© 2026 KUNM
89.9 FM Live From The University Of New Mexico
Give Now
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Let's Talk New Mexico

Let's Talk about gut health

By Daniel Montaño
Published June 26, 2026 at 8:27 PM MDT
A woodcut of an anatomical figure showing viscera from the Margarita Philosophica circa 1503. As recently as the early 1990s, the concept of microbes in the gut being able to affect the brain was almost laughable, but emerging research shows the gut plays an important role in everything from the immune system to mental health.
Wellcome Library, London
/
Wellcome Images
A woodcut of an anatomical figure showing viscera from the Margarita Philosophica circa 1503. As recently as the early 1990s, the concept of microbes in the gut being able to affect the brain was almost laughable, but emerging research shows the gut plays an important role in everything from the immune system to mental health.

Let’s Talk New Mexico, 7/2, 9a: Most of us don’t hesitate to go to the doctor or ask a friend for advice when we have a sore throat or a bad knee. But when it comes to digestive health, the conversations are few and far between. Social stigma and taboo loom over subjects like constipation, diarrhea or blood in the stool, even though early treatment can be critical in catching potentially deadly diseases. Colorectal cancer rates have been soaring recently, especially in people under 50. Moreover, emerging research is revealing the gut’s essential role in both physical and mental health.

This week on Let’s Talk New Mexico we’re breaking through the taboo and discussing all things gut health, and we want to hear from you! What have you always wanted to know about digestive health but were too afraid to ask? Have you struggled with a digestive condition that was difficult to discuss? What do you think parents, schools and doctors should be teaching about gut health that they aren’t? Join the conversation and give us your take. Call in live during the show Thursday morning at 9, send an email to letstalk@kunm.org, or send a voice message using the speakpipe widget below.

Let's Talk New Mexico
Stay Connected
Daniel Montaño
Daniel Montaño is a reporter with KUNM's Public Health, Poverty and Equity project. He is also an occasional host of Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Let's Talk New Mexico since 2021, is a born and bred Burqueño who first started with KUNM about two decades ago, as a production assistant while he was in high school. During the intervening years, he studied journalism at UNM, lived abroad, fell in and out of love, conquered here and there, failed here and there, and developed a taste for advocating for human rights.
See stories by Daniel Montaño