Try This: What exactly is the gut microbiome?

The 7

The Washington Post

Daily News, News

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 July 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

While "The 7" team is off for the holiday, you can still read the newsletter version of the seven most important and interesting stories you need to know here. And we are bringing you another useful listen today. The Washington Post's Cristina and Dr. Trisha Pasricha break down what the microbiome is, where it lives, and how it influences everything from digestion to disease. It's the first episode of The Post's latest season of "Try This." Pasricha explains how the gut microbiome acts as a key player in our overall health and why fiber may be one of the most underrated tools in supporting it. She also offers insight into what science currently understands about gut function and what’s still being uncovered.

Read more of Pasricha’s work, including 8 tips to improve gut health and why probiotics can be a waste of money. For more advice, follow her on Instagram.

Now “Try This” has a newsletter! Think of it as a supplemental guide and sign up here.

Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, it's Hannah. The podcast crew is off for the 4th of July holiday. But do not panic. I have something else for you to listen to today.
0:11.4	Christina Quinn, who you just heard filling in here on The 7 yesterday, also hosts a podcast called Try This. I've told you about it before because I love it. She researches advice we can all use.
0:24.3	Her latest season of Try This is about how to treat your gut better, as in how to cultivate a healthy gut microbiome.
0:32.6	I've learned a lot and hope you do too. So here's the first episode of the season. And then go look up, Try This to
0:39.4	listen to the second episode. The third one is out next week. Here you go.
0:46.5	Hey, welcome to Try This from The Washington Post. Try This is a series of audio courses to help you
0:52.1	take on common challenges and learn something new
0:54.6	without having to make a big time commitment. I'm Christina Quinn and I'll be learning with you,
0:59.6	per yuge. In this course, we're going to loosen our belts and unpack the mysteries of gut
1:05.9	health, specifically the gut microbiome, because at the end of the day, what you put inside your body
1:11.9	affects everything else. If you're new here, welcome. This course will have three classes,
1:17.7	aka three episodes. So in this first episode, we're going to learn what the microbiome is exactly,
1:24.9	and find out what all those microbes are really up to.
1:28.4	In the second episode, we'll find out what happens to your gut microbiome when you start
1:33.2	eating certain kinds of food. And in our third and final episode, we're going to give you
1:37.7	practical ways to make some changes without causing major upheaval to your life and your
1:42.2	wallet. And we'll explain why you don't really
1:45.3	need to take that probiotic. Okay, classes in session. Let's try this.
1:55.1	When I have questions about anything having to do with digestion, I reach out to my favorite
2:00.7	intestinal expert, Dr. Trisha Prasricha. I reach out to my favorite intestinal expert,
2:02.1	Dr. Trisha. I'm an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. My second title would be,
2:07.4	I'm a gastroenterologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Do you want me to go get a white
	...

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