SIBO makes a meal of SUGARS IN SMALL INTESTINE

You’ve heard me discuss a lot of various gut health topics here over the years. Well guess what, here’s another one, and listen up, because this one is huge.

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), as the name suggests, is bacteria running riot in the wrong area of our gut.

Normally, the vast majority of bacteria which make up the melting pot called our microbiome, is confined largely to the colon or large intestine. Bacteria number in the trillions, whereas should only really be in the thousands or millions in the small intestine.

This is why we collect stool samples, to assess one’s microbial mix and to assess for parasites.

SIBO happens when bacteria starts multiplying in the small intestine, normally after gastro, food poisoning, antibiotics or certain medications.

These bacteria essentially gobble up the food, in turn, producing gases in the gut, causing significant bloating, burping, pain and discomfort within 30-60 minutes of eating. Symptoms are particularly worse after a high fibre meal (grains, certain veggies) or meals high in fructose or lactose.

Not only do the bacteria make a meal of these sugars, the very presence of the bacteria in the small intestine can cause damage to the delicate lining of the gut and to the fragile villi lining the gut, which aid absorption of nutrients and release of enzymes to break down some of these sugars.

SIBO is often mistakenly misdiagnosed as IBS.

Testing requires a specific process whereby you ingest a solution designed to challenge the gut then a breath sample is obtained to gauge the level of gases produced in response to the ingested solution.

High levels of gases indicate high levels of bacterial fermentation and thus SIBO. I believe this is why so many people feel better on the low FODMAP (types of sugars) diet because it is eliminating a lot of the foods that would ordinarily be problematic in SIBO.

For more information, chat to your health care practitioner or visit SIBOtest.com.

Treatment is often a successful combination of a specific diet and herbs.

Bec Winkler is a naturopath with more than 10 years’ experience. She works at the Chiropractic Centre, Jan Juc.