Send us a text with a question or thought on this episode ( We cannot replay from this link)
Dr. Zac Spiritos shares key insights about gastroenterology red flags and specialized dietary approaches for digestive disorders. We explore the concerning situation when doctors label symptoms as “just IBS” without proper explanation and the important distinctions between histamine intolerance and mast cell activation syndrome.
• Watch for doctors who label everything as IBS without explaining what it means or why their treatments would work for your specific case
• Histamine intolerance (lacking an enzyme that breaks down histamine) is different from mast cell activation syndrome
• Low histamine diets work well for histamine intolerance but need professional guidance to avoid becoming too restrictive.
Send your questions to contact@endobattery.com or through the link in the episode description for future Quick Connect episodes.
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Red Flags at Your GI Doctor
Speaker 1
0:00
Should
we
be
on
alert
for
certain
red
flags
when
visiting
a
GI
doctor
?
What's
the
deal
with
a
low
histamine
diet
Fad
or
fact
?
Dr
Zach
Spiritos
lends
us
his
expertise
as
a
neurogastroenterologist
whose
curiosity
and
compassion
drive
his
mission
to
help
those
with
the
most
complex
conditions
.
This
episode
is
sure
to
leave
you
more
informed
to
advocate
for
your
care
.
Let's
get
connected
.
Life
moves
fast
and
so
should
the
answers
to
your
biggest
questions
.
Welcome
to
EndoBattery's
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remember
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opinions
shared
here
are
for
general
information
and
not
for
personalized
medical
advice
.
Always
consult
your
provider
for
your
case-specific
guidance
.
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a
question
?
Send
it
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and
let's
quickly
get
you
the
answers
.
I'm
your
host
,
alana
,
and
it's
time
to
connect
.
What
are
some
red
flags
as
a
GI
,
if
someone's
seeing
a
GI
?
Speaker 2
1:17
Yeah
.
So
I
think
it's
.
You
know
,
if
you've
had
,
you
know
all
the
testing
done
.
So
if
you
had
testing
and
it
describes
what's
going
on
,
great
.
If
,
however
,
you
have
testing
and
then
everything
is
normal
,
quote
,
unquote
,
normal
or
non-diagnostic
and
they
say
,
hey
,
it's
IBS
.
And
they
can't
tell
you
what
IBS
is
right
,
because
,
besides
saying
it's
an
illness
,
it's
just
IBS
.
Manage
your
stress
,
perhaps
,
meditate
sometimes
,
and
those
recommendations
aren't
misguided
,
but
everybody's
IBS
is
very
unique
to
that
.
So
if
they're
not
able
to
describe
IBS
to
you
and
give
you
a
rundown
of
why
their
interventions
will
work
for
you
,
then
it's
perhaps
time
to
either
probe
them
more
or
find
somebody
else
.
Speaker 1
2:01
That's
a
good
response
.
Right
there
.
They
can't
explain
why
they're
doing
what
they're
Understanding Low Histamine Diet
Speaker 1
2:05
doing
.
Is
there
much
evidence
for
the
low
histamine
diet
or
is
there
another
approach
you
would
consider
first
?
Speaker 2
2:11
So
I
presume
this
question
is
about
mast
cell
activation
syndrome
.
Speaker 1
2:14
I
think
so
,
yep
so
.
Speaker 2
2:16
I
tend
to
use
low
histamine
diet
in
histamine
intolerance
,
which
is
categorically
different
than
mast
cell
activation
syndrome
.
So
histamine
intolerance
is
where
the
thought
is
that
you're
lacking
this
very
key
enzyme
that
changes
histamine
to
a
more
tolerable
compound
called
histidine
in
your
body
,
and
those
folks
generally
have
flushing
,
tachycardia
,
rashes
,
bloating
after
eating
something
high
in
histamine
,
and
a
low
histamine
diet
is
very
important
for
that
.
And
it's
important
to
work
with
someone
who
knows
how
to
counsel
about
a
low
histamine
diet
,
because
at
first
glance
it's
incredibly
daunting
to
take
on
this
diet
and
you're
like
I'm
just
gonna
eat
I
don't
know
green
beans
and
water
,
like
it
.
Just
it
seems
incredibly
restrictive
.
Not
hating
on
green
beans
,
I
love
green
beans
.
Speaker 2
3:06
For
MCAS
it
is
part
of
the
treatment
process
,
but
I
tend
to
lean
less
on
the
diet
because
you
do
sometimes
need
most
of
the
time
.
You
do
need
therapeutics
as
well
,
like
medications
to
help
calm
down
those
mast
cells
,
because
if
you
think
about
what's
causing
mast
cells
,
it's
an
overactive
mast
cell
and
a
low
histamine
diet
just
reduces
your
histamine
load
and
histamine
is
one
of
the
byproducts
of
mast
cell
degranulation
,
or
one
of
the
byproducts
of
mast
cell
degranulation
,
or
one
of
the
chemicals
that
mast
cells
elicit
,
and
so
lowering
your
histamine
diet
reduces
your
histamine
burden
but
doesn't
calm
down
those
mast
cells
which
sometimes
needs
medications
,
or
at
least
understanding
triggers
and
trying
to
avoid
them
to
the
best
of
your
possibly
.
Speaker 1
3:42
How
Identifying Mast Cell Triggers
Speaker 1
3:43
do
find
the
triggers
,
like
the
food
and
drink
triggers
for
mast
cell
activation
?
Speaker 2
3:49
It's
a
good
question
and
so
a
lot
of
it's
just
history
,
right
.
And
so
the
good
news
about
mast
cells
it
responds
pretty
quickly
to
what
you're
eating
.
So
if
you
eat
something
that
doesn't
agree
with
you
in
IBS
you'll
pay
for
that
in
10
hours
.
So
it's
a
little
bit
more
challenging
to
identify
those
triggers
.
But
in
mast
cell
your
body
will
tell
you
pretty
quickly
if
you
ate
something
it
didn't
like
,
and
so
it's
a
pretty
strict
symptom
diary
.
But
that
also
involves
everything
else
that
can
really
kick
off
MCAS
Temperature
changes
,
kind
of
how
your
mental
health
is
,
sleep
medications
that
you
take
,
yeah
.
So
a
very
strict
symptom
diary
is
very
important
into
the
management
of
mast
cell
activations
.
Episode Closing and Contact Info
Speaker 1
4:29
That's
a
wrap
for
this
quick
connect
.
I
hope
today's
insights
helped
you
move
forward
with
more
clarity
and
confidence
.
Do
you
have
more
questions
?
Keep
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coming
,
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and
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.
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