Holy Crap (Pun Intended)…I Have SIBO!

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath I love sharing when I run across a bump in the road in my own personal health journey because it shows that these “things” can happen to any one of us. Let me tell you about what has been going on with me, perhaps this will help your with your situation, or maybe not. Or at least you’ll gain a little knowledge and understanding that may help you prevent this for yourself. I have been curious lately as to why my belly seems to be a bit bloated as well as noticing an increase in gas, from both ends if you know what I mean. While I was well aware that I picked up some unwanted stomach “bugs” while I was in Mexico about a month ago, I thought I had nipped that problem in the butt already. Yet I was still dealing with this bloating and gas. So I started to take a look at some other “clues” in my life. I noticed that I was bloating if I ate plantain chips and I wasn’t feeling so hot after making an occasional home made margarita. Eating potatoes was also creating some issues and jeez, enough with the bloating already. Heck, I was even noticing some bloating when I would eat certain vegetables, yet I could not pinpoint which they were exactly. Then I started to look at this as if I was a client of mine at Depke Wellness. Once I put A, B and C together, SIBO was a definite possibility. After all, SIBO will make you bloat, it will create gas on both ends and it will be irritated by starches, sugars and fiber, all of which seemed to be an issue. Foods like plantains, potatoes as well as the tequila are all very irritating to SIBO, so it all started to make sense. I also noticed that when I would take my prebiotic/probiotic formula in the morning I was also getting a bit bloated. Another clue, since SIBO is also irritated by prebiotics as well as certain probiotics. You now the old saying, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck. Well, I received my test results and after all, it was a duck for sure and in this case that duck is SIBO, also known as small intestinal bacteria overgrowth. I never would have thought that SIBO would be an issue for me since most people with SIBO are constipated that is definitely not an issue for me. In the end, it was likely a combination of issues that lead to this that I will not likely completely understand and I’m OK with that. So now what, you may ask. It is a three month focus on a SIBO diet, which is can be a significantly restrictive diet along with three months of supplementation to help my body kick some SIBO butt. The good news is plentiful here though! Number one, I know what ails me and it can be addressed naturally. That is the best good news of all! Two, the diet and protocol for this is very effective and I am confident that this will be addressed properly. Three, since I will be working on this through the holidays, this will likely be the cleanest I have ever eaten from Thanksgiving thru New Years. Heck, for the first time ever I am going to come out of the holiday season leaner and healthier than when the holidays began. Wooo…hooo! So in the end, it’s not so bad. Three months of eating very clean, taking some supplements while watching the bloating and gas eventually just be whisked away doesn’t sound that terribly bad to me. Wondering if SIBO is an issue for you? Click on this link to learn more and to watch a comprehensive video that I presented for Hawthorn University that I presented a few months ago. I would not have guessed when I presented this that I would have been talking about myself just a few months later. As mentioned earlier, this just goes to show you that anyone can come up with these challenges. If you have any comments or questions regarding this article please post this on our Facebook page or on our Twitter page for us to address personally. Contact Depke Wellness directly here. “Any products on this page have not been reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”