HoldsUp

Trisha Pasricha

Trisha Pasricha is a physician and researcher working in the field of gastroenterology and neurogastroenterology. Her published research focuses on disorders of gut-brain interaction, motility disorders like irritable bowel syndrome, and gastrointestinal manifestations related to Parkinson's disease. She has also investigated clinical topics such as GLP-1 receptor agonists, endoscopic interventions, and behavioral risk factors for digestive health issues.

28 claims checked on air: 4 context 2 contradicted 18 supported 4 unverified

What they said on air - contradicted

1 citing their own research

1:01:02contradictedmoderateYou’ve Been Pooping All Wrong (And It’s Affecting Your Brain

Short-chain fatty acids like butyrate improve the body's capacity to sense and respond to stool in the rectum.

"So I think that the beneficial short-chain fatty acids like butyrate have been studied as improving in some ways the capacity—there's two different aspects to this, but improving our capacity to sense and respond to stool that's sitting there in the rectum." (said at 1:01:02)

Human and animal studies do not support the claim that butyrate improves physiological rectal sensation or response to stool. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial in healthy human volunteers (PMID: 19460106), rectal administration of butyrate dose-dependently decreased visceral perception, significantly reducing urge, pain, and discomfort during rectal balloon distension. In rodent models (PMID: 15940632, PMID: 22833396), rectal instillation of butyrate is widely used to induce pathological visceral hypersensitivity mimicking irritable bowel syndrome, rather than enhancing normal rectal sensory-motor reflexes.

1:01:36contradictedlowYou’ve Been Pooping All Wrong (And It’s Affecting Your Brain

Short-chain fatty acids have anti-inflammatory effects and do not sensitize visceral pain nerves.

"There's a different type of sensitivity that we sometimes talk about which is not what we think happens with short-chain fatty acids like butyrate or others, which is that if the nerve cells that sense pain and send pain signals up to the brain become more sensitized, that would be a bit of a problem. But we actually think that the short-chain fatty acids have anti-inflammatory effects and don't do that." (said at 1:01:36)

While short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as butyrate possess established anti-inflammatory and epithelial barrier-supporting properties, preclinical research contradicts the assertion that they do not sensitize visceral pain nerves. Experimental models of irritable bowel syndrome demonstrate that butyrate can directly promote visceral hypersensitivity by inducing mast cell degranulation and sensitizing dorsal root ganglion (DRG) nociceptive neurons through upregulation of TRPV1 and protein kinase C pathways.

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