Believe it or not, bloating isn’t a normal digestive process and is a sign that your digestive system isn’t functioning optimally. In the perfect digestive system, there would be very little burping, bloating, abdominal pain, gas, and indigestion. Of course, drinking a fizzy drink is going to cause belching due to the gas that is released in your stomach. Beyond that, there really shouldn’t be much gas production throughout the digestive tract. When bloating occurs, it is a sign that foods aren’t being digested properly in the small intestine. One very common reason that this might happen is something called SIBO or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, or SIFO, small intestinal fungal overgrowth. Both of these produce the same symptoms and are managed the same way. Keep reading to learn why SIBO is known for bloating, belching, and bacterial overgrowth.
What is SIBO?
In a normal digestive tract, all bacteria found in food would be killed by stomach acid before entering the small intestine. Most of the digestion and nutrient absorption process takes place in the small intestine where digested materials aren’t (typically) exposed to any significant gut bacteria or fungus. Once these materials move on to the large intestine, they should then be exposed to a normal amount of gut flora that assists in the digestive process by digesting things such as fiber and producing a lot of essential nutrients that we wouldn’t normally obtain. In SIBO, there is some sort of process that causes there to be excessive growth of bacteria in the small intestine. These invasive bacteria eat whatever is moving through the digestive tract and produce gas, leading to that burping and bloating that I mentioned before.
What Causes SIBO?
SIBO and SIFO can happen in a few different ways. First, there can be an introduction of abnormal or provocative microbes into the small intestine. Or, normal large intestine flora can make its way into the small intestine. The former can happen easily from contracting food poisoning, but is also more likely when there is low stomach acid. High acidity has a greater potential to kill unwanted microbes before they reach the small intestine.
For normal large intestine microbes to enter the small intestine, there needs to be dysfunction of the ileocecal valve. The ileocecal valve is sensitive to changes in autonomic function. The autonomic nervous system is made up of two divisions. One of these, the sympathetic nervous system, is responsible for our fight or flight response and functions more during stress. The parasympathetic nervous system functions to calm the system and controls processes such as digestion. When there is stress, the ileocecal valve can become dysfunctional, leading to bacteria or fungus creeping into the small intestine.
How Do We Fix It?
To correct any gut imbalance, you need to make sure that the doors that could lead to recurrence are closed. Decreasing stress levels and increasing the acidity of the digestive tract are good places to start. Antimicrobial herbs are necessary to reduce the overgrowth of whatever is causing problems. This typically takes about 6 weeks and 3 different herbs to fully solve the issue.
If you’d like to make your system even more difficult for abnormal microbes to survive, avoiding sugars, alcohol, fermented foods, and cheese can help. This can ease symptoms while the herbs work their magic.
Digestive issues aren’t the end of the world. If you’re struggling with bloating, relief may only be a few weeks away with the proper care. If you are experiencing any digestive issues and would like to discuss them, book a free consultation with me here. To find other docs that practice how I do, click here. For more digestion articles, click here.