have regurgitation? Do you have trouble swallowing? Do you a lot of belching? A lot of bloating, a lot of burping? By talking to you, I can tell if you have it. But also number two, one way we can diagnose is that we can give you a trial of an acid therapy. So studies have suggested that giving someone who has acid reflux, a trial of acid therapy and seeing their response to that and seeing how they do can dictate if acid is the problem or not. So let's say that I give you, let's say you couldn't have seen me, hey, Dr. Rissam, I think I have acid reflux, I have some chest pain, trouble swallowing, some bloating. I don't quite know. Here's what I would tell you. I would tell you, all right, so and so, let me give you a trial of an acid medication to see how you do. Let me give you an acid reducer and seeing how you feel. Your clinical response to that is going to dictate, is it an acid problem or not? Meaning, I give you this medication. All of a sudden, all my goodness, my syndemists go away and I was like, yes, your syndemists are due to acid reflux. That is what is going on. Let's see further investigation to see what we can do. Or you're like, doc, that did not help me. I'd be like, all right, maybe it's not acid. We need to maybe figure out what else could be causing some of these issues. And so I think it's important that a trial of an acid therapy, doesn't have to be the end-all, be-all, but does give me information for what the true causes of your symptoms. And the third thing I want you to know is, acid reflux can seem like a not a big deal, a little burning not a big deal, but it can have long-term consequences. It can have long-term consequences. So let me tell you a story. I had a patient in his 20s, who was having acid reflux off and on, didn't think anything about it, had the occasional trouble swallowing, had some pain, not a big deal. But all of a sudden, it just was bothering him. He's like, something is going on here. Let me see what's going on. And so I saw him. I put him on an acid-reducing therapy. He got a little bit better, but not much. So I decided, let me take a look with the scope. And lo and behold, this individual ended up having esophageal cancer. So GERD or acid reflux, it's a leading cause for cancer of the esophagus. And so I don't want you just to think that acid reflux is just not a big deal. It can be, and it should be. Acid reflux over a long time can lead to significant problems, including trouble swallowing, pain, chest pain, but also cancer. And I don't want you to be a statistic at all. So if you're having acid reflux, come see someone like me, so you can find out exactly what's going on, get you taken care of, find things before they become an issue, and I'll forget you feeling better and make sure everything is taken care of for you. So I hope that this is a good piece of advice for anyone who's having reflux symptoms. All right, there's a couple of questions on our live stream. Christina asks, "Can you have gas in the upper GI tract?" Yes, you can. I have a lot of patients that come see me, they do have gas in the upper GI tract, they do. And sometimes it can be due to reflux, small intestinal bacterial growth, constipation, very common symptom to have, and a very common problem to have for a lot of our patients as well. And then another question, what can we get about excess farting? Let me know in the comments down below if you have this issue. I'll tell you, I'll be honest, I sometimes do as well. Sometimes I do go for a fart walk to allow that gas to expel, I don't know, TMI, but here's what you can do. So number one, find out the cause. So sometimes having dairy, I would just eliminate dairy, get rid of dairy, don't even put it in your diet. Number two, watch what you're eating. The foods that you eat can cause you to have a lot of farting. And so if you're eating foods that typically produce gas, that's the case. Number three, really make sure you get your constipation and balance taking care of. You need to have regular bowel movements to make sure that everything is expelled out. 'Cause even if you have a little bit in there, that's gonna make things worse. Number four, also make sure that you will eliminate any of the foods or the water drinks that can cause you to have a lot of gas as well. And number five, commonly, things like protein powder and protein shakes can cause a lot of farting as well. So there are a lot of weight lifters out there. You know who you are that tend to produce a lot of gas that because of those protein shakes, that's why you're having it. So it's a great question. Thank you for watching. Thank you for having that talk. All right, here's all that we have for today. If you like what you see, if you like what you hear, come see us live with gas, just subscribe to my channel. Listen to our podcast. Give us a review, let us know what you think. I love to hear your feedback. I wanna hear what you guys have to say. And thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to smash that like button, like, share, and subscribe. And if you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe to my channel and newsletter where you can get great tips and tricks like you're learning in today's video. Thank you for watching. I look forward to seeing you guys on next week's podcast. (upbeat music)
