Optimize: Digestion

Soluble fiber (psyllium) is the empower-first anchor: it lifts constipation response from 44% to 77% and eases IBS (RR 0.83, one in seven helped). Honest counterweight built in: insoluble wheat bran does not help IBS and can worsen it. Start soluble, go slow to limit gas. Condition scope: constipation, IBS.

Oral rehydration salts are the strong, cheap, life-saving first move in acute diarrhea (fewer unscheduled IV drips, OR 0.59). WHO/ACG core. Condition scope: acute diarrhea.

Magnesium oxide relieved constipation in about 70% versus 25% on placebo. Cheap, OTC, empower-first; caution in kidney impairment. Condition scope: chronic constipation.

In children over 6 months, zinc shortened acute diarrhea about 11 hours and cuts recurrence; the benefit is largest in undernourished settings and smaller in well-nourished children. WHO-recommended. Condition scope: pediatric acute diarrhea.

The only substantive claim here is that 25 to 30 g of fiber a day tracks with better bowel function (the mortality association is observational and confounded). This duplicates the fibre lever; keep the fiber message, drop the 'detox' framing. Condition scope: bowel regularity.

Doubling fiber to about 40 g a day raised gut diversity and fiber-fermenting bacteria. Sound food-first advice, but the endpoint is a microbiome marker. Overlaps with fibre. Condition scope: general gut health.

Best evidence is prevention of antibiotic-associated and C. difficile diarrhea (NNT ~13; S. boulardii and LGG the studied strains). IBS relief is modest and strain-dependent. Honest counterweight: two large trials found no benefit for children's acute diarrhea, and healthy adults saw no lasting change. Situational, strain-specific, not a general daily tonic. Condition scope: antibiotic-associated diarrhea, C. diff, some IBS.

Added to mesalamine, curcumin roughly doubled ulcerative colitis remission across 8 trials. A genuine adjunct for UC, not a standalone and not for IBS. Condition scope: ulcerative colitis (adjunct).

P6 (wrist) pressure cut post-operative nausea about 32% and vomiting about 40%; a small edge on chemo nausea. Honest null: no clear benefit for pregnancy morning sickness across 41 trials. Self-applied, free. Condition scope: post-op and chemo nausea.

The 'halved IBS symptoms' figure is borrowed from low-FODMAP trials, not from carnivore itself, which has no controlled IBS data. The real, testable lever underneath is FODMAP/fermentable-carb elimination (see completeness). Frame honestly as elimination, not as a meat-only endorsement. Condition scope: IBS (by proxy).

Bowel-lining healing in 78% vs 28% on placebo in a 40-adult Crohn's RCT, plus an open-label pilot. Small but a promising, low-cost adjunct for Crohn's. Condition scope: Crohn's disease.

Six servings a day for 17 weeks raised gut microbiome diversity and lowered inflammatory markers (Wastyk 2021). Promising and food-first, but the endpoint is diversity, a marker, not a measured symptom improvement. Condition scope: general gut health.

Lowered exercise-induced gut leakiness on lab tests in two small athlete trials; across gut diseases the clinical trials conflict and cannot be pooled. Marker-level so far. Condition scope: exercise-induced gut permeability.

Cut chemotherapy nausea and vomiting about a third across 32 trials; the ulcerative colitis signal is from 5 low-quality trials and rated insufficient. Condition scope: chemo-related nausea.

One 4-week trial enriched two probiotic species and was well tolerated. A marker-level signal; whole-food fiber does the same for less money. Condition scope: general gut health.

Fed beneficial bacteria in lab gut models only, no human outcome. Balance the carrageenan-inflammation question (processed additive, not whole sea moss). Condition scope: none clinical yet.

Healed gut lesions and closed a fistula in rats. Animal-only; no human trials. Kept honestly as preliminary, not a lever to act on. Condition scope: none human yet.