Book Review: ‘Taming Your Guts’

Taming Your Guts: A Complete Guide to Functional Gastrointestinal Disorder, Second Edition, by Arnold L. Flick, M.D. © 2018, ISBN 9781797-411767; 188 pages plus diets and index.

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO – Dr. Arnold Flick, who is a retired clinical professor of gastroenterology at the UC San Diego medical school, takes readers on a tour of the alimentary canal, starting at the mouth and ending at the anus, advising us about the various ways things that can go wrong with our digestive system as food passes down the esophagus to the stomach and thence to the small intestine and colon before being expelled.  He defines his terms, explaining for the lay reader how the body’s processes work and how they may be impacted by our diets, exercise, and stress levels.  He offers advice not only on what to eat but also on how to eat.

Dr. Flick often employs analogies to help readers understand the body’s processes.  He likens the digestive system to a stream.  Some streams flow smoothly from one end to the other, but transit through others may be complicated by ponds, rapids and waterfalls.  In another analogy, Flick describes our colons as having a jungle environment, filled with animals (bacteria) and plants (fungi.)

Reading this thin volume, I’ve added to my vocabulary.  I learned, for example, that the lump of food that you swallow is called a “bolus,” and that gurgling noise that occasionally comes from our stomachs is called “borborygmi.”

There’s a phenomenon among Jews known as “bageling,” in which Jews desiring to be recognized as Jews by other Jews will introduce a Yiddish or Hebrew word or concept into the conversation, seeing if the person to whom they are speaking will reciprocate.  I don’t know if Flick intentionally engaged in this practice, but I was surprised to see him allude to “matza cracker” in the course of one written discussion.  This was delightful for me, and had I been listening to him personally, rather than reading his printed word, I’d probably have found some way to signal back, like saying, “That reminds me, I have four questions.”

If  you have digestive problems such as food seeming to stick in your chest, giving you “heartburn,” or perhaps constipation or diarrhea, Flick’s book explains not only the whys and the wherefores but provides helpful suggestions on how these symptoms, sometimes caused by muscle spasms within the digestive tract, can be alleviated.

Flick sets out 10 rules for how we should eat, which I’m sure he won’t mind if I pass onto you, in the interest of your health:  1. Be calm before and during meals.  2. Avoid nervous tension during meals.  3. Eat meals sitting down.  4.  Do not rush the meal.  Remain sitting for a few minutes after the meal to let it “settle.”  5.  Small chunks of food cause less trouble than large chunks.  6.  Small meals cause less trouble than large meals.  7.  Cut your food into small chunks; chewing food mashes it, but does not cut it into small chunks.  8.  Limit fats and oils.  They can be used, but the amount should be limited.  9.  Limit fiber to small or moderate quantity.  Cooked fiber causes less trouble than raw fiber.  10.  Limit spices to small or moderate quantities.

Flick’s book is available on Amazon.  No one expects you to memorize everything he has to say, but if a digestive problem occurs, it’s a helpful reference.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com