Dealing With SIBO? Don't Make One Of These 5 Common Mistakes

Diet is part of the treatment, and carbohydrates feed bacteria, so it goes without saying that sugars from sweets, breads, pastries, soda, juices, alcohol, and others are not your best friends. Healthy carbohydrates in excess, or the wrong types of carbohydrates, can slow down your healing process as well. Some people can't tolerate simple sugars like lactose and fructose while others have a hard time with complex starches like potatoes and rice.

There's no one diet that works for everyone with SIBO, so it's important to identify which carbohydrates you can't digest and absorb because those are the ones that end up getting fermented by your small intestine bacteria. Depending on my patient's symptoms and medical history, I may use the low FODMAPs, Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), SIBO-Specific (combines the low FODMAPs and SCD), or the Fast Tract Diet. Avoid fiber early in the treatment. Ultimately, your goal is to eradicate SIBO so you can reintroduce healthy foods that some of these diets restrict like garlic, onion, and apple.

Timing your meals is also important. The migrating motor complex (MMC) is a wave of contractions that starts in the stomach and goes through the small intestine, and interruptions in MMC increase the risk of SIBO. Think of the MMC as "housekeeping"; it sweeps bacteria and undigested food and dumps them into the large intestine. The MMC needs 90 to 120 minutes to complete this job, but it gets stopped and has to reset every time you eat. If you take more than an hour to nibble on meals because you're too distracted or because you think it's healthier, or if you eat every two hours or less, you're interfering with your MMC. Instead of grazing, sit down and eat your meal mindfully, then "close the kitchen" for three to four hours.