Want To Reset Your Gut In 30 Days? Follow This MD-Approved Guide
When you walk into a doctor's office with vague but persistent gut issues, you might expect the doctor to immediately order a battery of tests. But Trisha Pasricha, MD, MPH, a gastroenterologist at Beth Israel in Boston and author of You've Been Pooping All Wrong, starts with something much simpler. She encourages her patients to do a 30-day reset to figure out what is really causing their symptoms.
"Let's try these five things, and then we'll see what your real baseline is of symptoms," she explained on a recent episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. No cleanse, no supplement stack, no being poked and prodded. Just consistent, small shifts that compound over a month to optimize gut health.
For some patients, this reset is all they need to start feeling better, and some of the habits become permanent. For others, the 30-day reset reveals something more systemic happening in the body, and warrants digging deeper into testing.
Here's the full plan Pasricha gives her patients.
Poop in the right position
This is one of Pasricha's best tips because instead of taking 30 days, it takes just 30 seconds. Modern toilets are designed so you sit the same way you'd sit in a chair, but that position actually puts a small kink in your colon1. A sling-like muscle partially closes off the end of the tube when your knees are at hip level. When you raise your knees above your waist, that muscle relaxes and the colon straightens out.
According to Pasricha, researchers have tested this in healthy people who didn't think they were constipated, and they noticed a significant difference. "I had no idea how much better it could be," was the common reaction she described. It makes going easier on your body and reduces the straining that contributes to hemorrhoids over time.
To put your body in optimal pooping position, you want to rest your feet on something that lifts your knees above your waist. You can grab a trash can or foot stool lying around the house, or invest in the now famous Squatty Potty.
Increase your fiber & eat it earlier in the day
Pasricha is, by her own admission, more obsessed with fiber than most gastroenterologists. She says it is the number one key for healthy bowel movements. Her biggest advice for daily intake is not to cluster it at dinner. A high-fiber, high-protein breakfast sets you up for better energy and digestion throughout the day. You can keep it going with nuts, lentils, and vegetables as snacks throughout the day.
On days she doesn't meet her fiber goals through food alone, she supplements with psyllium husk, a soluble fiber that has been well-studied for its effects on cholesterol and the microbiome. Psyllium shifts gut microbes toward the kind that produce beneficial short-chain fatty acids, she explained, which goes beyond just improving regularity. For a deeper look at daily targets and how to get there, check out our fiber cheat sheet.
When she tells patients to start eating more fiber, they often come back concerned that their poops are fluffier and more frequent. But she says that's not diarrhea, just your gut working the way it's supposed to. Many people don't realize they are experiencing constipation until they are out of that cycle.
Cut ultra-processed foods, alcohol, & NSAIDs
A lot of these shifts may feel pretty easy to integrate into your daily life, but many people find themselves limiting this shift to just one month. Pasricha asks patients to minimize these three things as much as possible for 30 days:
- Ultra-processed foods: linked to polyp development and gut lining damage, with emerging research connecting early-life exposure to early-onset colorectal cancer.
- NSAIDs: ibuprofen, Aleve, Excedrin, and similar pain relievers can cause damage to the gut lining when taken regularly
- Alcohol: a known gut irritant that disrupts the microbiome and compromises the intestinal lining
She's clear that if your doctor has prescribed NSAIDs for a specific medical reason, keep taking them. But the casual daily use for general aches is worth reconsidering. "Any gastroenterologist has seen too many people come in with ulcers from NSAIDs," she noted.
Move your body daily
Even a short morning walk stimulates contractions throughout the digestive tract. It's why doctors tell post-surgery patients to get up and move as soon as possible, Pasricha explained, because movement is one of the fastest ways to start pooping regularly again.
Regular moderate exercise also reduces colorectal cancer risk and helps keep you regular long-term. You don't need marathon training (in fact, extreme endurance exercise can backfire on the gut). But a daily walk, especially in the morning when your colon is already primed to move, is enough to make a meaningful difference over 30 days.
Reduce stress
The gut and the brain are deeply connected, and stress does a number on your bowels, according to Pasricha. Reducing stress is one of the five pillars of her reset for good reason. It's one of the factors that disrupts pooping regularity, but people rarely connect the dots to realize that.
While there are lots of factors outside of your control that can affect the gut-brain axis, this reset is a reminder to focus on the things that are in your control when it comes to stress reduction. This looks different for everyone, but may look like integrating daily mindfulness practices, protecting your sleep schedule, or simply being more mindful of your habits and how you can get yourself out of a funk.
The takeaway
Pasricha's 30-day reset isn't about restriction or perfection. It's about removing the things that can be quietly damaging your gut lining while adding the things that support it. Thirty days is enough to find your real baseline, and these habits are good for you even if you're not concerned about your gut health.