WHAT IS SIBO (SMALL INTESTINE BACTERIAL OVERGROWTH)? Studies have shown that 85 % of people with IBS actually have SIBO This is a condition I dealt with first hand, on and off for many years. And here’s why, most doctors don’t even know what SIBO is! Luckily, gastroenterologists are shining more light on SIBO and getting better at treating it. SIBO is characterized by an increased number of bacteria or abnormal bacteria in the small intestine that normally lives in the large intestine . This can cause a host of symptoms such as gas, bloating, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea or even both. This is because the bacteria that ferment carbohydrates and produce gasses like hydrogen and methane are now in the small intestine instead of the large intestine. So SIBO is not necessarily a condition of good or bad bacteria overgrowth but that they are in the wrong place! And interestingly enough, there are 3 type of SIBO, just like IBS Hydrogen dominant SIBO that causes diarrhea, methane dominant SIBO that causes constipation or SIBO with both high hydrogen and methane levels that cause diarrhea and constipation. Methane dominant SIBO, if often referred to as the “worst” type because of its ability to decrease GI motility resulting in constipation and being harder to treat (although both hydrogen and methane SIBO can affect motility). If this sounds familiar, it’s because studies have shown that 85 % of people with IBS actually have SIBO. SYMPTOMS • GAS • BLOATING • ABDOMINAL PAIN • CONSTIPATION AND/OR DIARRHEA • MALNUTRITION • WEIGHT GAIN OR LOSS • NAUSEA How do you get SIBO? I WAS NOT THE TYPICAL CANIDTATE FOR SOMEONE WHO WOULD GET SIBO. HOWEVER, IT’S BECOMING MORE COMMON IN YOUNG HEALTHY ADULTS! • Food poisoning • Diverticulosis • GI blockages • Surgeries • Low stomach acid • Migrating motor complex malfunction • Chronic stress • Antibiotics TESTING BACTERIAL OVERGROWTH --> PRODUCES HYDROGEN GAS --> FEEDS ARCHAEA --> PRODUCES METHANE GAS The gold standard test for SIBO diagnosis is the Hydrogen Breathe Test . It is important to make sure your physician or health care provider orders you both a hydrogen and methane breathe test in order to know what type of SIBO you are dealing with. Here is where it gets tricky…if you happen to test positive for methane dominant SIBO (constipating SIBO) but negative for hydrogen (Diarrhea SIBO), you can guarantee that you actually have BOTH hydrogen and methane producing SIBO. In order to understand this, you have to understand how the bacteria or archaea (the single celled organism responsible for constipation causing SIBO) are actually working in your small intestine. When you consume fiber, the bacteria in your small intestine ferment carbohydrates and produce hydrogen gas. Hydrogen then produces a bi-product, methane, which feeds off of the hydrogen, allowing it to grow, survive and multiply. Therefore, in order to support an overgrowth of the methane producing archaea, you need a sufficient amount of hydrogen for them to feed off of. This could mean that you are only testing positive for methane because the archaea are eating all of the hydrogen up, leaving only the methane gas detectable on your breath test. MY SIBO Journey It all started with the worst stomach virus EVER. It was days of diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, fever, and living in my bed. I honestly can remember it like it was yesterday, that’s how AWFUL I felt. Luckily after a few days, my symptoms stopped and I recovered. Unfortunately, I was left with new symptoms that I’ve never experienced before. Exactly one month after the stomach bug, I had horrible constipation, Left sided abdominal pain from trapped gas and stool, and new food sensitives. Someone who grew up with zero GI issues, this was a complete 180 and threw me for a huge loop. I had gone to see my primary care physician and after taking some stool samples and abdominal imaging, all of which were negative, she told me I had IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). I was in shock, wasn’t I literally just fine a month ago? It made absolutely no sense to me and when I asked for a referral to a Gastroenterologist she said there was no need. At the time I was a vegan, I ate super healthy and went to the gym regularly, I didn’t understand how this all happened so fast and to a seemingly young and healthy person like I thought I was. A few months went on and I couldn’t take the bloating, gas, constipation, and pain any longer so I decided to then go on a hunt for a naturopathic doctor who could give me an answer and help me bring my life back to normal. I had always been into holistic health and using herbs and food as medicine, and I slowly realized that being vegan wasn’t going to fix everything or make me invincible. I was lucky enough to find an amazing wellness clinic about 2 hours from my house and honestly at this point, I could care less about the distance. I ended up meeting with a holistic nurse practitioner who did a comprehensive intake on me, looking at my diet, the stress in my life, my exercise regimen, what supplements I was taking, and even my spiritual practices. She then decided to order me some labs based on my symptoms, one was a hydrogen breathe test (The gold standard for SIBO diagnosis) and a comprehensive stool analysis. It was about a week later and sure enough, I tested positive for hydrogen dominant SIBO and my stool analysis showed inflammation, a poor diversity of microbes in my gut, infection, insufficiency and imbalance…The perfect combination for a life of illness if left untreated. After going over my results with me, she developed a plan for me to follow that was unique to my individual needs and health concerns, the beauty of holistic medicine. I was to make a drastic change in my diet that would starve off the bacteria in my gut, add in foods beneficial for sealing my gut lining that became leaky from the infection and inflammation, and remove foods that cause allergies/sensitivities and are hard to digest. By doing this, I would be able to maximize the restoration and healing of my gastrointestinal system in a short period of time. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE THE GUT TO REPAIR ITSELF? THE BODYS ABILITY TO HEAL ITSELF IS AMAZING, ESPECIALLY THE GUT. It takes a minimum of three months to two years depending on how severe a person’s gut issues are. I can honestly say I noticed changes right away, even three days into changing my diet. I remember the first time I tried healing my SIBO, I felt so amazing that after 1 month I stopped everything I was doing and went back to eating lots of fruits, smoothies, raw vegetables and the “healthy” snacks from the store that have all the hidden sugars. I thought my gut was healed within 4 weeks. And this may be true for some people, in fact most holistic practitioners say that their clients achieve full gut restoration within 4-12 weeks. BUT, BIG MISTAKE FOR ME TO STOP AFTER 4 WEEKS. Yes, I felt amazing but my gut was not done healing. Right now, I am 7 months into my gut healing journey. The difference this time around is that for me, this is a lifestyle change. I’ve made consistent daily habits of incorporating gut health foods in to my life. The foods I’m going to talk about are now what I crave and what nourishes my body, making me feel my best. I can speak to this, as it was around month 3-4 that I really started to see BIG changes in my health. My skin started to clear up, I had tons of energy, no more boating or gas, daily healthy bowel movements and my hormones were balancing out which meant bye bye PMS, heavy bleeding, mood swings and awful cramps! I also want to mention that if you are still experiencing IBS symptoms after treating your SIBO, you should also consider testing for other hidden infections such as parasites, especially if you’ve ever had food poisoning that left you saying “I’ve never felt the same ever since”. DON’T FREAK OUT, WE ALL HAVE THEM! But that’s for another post someday. Thank you for reading PART ONE of my Healing SIBO POST! The next post will up Tomorrow and include some of the major keys to how I healed my SIBO and what I’m doing to prevent relapse. Its important to note that EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE SIBO, BUT ARE SUFFERING FROM ANY GI ISSUES AND IMBALANCES that all of these “major keys” can be extremely beneficial in most Gut conditions. WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TOO… 1. DIET CHANGES 2. ANTIMICROBIALS 3. BIOFILM DISRUPTORS 4. PROKINETICS-HEALING THE MMC 5. DETOXIFICATION 6. REPOPULATING AND SEALING THE GUT LINING

Have you ever got butterflies in your stomach before having to speak in front of a big audience or felt like you were sick before a big exam!? (I know I have and I actually have a funny story to tell you guys on my IG story). Well, this is because of something called the “gut-brain axis” which is a short way to describe how the brain communicates with our gut via the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This is also why there has been so much interest over the last decade on how our gut actually influences our mood and mental health. So, can a probiotic that alters your intestinal flora also alter or change your mood or help with anxiety or depression? Let’s see what we know so far! 1. Probiotics have been shown to reduce the waking cortisol response Cortisol is our stress hormone! It is secreted by your adrenals (two little glands that sit on top of your kidneys) in response to stress via the HPA axis. In an article published in the journal of Psychopharmacology, healthy individuals who took a prebiotic (fibers that feed our beneficial bacteria) for 3 weeks had a lower wakening cortisol level and actually showed decreased “attentional vigilance” to negative versus positive information. So aka, if you also wanna be a person who focuses more on the positive in life, take a probiotic lol! But this is just one of many studies showing this unique relationship between probiotic supplementation and the possible anti-anxiety effects from a lowered stress response (cortisol secretion). 2. Reduced Inflammation Remember when I wrote about intestinal hyperpermeability or “leaky gut” and how this is when the intestinal lining is “leaky” allowing bacteria to escape into the bloodstream and cause an inflammatory response? Well, probiotics actually have anti-inflammatory effects and help to rebuild the intestinal lining, reducing the inflammatory response we see in leaky gut. How does this relate to anxiety and depression? 30% of cases of depression are actually associated with brain INFLAMMATION. Studies have also shown that individuals taking a probiotic actually have less circulating proinflammatory cytokines and decreased symptoms of depression which is believed to be mediated in the gut. 3. Regulates the Gut-Brain-Axis The emerging data on probiotics in the treatment of anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders is so promising that there is now an entire class of research called “psychobiotics”. I find this to be so cool! Psychobiotics are beneficial bacteria that have documented efficacy in the treatment of gut-brain-axis disorders, which may be a root cause of some forms of anxiety and depression. This highlights how much influence these critters really have on our lives! From the foods we crave, to where we hold our body weight, to how healthy and happy we are! 4. Improved Sleep In the journal of Scientific Reports, a study was published that showed the potential link between gut microbiome and sleep quality. The high dose prebiotics that were fed to the subjects showed they spent more time in REM sleep, which is the stage of sleep critical for stress recovery. I have been taking a probiotic for 7 months consistently now and can also speak on this! I have noticed I have a much easier time falling asleep and the quality of my sleep is deeper and I wake up more refreshed. I’m sure this is multifactorial for me, given diet changes, exercise and reducing the stress in my life, but it is promising research!

I remember when I first tried tackling my gut issues, I thought the foods I was eating was healthy and helping me heal. For the average person the foods I was consuming would naturally promote detoxification and healing. I was consuming a ton of raw vegetables, fruit smoothies, salads, and all the things you probably think of when you hear "healthy foods". What I did not realize at the time is that the raw vegetables were extremely hard for me to digest, the smoothies were cold and dampening to my digestion, and the large amount of fruit I was consuming was feeding the bacteria overgrowths and hidden infections in my gut. I had it all wrong! I couldn't understand how nothing was working and how I became the healthiest sick person around me. Gut issues are a whole different ball game! When focusing on digestive issues and gut health in general, its important to consume foods that are soothing, healing, and easy to digest. I needed foods that would allow me to repair my intestinal lining and decrease inflammation to give me symptom relief and allow my body to start healing. After treating my small intestine bacterial over growth (SIBO) and IBS the right way, I was able to gain my health and life back. Below I'm going to list 4 main staples in my diet that have helped me tremendously in my gut healing journey. These are foods you can start consuming right now to begin your healing process as well! 1. Well cooked vegetables For me these are things like carrots, zucchini, squash, and spinach. When you cook your vegetables the nutrients become easier to digest and absorb. If you are someone suffering from IBS and IBD, chances are you have issues with malabsorption and a sluggish digestion. By cooking your veggies you make the nutrients in them more readily available to your body and getting the most out of your food! If you are someone suffering from SIBO in particular you may notice that vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, onions, and brussel sprouts cause you to become really gassy and bloated, even when cooked. This is because these foods are high in FODMAPS (fermentable-oligo-di-mono-saccharides-and polyols) and with SIBO the fermentation process is happening in your small intestine instead of your large intestine causes gas and bloating. For this reason, a diet low in FODMAPS is recommended and even clinically proven to treat IBS and related conditions. I also want to point out that raw vegetables are amazing and extremely healing to the body once proper digestion is achieved. I myself was unable to consume raw vegetables without getting abdominal pain and becoming bloated. Remember! the goal is to be able to heal your gut so that you may eventually tolerate these foods again and reverse food sensitives. 2. Grass fed meats, eggs and wild fish This was a very hard one for me to accept as I was a vegan for 4 years prior to my gut healing journey. I remember thinking how is meat and fish going to help me heal? Isn't meat loaded with hormones and antibiotics and fish filled with parasites and heavy metals like mercury? Ironically, when I started to consume pasture raised meats and wild caught fish my body began to heal and I knew this because the gas and bloating was gone. Lesson learned: trust what your body is trying to tell you and pay attention to how you feel after you consume certain foods. The key to my gut healing was consuming meals that were high in protein, high in healthy fats, minimal carbs and bye bye sugar! This allowed me to stay satiated for longer periods of time because my nutritional requirements were being met. This means my blood sugar was being balanced, I had more energy, less sugar cravings, better mood, and no more crashing at 3 pm needing a nap. I would consume eggs, pasture raised chicken, turkey and occasionally beef and steak, as well as salmon , haddock, and sometimes swordfish (because I love it). Fish, salmon in particular is high in omega 3 fatty acids and a good source of protein. 3. Bone broth In January after being diagnosed with SIBO for the second time, I started to learn about Bone broth and the amazing benefits related to gut health. Bone broth is a traditional food, used for centuries for its healing properties. Your grandmother knew what she was talking about when she made you chicken noodle soup when you were sick! It’s even a staple in some of the most popular diets recommended for people with gut issues such as the Gut and Phsyology Syndrome (GAPS) diet, keto and paleo diet. Bone broth is a nutrient power house filled with amino acids, gelatin, and collagen. All the perfect building blocks to begin repairing the gut lining. Bone broth is made by slowly simmering the bones, marrow, ligaments and all parts of the animal, to release its healing compounds such as collagen, gelatin, glutamine and more. I started to consume bone broth every morning on an empty stomach. At the time my gut was so bad that I couldn’t drink coffee because it would give me the worst acid reflux, so a hot cup of healing bone broth became my replacement. I would make my own or buy the Kettle and Fire brand from my local grocery store. It’s as simple as buying an organic whole chicken and either first roasting it in your oven for a delicious dinner and then saving the bones for your broth or just throwing the entire chicken in your crock pot on low heat for 24 hours. You would then remove the meat and put it to good use (eating it directly, making chicken salad, throwing it on top of a salad, etc), strain the bones, an then you are left with a huge pot of healing bone broth to consume and then store in your refrigerator. I would switch it up snd drink chicken, beef or mushroom flavor when I bought the kettle and fire brand. Another plus, it’s also great for your skin, hair, and nails thanks to the collagen! Collagen helps to form elastin, a compound that keeps our skin looking young and beautiful. Gelatin has also been shown to restore streghth to the gut lining and fight food sensitivities such as dairy. I think we can all agree that when our stomach is feeling upset, broth is extremely soothing. In the hospital where I work as a Registered nurse, whenever a patient comes in with nausea/vomiting or diarrhea a “clear liquid diet” is typically ordered. One of the main dishes they get on there tray is a broth because it is soothing to the stomach and often well tolerated. For this reason, when healing the gut or having a flare up of symptoms I highly recommend you try bone broth. 4. Fermented Foods and Raw Cultured Dairy Making and consuming fermented and cultured foods has been around for centuries and is a popular practice in many cultures around the world. Fermented foods provide the gut with beneficial bacteria and enzymes that make it easy to digest. Fermented foods help rebuild the microbiome, promote detoxification and elimination, decrease inflammation, improve mood, and boost the immune system. The benefits are endless, truly! This is because your gut has influence on pretty much every function in the human body and because of this, all health (or disease) begins in the gut. My personal favorite fermented foods to consume are kefir, sauerkraut, pickled veggies, raw cultured cheeses and coconut yogurt. They are easy to consume daily by having them as a snack or incorporating them on the side of your breakfast, lunch or dinner. I only consume raw dairy and here is why; the process/high heat of pasteurization kills all of the enzymes and beneficial bacteria in the milk or cheeses. This makes it extremely hard to break down the lactose in the milk. Now word of caution with dairy because it is a major trigger for people with gut issues. Dairy might have to be eliminated completely during the first stages of your gut healing journey until your gut is more balanced and infections are eliminated. The good news is, once these are corrected most people are able to tolerate dairy again, especially raw! This was exactly what happened to me, I spent 4 years completely eliminating it from my diet because of the symptoms it would cause me. However, once I healed my gut I was able to slowly re-introduce it back into my diet and learned that I did not have a true dairy allergy after all, I had a sick gut! When the time was right and for me this was 4 months into my gut healing journey, I was able to slowly re-introduce it. I hope you guys give some of these foods a try and let me know your questions in the comments down below! Cheers to a happy and healthy gut! -Tayla

Hey guys! I wanted to talk you about how so many people are living with IBS and don't know why! This was the same case for me when I was first diagnosed back in 2016. Over years of my own research and with the help of a naturopathic doctor I was able to figure out the 3 root causes of my IBS that allowed me to heal naturally. The first one I'm going to talk about is Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). I was actually diagnosed with this back in 2016 and then again in January of 2021. That's right, SIBO has a nasty way of returning! In fact, most studies show a 45% occurrence of relapse following antibiotic treatment. When I first went to the doctors I was complaining of left sided abdominal pain, new constipation, and awful bloating and gas. I'm not joking! I would sometimes wake up and drink water on an empty stomach and look 5 months pregnant! Unfortunately, I was worked up by my primary care and then told "you have IBS", no further testing or even a referral to a gastroenterologist which I asked for. So for many years I just thought “well I have IBS” and I guess I’m going to live with these symptoms forever. But I’m here to tell you that this is far from the truth, gut issues can be healed. Bloating, abdominal discomfort and the two other symptoms nobody likes to talk about, constipation and diarrhea, can be a thing of the past. If you are having any of these symptoms or this sounds all too familiar, speak with your physician or gastroenterologist to find the right plan for you! I hope that my story gives you some insight on what to look for and what questions to ask your doctor if your experiencing similar symptoms. So with that being said, lets jump right into root cause number 1... Root cause number 1: Small intestine Bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) This is a condition I dealt with first hand, on and off for many years. And here’s why, most doctors don’t even know what SIBO is! Luckily, gastroenterologist are shining more light on SIBO and getting better at treating it. SIBO is characterized by an increased amount of bacteria or abnormal bacteria in the small intestine that normally lives in the large intestine. This can cause a host of symptoms such as gas, bloating, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea or even both. This is because the bacteria that ferment carbohydrates and produce gasses like hydrogen and methane are now in the small intestine instead of the large intestine. So SIBO is not necessarily a condition of good or bad bacteria overgrowth but that they are in the wrong place! And interestingly enough, there are 3 type of SIBO, just like IBS 🧐Hydrogen dominant SIBO that causes diarrhea, methane dominant SIBO that causes constipation or SIBO with both high hydrogen and methane levels that cause diarrhea and constipation. Methane dominant SIBO, if often referred to as the “worst” type because of its ability to decrease GI motility (although both hydrogen and methane SIBO can affect motility). If this sounds familiar, it’s because studies have shown that 85 % of people with IBS actually have SIBO. I have so much to say on this topic regarding diagnosis, symptom management, and treatment and therefore SIBO will be getting it’s own post very soon! Root Cause Number 2: : Gut Dysbiosis This is basically a fancy name for an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in your gut, including poor diversity of the types of microorganism inhabiting it! I started reading a book recently by Dr. Aviva Romm called "Hormone Intelligence" and I love how she worded this, she stated that your gut microbiome should be like “an ideal Amazon rainforest” meaning that there should be a vast amount of diverse bacteria, fungi, and viruses that help keep your entire body functioning optimally. Unfortunately, in today’s world, with poor nutrition and the amount of antibiotics that are prescribed to us, our microbiome have taken a big hit. Some studies have even shown that antibiotics can PERMANENTLY alter our gut flora. Not only can antibiotics cause gut dysbiosis but stomach virus’s/bugs can do this as well. I believe this is what happened to me back in 2016 with my SIBO diagnosis. I had the worst stomach bug for 5 days and a month later I couldn’t eat certain foods, had the worst bloating and constipation, and terrible abdominal pain. Gut dysbiosis is also associated with IBS symptoms of gas, bloating, constipation and/or diarrhea. It is estimated that 73% of people with IBS have a gut dysbiosis or imbalance. Root Cause Number 3: Intestinal hyperpermeability or “leaky gut”. Our intestinal lining is very similar to our skin (the largest organ in our body), in that it is our first line of defense against infection. Just like when we get a cut or open wound and bacteria can enter our blood stream causing a cellulitis for example, our gut too is meant to stay sealed and protected, away from our blood stream. Unfortunately, with gut infections (even the hidden ones you may not know you have, like candida, for example), antibiotics, stress, poor nutrition, etc. our gut lining becomes compromised and starts to break down. The intestinal lining becomes similar to cheese cloth, having tiny micro holes that allow our nutrition and proteins of bacteria to escape, getting into our blood stream instead of heading in to the large intestine to be eliminated. This starts a huge cascade of events, the inflammatory immune response. This is because anything foreign entering our blood stream, like pathogenic bacteria or viruses, our immune system goes to attack it. This same inflammatory immune response has been proven in some autoimmune conditions. And what do we know about INFLAMMATORY bowel diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis? They are both accompanied by chronic inflammation. There continues to be growing evidence supporting the association between intestinal hyperpermeability/“leaky gut” , and inflammatory bowel diseases, as well as IBS and the symptoms we discussed such as gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea, anxiety and depression. Seal the gut to heal the gut!