In 2017, Dr McDougall gave a series of video lectures based on chapters of his book McDougall's Digestive Tune-Up (224 pages, 2006).

Bowel movements is not a pleasant subject to study but an important one. By watching Dr Greger's videos, I learnt which types of bowel movements (shape, size, softness, frequency) are associated with good health and absence of chronic lifestyle diseases.

When we apply too much pressure during bowel movements, we may be contributing to the onset of some serious diseases like hemorrhoids, varicose veins, hiatal hernia and even diverticulosis! Wow! Such diseases are collectively called 'pressure diseases' by some doctors. GERD / acid reflux and prolapsed uterus may also be caused by such pressure.

Dr Greger has interesting insights like this one: "On a traditional African diet, which consists largely of plants, constipation is essentially nonexistent." In fact, several other diseases that are rare in among rural Africans. Dr Greger attributes the high incidence of such diseases in the West to the so-called 'modern Western diet' rich in animal products and processed foods.

Videos by Dr Greger and Dr Pam Popper explaining GERD and WFPB. Apparently, 1 in 4 persons in USA experiences acid reflux at least once a week!

Dr Greger's videos helped me understand: "Hiatus hernia occurs when part of the stomach is pushed up through the diaphragm into the chest cavity, which makes it easy for acid to reflux up into the esophagus and throat. It affects more than 1 in 5 American adults. In contrast, in rural African communities who were eating their traditional plant-based diets, it wasn't 1 in 5; it was closer to one in a thousand — almost unheard of. It's almost peculiar to those who consume Western-type diets. Why are plant-based populations protected? Perhaps because they pass such large, soft stools; three or four times the volume of Westerners."

Through Dr Greger's videos, I learnt a bit about diverticulosis, a nasty disorder of our guts. I was surprised to know that 50% of those above 60 years of age in USA have diverticulsis! Wow! What's the relationship of diverticulosis with our food choices?

What do Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) doctors say about SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth)?

Books by Dr Bulsiewicz, Dr Alan Desmond, Dr John McDougall, …