What your gut wishes you knew before Passover

During Passover, sundown April 12 to sundown April 20 this year, observers eat matzo and other unleavened breads as a way to remember that the Jews fled Egypt so fast that their dough didn't have time to rise.

What we're hearing: "Matzo can have an extremely binding effect," says dietitian and author Tamara Duker Freuman, who's Jewish. "Its ingredient list essentially reads the same as a can of Play-Doh."

• A sheet of matzo is "equivalent to two slices of bread, flour-wise," she says, and people tend to eat multiple sheets, without getting enough fluids.
• "Anecdotally, here in New York we even see an uptick in bowel obstructions among observant Jews who have a history of Crohn's disease," Freuman tells Axios.

To avoid matzo constipation:

• Drink lots of water.
• Prioritize fiber-rich fruits and vegetables.
• And — if you have preexisting GI issues — avoid eating more than two sheets of matzo per day, and ideally not in the same meal, Freuman advises.

Bottom line: Let my people go… to the bathroom.