What is Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)?
As we continue the journey of finding balance within our bodies, let’s discuss what happens when bacteria from your large intestine travels into your small intestines and makes a home there. Your small intestine facilitates the digestive process and works in concert with enzymes you need to digest food. Your large intestine uses bacteria to continue the final breakdown of the foods you take in. Water and salts are absorbed from the undigested material and any waste products left over are excreted. Occasionally, the bacteria which help your large intestines work properly get displaced and end up in your small intestine. This can cause a type of dysbiosis known as Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), an often painful and very uncomfortable condition.
SIBO might be more common than you think. Studies have shown that up to 80% of people suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) have SIBO. The symptoms can be very similar, so it can be hard to differentiate, but identifying the underlying cause is important to find lasting relief. Even just a call with your online functional health doctor can help you narrow down the root causes. The inflammation in the small intestine can cause leaky gut and increased gas production. Classic SIBO symptoms include: bloating, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, belching, flatulence, and heartburn. Not only can the misplaced bacteria cause these symptoms, the immune system reaction to bacteria and their cell walls can cause chronic fatigue, body pain and burden the liver. Finally, the bacteria excrete acids which may, in high amounts, lead to neurological and cognitive symptoms.
SIBO treatment can often be difficult, meaning that it is not as easy as just taking an antibiotic for the ultimate cure. Addressing the why of how SIBO came to be and resetting the gut microbiome is key. Complete recovery from SIBO provides tremendous relief for patients, especially people living with a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). After discussing with your functional medicine doctor, one step that might be suggested is to implement a low-FODMAP diet. FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols, all short-chain carbohydrates, or sugars. The diet focuses on consuming foods that are easier to digest, which in turn gives your small intestine the break it needs to fight the bacteria and not work too hard at its day job. If you pay close enough attention to the foods you eat, a low-FODMAP diet can be easy. You can still eat a variety of foods from every category. By participating in this holistic health approach, you can find out what foods work best for you and use them in the short term to address unwanted SIBO symptoms. After SIBO treatment, the goal will be to return to a vibrant and full diet with many phytonutrients which are essential for restoring a healthy gut microbiome and preventing dysbiosis.
In addition to the low-FODMAP diet, adding some vitamins and specific foods can be beneficial for a healthy small and large intestine. Your integrative doctors online may tell you to take supplements that include herbal antibiotics, gut prokinetics (to keep things moving), prebiotics to encourage the growth of a healthy microbiome, along with very specific probiotics to seed the gi tract. Your supplements may be derived from berberine, Oregon grape root, oregano, olive leaf, thyme, ginger and artichoke. Your gut function should be fully assessed for deficiencies of stomach acid, bile salts and digestive enzymes. Your functional medicine doctor or nurse practitioner may have you submit a stool test and also a SIBO breath test to complete a full picture of what is transpiring in your gut. Speak with your functional doctors online to seek supplements that might be right for you.
For more information about SIBO, SIBO testing, and full assessment of gut health, search for functional doctor Denver or consider becoming a Tendwell member.
