Today, I'm going to help connect the dots between IBS and SIBO, so stay tuned.
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My name's Amanda Malachesky.
I'm a certified functional nutrition health coach and a digestive and allergy detective.
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So IBS and SIBO have a lot of the same symptoms.
So today, I'm going to talk about how IBS and SIBO are connected and how they're different.
By the end of today's video, you'll know if IBS and SIBO are separate conditions and you'll
have an idea of where to start addressing them.
I've noticed that a lot of people get kind of tied in knots trying to figure this stuff
out for themselves, so let me help you clarify this so you can take calm and focused action
for yourself.
Let's go.
First of all, what are SIBO and IBS?
All right, so SIBO is an acronym that stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.
And as the name implies, it is an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine where there
really shouldn't be very much bacteria.
And IBS is Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome is kind of a broad umbrella
term that means you have digestive trouble essentially.
The official criteria are that you have abdominal pain, which is accompanied by a change in
bowel movements that has been going on for three months or more, at least once a week.
Common symptoms of SIBO and IBS are very similar.
They can both cause bloating, abdominal pain, frequent and persistent diarrhea or constipation
or both.
There's a number of non digestive symptoms that both SIBO and IBS can also cause and
these include things like joint pain, brain fog, skin conditions, headaches, and things
like this but the digestive symptoms are really the hallmarks.
Now because the symptoms are so similar between IBS and SIBO, you might be tempted to think
that IBS is caused by SIBO.
And there is a documented connection between them, so in some studies that were done, about
a third of people with IBS have SIBO.
And if you have IBS, there's a five fold increased risk of you testing positive for SIBO.
But they're not totally the same thing.
There can be different causes for IBS that are beyond bacterial overgrowth in the small
intestine.
And so what this essentially means is that in two thirds of IBS cases, there are other
causes for it besides SIBO.
And there are lots of other conditions that can cause IBS-like symptoms, so other digestive
diseases, things like celiac disease or Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis are some options
or possibilities that could cause IBS symptoms.
Fat malabsorption or bacterial overgrowth in the large intestine are also other possibilities.
And even thyroid imbalances can cause IBS symptoms.
So all of this is just to say that it's important that we not jump to conclusions.
There can be a lot of other reasons for IBS besides just SIBO.
So here's something to consider in that vein.
Treating SIBO doesn't always lead to an improvement in IBS symptoms.
And similarly, even if SIBO results change on a SIBO lab test, that doesn't necessarily
correlate with an improvement in IBS symptoms.
So what does this really mean?
It just means that SIBO is really just a lab finding, it's something that turns up on a
piece of paper and sometimes it correlates with your symptoms, but it doesn't always,
so we don't want to limit ourselves to that kind of thinking when we're looking at all
of this.
So what does this mean for you if you have these uncomfortable symptom?
In a lot of ways, we don't necessarily need to know whether you have exactly IBS or SIBO
or both, or neither, what we need to focus on, as far as I'm concerned as a diet and
lifestyle professional, is that what we know is that your gut is inflamed, it's having
symptoms, you're having diarrhea or constipation or bloating or pain.
And these are signs that your body needs some support but we really don't need to focus
on the diagnosis at all.
We know what we need to do.
We can take action to shift this landscape and then if the diet and lifestyle piece doesn't
provide the results that you're looking for, then we can start digging deeper and pursuing
some kind of diagnosis with the help of a doctor.
Now, your diet is always an excellent place to start this process because we know that
if we're eating inflammatory foods, and an inflammatory food is really any food that
you are reacting negatively to, then that can just keep inflaming your gut and preventing
it from healing, it can't ever get a rest.
And the most researched diet to approach these kinds of symptoms, IBS symptoms, is the low
FODMAP diet.
There are multiple studies that show improvement for people with both IBS and SIBO of symptoms
of bloating and abdominal pain, frequent stool or constipation from using a low FODMAP diet.
So this is the place that I usually start people who are having these symptoms.
FODMAPs are essentially fermentable carbohydrates.
And so this diet is an elimination diet to temporarily remove vegetables and other foods
that have high amount of fermentable carbohydrate.
And then you step-by-step re-introduce foods to see which ones you react to.
And this can help you customize your diet to reduce strain on your digestive system.
And if you need a little bit more information about the low FODMAP diet, you can check out
my earlier video, what is the low FODMAP diet, and when to use it?
Along with improving your diet, including probiotics makes a world of difference for
improving both IBS and SIBO symptoms.
Probiotics have been shown in multiple studies to improve inflammation in the gut.
They help crowd out any bad bacteria that are in there, so whether your IBS or SIBO
is related to bacteria overgrowth, probiotics can help.
And they also have been shown to reduce many of the SIBO and IBS symptoms.
I've recommending the advice that Dr. Ruscio gives his patients, which is to include one
each of the three main types of probiotics.
So this is a lactobacillus bifidobacterium blend, a Saccharomyces boulardii probiotic
and a soil-based probiotic, altogether.
The three of them together have more synergy than using one at a time.
And a lot of times people don't see results from that one at a time approach, but using
all three together can actually make a major shift in your gut health.
So I do have another video for you about this, it's called when to use probiotics for gut
health.
I'll leave a link for that below this video.
And there'll probably be a card up here in the corner over here.
Finally, some basic digestive supports can also make a really huge difference here.
And the two main things that I would include in this category are increasing your stomach
acid either by a little bit of lemon juice or Apple cider vinegar before meals or betaine
hydrochloride as a supplement and digestive enzymes before every meal.
So these are just basic supports that improve your digestive function and help your gut
do the work that it needs to do digesting.
And I do have videos about both of these topics, I will leave a link for one of them here,
how to increase your stomach acid.
And I will also leave a link below this video for how to choose the right digestive enzymes
for you.
So after these basic steps, which by the way, it can take a little while to dial these in
and get them set up just right for you.
You may not tolerate this probiotic, but you might tolerate these other ones or this digestive
enzyme might bother your stomach and this one might be fine.
And dialing in the diet can take a little while, so after you've got these basic foundation
set in place, some of you will find that your symptoms are all better and that is super
awesome.
And then for those of you, for whom it's not, the path diverges from here about what to
do next.
So for some of you, the problem could be structural.
You might have adhesions in your gut or scars from previous surgeries or injuries that are
impacting the ability of your food to move through your digestive system.
So things like physical therapy or massage therapy might be the right answer for you.
For others of you, it might be nutrient deficiencies, things like magnesium can really make a huge
difference.
Or for others, it could be a bacterial overgrowth that is getting in the way of your progress
and that's something that you're going to need to handle, and you might need the help
of a doctor or a functional medicine doctor to help you sort out what kind of infection
is going on to do some testing and to recommend a treatment protocol.
And if your motility is slow, there are both pharmaceutical and natural agents that can
help speed that up.
So there's a lot of different layers to this, and it just helps to get methodical about
things and to think about doing them in an order and using each experiment to try and
understand what do I know to be true about my gut right now?
And what do I still have questions about that I need to answer so that I get a more complete
picture over time goes on about what's happening in my gut?
The key thing to keep in mind here is to run one experiment at a time so that you slowly
build up your library of knowledge about what's true for your body.
And if you try too many things at once, you may find that you're not clear about which
things are helping and which things aren't.
And as always, if you have really persistent gut problems that are rather severe, it is
important for you to be evaluated by your conventional doctor, your primary care provider
or a gastroenterologist.
So don't overlook that as an important step along your way, for them to rule out things
that might be more serious than just a simple irritation or food and sensitivity or bacterial
overgrowth.
So I'm curious to hear what has improved your IBS or SIBO symptoms the most.
Tell me about it in the comments below this video.
Well, that's the scoop on IBS and SIBO and what's the difference between them.
I hope that helped clarify some of the confusion and help give you some idea of where you need
to be directing your attention if you are someone who is struggling with the symptoms.
And if you are someone who struggling with symptoms, but you're looking for a little
bit more support, there's two main ways that I can help you.
The first is you can download my free guide called The Roadmap to Gut Recovery.
Inside, you'll find the tools and a step-by-step roadmap that explains some of these steps
I talked about and the order in which you need to use them to heal.
You can download that by visiting confluencenutrition.com/roadmap, and I will leave a link for that below this
video.
Or if you'd like to talk to me about working together, you can schedule a free 30 minute
assessment session with me by visiting me at confluencenutrition.com/contact and I will
also leave a link for that below this video.
Well, I hope you got some clarity about what IBS and SIBO are and what the differences
between them and where you can get started to work on resolving your root causes.
I hope this cleared up some anxiety and confusion and left you with an idea of where to go first
with your foundations and where to go after that.
I do invite you to like this video and send it on to others who might need it.
And I really do appreciate reading your comments so say hi to me down below in the comments,
and I will see you next time.