Natural SIBO Treatment Protocols That Actually Work

If you've ever had small intestine bacteria overgrowth (SIBO) - You know it's hard to get rid of. Most people fail because they miss 2 of the 3 steps required to eliminate SIBO.

Good news is you can right the ship quickly with the right protocol.

We'll go over that in just a second, but first:

What Are the Symptoms of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth?

Last week we went in depth on the symptoms of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). You can read about it here:

What are the Symptoms of SIBO.

SIBO symptoms can include:

• Nausea

• Abdominal pain and bloating

• An uncomfortable feeling of fullness after eating

• Diarrhea

• Unintentional weight loss

• Malnutrition

• Excess gas

• Joint pain

• Vitamin deficiencies

• Mineral deficiencies

• Difficulty absorbing fat soluble vitamins

• Inability to digest lactose

• Low ability to digest fats

In addition to the digestive symptoms, SIBO can cause a number of mental symptoms as well.

Psychological symptoms of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth:

• Brain Fog

• Insomnia

• Fatigue

• Nervous system issues

How To treat SIBO Naturally

This is key find a natural way to cure SIBO without antibiotics. 

While some antibiotic therapies are effective at treating SIBO, the problem is removing the overgrowth isn't just one stage of the process.

To get back to a healthy life, you need to go through an entire protocol and improve your overall gut health. Otherwise SIBO will be a recurring theme.

There are 3 Phases to healing SIBO naturally.

KILL PHASE: Reduce symptoms with diet and kill the overgrowth.
HEAL PHASE: Repopulate your gut with good bacteria
OPTIMIZE: Support digestion keep SIBO from coming back.

It's important not to skip one of these steps otherwise you'll have difficulty in treating SIBO.

PHASE 1: KILL PHASE

Step one of getting rid of SIBO is getting the overgrowth under control and killing it off. One of the most important things to do before you kill the bacteria, is to switch to a low FODMAP diet or an elimination diet.

Typically if you are doing an elimination diet, it will be combined with a food sensitivities test.

Go on a Low FODMAP Diet To Reduce Symptoms of SIBO

To get bacterial overgrowth under control it's important to switch to a low FODMAP diet, especially if you have severe SIBO symptoms. A low fodmap diet allows you to stop feeding the yeast overgrowth and makes it easier to kill the bad bacteria.

FODMAP is an acronym for: fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols.

Cutting down sugar and carbs are key to treating SIBO, specially high fructose corn syrup an starchy vegetables.

The FODMAP diet will reduce gut inflammation. Lower gut inflammation helps with leaky gut or other digestive tract issues caused by SIBO. This should give relief to some of your symptoms as well. Your digestive tract will enjoy the break as well:).

Killing Off SIBO Naturally

Once you've calmed the SIBO down, it's time to kill the bacterial overgrowth. There are a number of herbal supplements to do this with.

One that we have seen have great success killing bacterial infections and is recommend by many doctors is ZOIBEN. Zoiben is one of the herbal supplements on the market. It is a mix of essential oils with antifungal properties. It's been proven to kill small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) in a number of settings.

Zoiben is a proprietary blend of organic ginger, clove, thyme, and oregano oil , with steam distilled pine resin extract, berberine Hcl and Vitamin E, in a base of organic pumpkin seed oil.

This combination and produced great result for treating SIBO Naturally. We follow the results:).

 

HEAL PHASE: Repopulate Your Stomach with Good Gut Bacteria

Failing to understand the gut microbiome and how to repopulate the gut with good bacteria is where most protocols fail. We have to get to the root cause.

Most people when they get relief from SIBO symptoms go back to their normal diet. Only to be frustrated again with abdominal pain because the harmful bacteria came back.

The problem is not the herbal antibiotics.

The problem is the protocol didn't take into account how long it takes for gastrointestinal tract to fully repair itself.

It typically takes around 90 days for the intestinal lining to fully repair itself.

During this time we want to start bringing back things like fermented foods and other foods we were not allergic too.

Start With Prebiotics and Sibo Probiotics To Restore Digestive Health

As your gut health starts to improve after the kill phase of your SIBO treatment, improving your gut motility is important. Gut motility is how food moves through your digestive tract.

The advantage of having more bowel movements is excess bacteria doesn't have time to linger. This helps reduce IBS symptoms and reduce the chance of recurring fungal infections.

Prebiotics also can provide oligosaccharides that are not fermentable which are important to our overall gut health. This also reduces the chances of developing SIBO again.

Panaceum is a supplement doctors have used to help repopulate the gut bacteria.

OPTIMIZE PHASE: Support the digestive tract to keep SIBO from coming back.

Once we've restored the digestive symptom and eliminated SIBO, we want to make sure we deal with the root cause of the issue. We also want to take care of nutrient deficiencies that are caused by a SIBO infection.

The goal is also to go back to regular life!

Once we've taken care of SIBO naturally, we want to go enjoy more foods without worrying about our gut lining causing these recurring problems. To do this, you just need to know how to keep the digestive system working well.

Most SIBO related issues are centered around 3 areas:

1. Poor gut motility
2. See if you have food allergies
3. Improper levels of Digestive Enzymes and stomach acid

Natural Strategies for Supporting Digestion and Motility

We can improve on our digestive health and motility with a few simple steps that will help your gut microbiome stay healthy.

A. Stay Hydrated: Hydration is an important step for digestion and overall immune system health. When you are not hydrated, the body can pull water from the digestive system. This causes a host of issues beyond SIBO.

B. Eat Fermented Foods: While some FODMAPS my worsen SIBO, once your digestion is repaired you want to add back in fermented foods unless you have a food allergy.

C. Exercise and work to reduce stress: Stress has a clear link to stomach issues and irritable bowel syndrome. Work on ways or use natural remedies to reduce stress.

Food sensitivities

Many people report they can eat normal foods again after the bad bacteria in the small intestine is eliminated. Truth is, most of the time what appeared as a food allergy was simply the gut bacteria out of wack.

That said, there are some food sensitivities that should be tested for, especially if you are experiencing symptoms after gut healing.

A simple food sensitivity test or a Carroll food test can help you find out what you shouldn't eat. A food sensitivity test looks at your immune system reaction to certain foods and shows where are are actual sensitivities.

Improve Digestive Enzymes and Stomach Acid

One of the best natural remedies to treating irritable bowel syndrome and balancing stomach acid is Gentian and Skullcap. You can take this in simple capsule form to restore digestion.  A trusted brand is Modern Vital.

We also want to make sure we have proper levels of bile salts. It's common for bile salt production to be thrown off with SIBO or when using conventional antibiotics.

Conclusion

A lot of people want to know how to treat SIBO naturally. SIBO treatment is not complex, but most people try to treat SIBO without fully understanding how the gut and small intestine work.

This is why natural SIBO treatment needs to take into account all 3 phases to deal with the root cause and promote long term health with herbal therapy.

Once the 3 phases are followed, bad bacteria in the small intestine and gut lining doesn't stand a chance. People are able to get the beneficial bacteria to return and have their health restored.

Treating SIBO FAQ's

Is there another herbal supplement or essential vitamins needed to treat SIBO?

We just follow the research on what helps IBS, SIBO, and other issues of the digestive system. Enteric coated peppermint oil has shown promise in treating IBS. MCT's - a majority of which come from coconut oil has been known to have positives effects dealing with SIBO treatment.

 

Should people take antibiotics for SIBO?

Answer: We mostly hear stories of people who want to treat SIBO naturally. Some people may chose antibiotics over herbal antibiotics or herbal remedies.

This is is something to consult your doctor about. Doctors have different methods to diagnose SIBO and treat it.

Overall, it is important after sibo treatment to follow the other 2 steps in the protocol which are focused on general gut health.

Are there other diets to Follow Besides FODMAP?

The specific carbohydrate diet and the elemental diet are other diets used. The elemental diet is typically used as a last result. You can read more about the elemental diet from the Cleveland Clinic. There have been research on the elemental diet being an effective SIBO treatment.