Recall that when your stomach is empty, it activates periodic high-amplitude contractions that slowly but forcefully sweep from the esophagus to the end of the colon. At the same time, the pancreas and the gallbladder secretion release a synchronized burst of digestive juices. The combined effect of this reflex, called the migrating motor complex, is analogous to a weekly neighborhood street sweeping. We don’t yet know what this street sweeping does to our gut microbes or whether it alters the metabolites they produce. There is good evidence that it removes microbes from the small intestine,
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