Meet the doctor who has a gut feeling about every part. This is a pun that gastroenterologist Dr Pal (Palaniappan) Manickam, is nicely used to. Interestingly, he is also a standup comedian and maybe that is why, for him, puns are as necessary as probiotics. He likes to name his style of comedy MedCom (medical comedy) and his repertoire covers every part from fermented meals and weight loss plan plans to menopause, bowel well being, and fatty liver. Guest audio system like cricketer S Badrinath and famend docs also characteristic in his Reels to debate present subjects.
Originally from Madurai, and now shuttling between Sacramento (California) and Chennai, the doctor consults and also does arise exhibits throughout the US, and Chennai. He did a few exhibits in Malaysia, and Singapore, with upcoming acts scheduled in Seattle, Minneapolis, and Chicago in May and in Mumbai in July.
“I like being on stage and talking to people,” says Dr Pal who is in Chennai on a fast go to. “My wife and sons (aged three and five) moved to India last year because my wife wanted to raise our kids in Chennai; she is from here. And we also wanted them to spend time with their grandparents — that bond is important,” he says.
Dr Pal at a standup present
In the subsequent six months, Dr Pal plans to arrange a gut well being clinic in Chennai. “We practise something called preventive gastroenterology”, he says, including that he focusses on sustainable way of life modifications and goals to reverse persistent ailments. A believer in intermittent fasting, Dr Pal says this is one thing he began doing when he had a well being scare in 2015.
“I was working as a full-time gastroenterologist in 2015 in California. While examining a patient, I started getting palpitations and chest pain. I was sitting on a medical bed thinking what did I do wrong? I was 100 kilos. But when I had moved to the US I was 60 kilos. So, I started doing everything from paleo and keto diet to yoga and personal training. I realised everything is scattered around and despite being a medical professional I was not able to follow it. These things need to be individualised for all. I came across intermittent fasting. It is such a powerful method that it could also reverse fatty liver. I learnt about diet, macros, fibres, proteins. My weight came down to 70 kgs and I continue to be the same weight since 2017. Mindful eating is important,” he provides.
Through Medcom, Dr Pal makes use of his medical data to teach a bigger group of individuals through social media. He has 1.6 million followers on Instagram. And identical to the Marvel Universe, there is a Dr Pal Universe with its set of characters. There is Saravana Kumar, his spouse Tirupurasundari, and a affected person named Aarogyasamy, the earnest Subramani who listens to every part the doctor says, Kapil Sharma, Marc Anthony, Abhijit Chakraborty… “Then to add masala, I made Aarogyasamy, Tirupurasundari’s ex-boyfriend,” he laughs.
During the pandemic, his first video about COVID-19 consciousness went viral. It acquired 5 million views. The subsequent video he uploaded received an embarrassingly low variety of views. “So, I thought I was a one-time wonder,” he laughs. Then in January 2021, he uploaded a video about Covid vaccines and that went viral once more. After which he also received a name from Bldg 18, a comedy membership in San Francisco Bay Area; they stated his content material was apt and supply very pure. I realised comedy is critical enterprise. So, I did a course at Punch Line Comedy Club in Sacramento, on the right way to write a set. If I ship one thing and other people chortle, that offers me a excessive,” he says. Despite his busy medical schedule, Dr Pal places out three Reels each week. “I am not tied to the outcome of the Reel. As long as I am giving good info, I am okay,” he says.
He provides that there was a sudden surge in curiosity in gut well being. But there is a false impression that gut means abdomen; it is not. “Gut is your large intestine and colon,” he explains. While there are over-the-counter prebiotic and probiotic options available these days, Dr Pal says, the greatest home made probiotic is the raita. Add tomatoes to it together with cucumber, spices, and boiled chana or rajma and you’ll get all the complicated carbs with this. “There are 100 trillion gut bacteria. We realised every disease is linked to a particular group of bacteria. Probiotic supplement as a tablet is just shooting in the dark. Even when you know that there is a group of bacteria that might not be good based on your stool sample, we may not know whether that is the bacteria that is causing you the problem. That is why many probiotic capsules may or may not work for many people,” he explains.
He suggests the 30-3-1 rule to spice up gut well being. “Thirty grams of protein for breakfast (for example three whole eggs and three egg whites), three fermented dishes in a day (maybe idli in the morning, curd in the afternoon, and dhokla, kanji for dinner) and one hour of physical activity,” he says, including, “Most importantly people should stop looking for quick fixes. There is no quick fix. Bad gut health is directly proportional to the amount of abuse that you have put your gut through in the past. For example, if you have abused your gut for 10 years, you cannot expect it to go back to normal in a week. It is a minimum three-month process and requires a lifestyle change.”
Published – May 08, 2025 11:09 am IST
