Author’s Note: A good conversation about “How to Poop” is as underrated as a good poop itself. Long gone are the days when I would chuckle nervously at asking patients about their bowel habits. Today, I am a poop conversationalist powerhouse. But it all started with all the awkward conversations that I had with my bestie, grad school roommate, and fellow bio-explorer Dr. Nicole Dinezza. And, here is another one…
We were the oddly delightful dynamic duo - tall blonde lady and the tiny Asian chick. We got FOMO when one of us signed up for a Functional Medicine seminar and the other didn’t, so we were joined at the hip almost every single free weekend.
At one of our first lectures on gut health, we couldn’t stop looking at each other with looks of surprise and excitement. “Oh my god, he’s totally talking about my mom!” Nikki exclaimed. “Oh my god, we should totally try this!” I responded. We fed off each other’s curiosity and enthusiasm for knowledge.
Next thing I knew, we were going to start an elimination diet - brutally cutting out inflammatory food groups to rest our digestive systems for a month. Then add it all back in one food at a time. Yes, to know what a Die-Off Reaction would feel like. But really, we wanted to understand ourselves.
As future clinicians, we wanted to model good gut health. And as health nerds, we were going to try it all, on ourselves. All except maybe fecal implants. That seemed like a gateway experiment for something possibly disastrous one day.
Fast forward to today, Nikki is now Dr. DiNezza, a Functional Medicine practitioner who specializes in gut health. She’s been helping many people “find their perfect poops” as the Gut Microbiome Queen. With a 5-figure subscriber list, she’s part of a growing generation of clinician-content-creators empowering people through education and self-awareness.
Primarily, Dr. DiNezza uses a root-cause framework to address underlying systemic issues (like an altered gut microbiome) instead of just managing symptoms (like food intolerances, bloat, gas, or constipation/diarrhea).
Is it really just diet? When was the moment everything changed for you? Was it that one time you drank from the Tonawanda Creek? Or that time you ate an unwashed carrot on a long South-African bus ride? Or that chronic stress you’re under at work? This framework teaches people how to sort through conflicting information while promising more permanent results from gastrointestinal grief.
Reminiscent of our guinea pigging days, she says “Test don’t guess.” In her program FODMAP Freedom, she takes students through a journey of stool testing, nutritional testing, and even self-testing (students get to test an array of prokinetic supplements to see which gets their bowels going!)
It’s both a data-driven and mindful approach to healing the gut. Who knew that the journey to poop like a champ could provide so much insight into the obstacles and victories of your own personal story?
***
Next month, Nikki is flying into my side of the country and we’re going to another conference together. I will say, “Look! Even the Bachelor is talking about gut health now!” She will share some celebration from her FODMAP Freedom students.
Then we’ll both laugh at our rich lives and how far we’ve come from the days when we were just getting started.
Update log:
Elimination diet genesis story updated (11/16/2023)
Resources:
For more about Dr. Nikki’s program - FODMAP Freedom: https://www.fodmapfreedom.com/wait
Dr. Nikki’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gut.microbiome.queen/
Dr. Nikki’s Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gutmicrobiomequeen
Free resources on gut health from Dr. Nikki: https://www.fodmapfreedom.com/social
Sorry I didn't get to your draft in time, Maymie! Your friendship is really adorable. Can't wait to read more of your journey exploring health.