February 24, 2022 general

When Dr. Ross Pelton was on the radio show February 12^th, a listener’s call came in too late to answer on air. However, Dr. Pelton kindly answered it by email. His discussion of the topic, SIBO, is worthy of the blog below because many readers may have the symptoms and no idea the source. As usual, [italic text in square brackets are my additions.]

by Ross Pelton, R.Ph., Ph.D., CCN & Microbiome Scientist

SIBO stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. It is a unique condition where bacteria that normally reside in the colon have migrated back up into the distal (far-end) of the small intestine. Hence, SIBO is not necessarily caused by “bad” bacteria…..it is often normal colonic probiotic bacteria that have relocated into the wrong “neighborhood.”  When carbohydrates that have been ingested reach the lower end of the small intestine, these bacteria ferment the carbs, producing gas and perhaps causing a wide range of symptoms such as bloating, pain, nausea, diarrhea, etc.

SIBO is most commonly diagnosed by a breath test that measures the amount of hydrogen or methane that is exhaled in the breath.

Two dietary treatment programs are sometimes successful: The FODMAT diet and the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. [Follow links for details.] These diets instruct people to avoid the types of foods that contain the types of carbohydrates that the displaced bacteria like to ferment. [I think that these diets, especially the Specific Carbohydrate Diet would probably make a lot of people feel better who don’t even have SIBO because they would improve their insulin management.] However, people often must resort to taking a course of an antibiotic named rifaximin.

The cause of SIBO is somewhat controversial. Possible contributing factors are dehydration, sedentary lifestyle and processed food and a lack of dietary fiber.

I encourage people who suspect they may have SIBO to seek advice from a Functional Medicine physician or a naturopath.

[I’d be glad to hear any reader experience, but it is my opinion that Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotics would not be a concern and in fact could be very useful because so much of its power comes from its postbiotics—those are the beneficial substances that have been made by the good bacteria. I checked with Dr. Pelton, and he agrees.]