In episode 35, I talk about how I got absolutely DESTROYED by the stomach flu this week, forcing me to take some time off of the podcast ahead of a major gastroenterology conference in Canada called CDDW (Canadian Digestive Diseases Week).

After I finally recovered, I thought 'not only does this affect a lot of people this time of year, but most people don't know exactly what happens or why' when it comes to gastro bugs, or what is medically termed gastroenteritis.

Essentially, a virus, bacteria, or parasite invades our GI tract and causes inflammation, or the irritation of our gut cells. Anything ending in 'itis' means inflammation or inflammatory response. The most common virus causing the stomach flu (the one that makes uncontrollable spewing liquids come out both ends for 12-24 hours!) is the norovirus.

I bring up an imag ...