I just thought I'd comment and let you know that I also did the elemental diet for 14 days and did a colonic twice while I was on it--- when I re-tested for SIBO my numbers were higher than they had ever been (went from being low to in the 100s!!)... Both my doctor (Dr. Steven Sandberg Lewis) and I were extremely perplexed. Hearing your story makes me wonder if there could be a connection between the colonics and our not so pleasing results. Food for thought! Love your work and your positive attitude through the whole healing process which can be very frustrating at times.
I'm sorry to hear your numbers were higher too! I do really think the colonic had a part to play in my methane suddenly being there. Did SSL have anything to say about it for you?
@@chriscampbell8948 I’m very sorry to hear that. Which brand of ED did you use? And do you have any other co-existing illnesses which may have contributed to such an extreme response?
Thank you for sharing. I also still have SIBO after 3 weeks on the ED. However, I feel so much better now that I've found a diet that works for me. I am going to re-test in about a week, and although I'm still symptomatic and I think I still have SIBO, my symptoms are greatly reduced, so I'm very happy about that. Also, my diet has opened up quite a bit, which decreases my stress and allows me to not focus on SIBO, SIBO, SIBO all day long.
I used to be 101 lbs for many, many years and out of no where I gained 25 lbs and I know it is more bloating and inflammation than it is fat because I have never been a big eater? Could this be SIBO?
Wow! I too have HH with all the accompanying symptoms. Recently experiencing bloating, increased inflammation & joint pain. Thank you for this valuable info!
Hi Rebecca. I would like to ask you how long do you believe it takes to make a significant change to your gut microbiome? I've started eating a greater variety of foods in an attempt to improve my gut microbiome, and I'm wondering what time frame I should be looking at for any changes.
WA Products Dr Jason Hawrelak says you should be able to see a difference in a uBiome test within a few months. I started to really notice how much better I felt about 6 months into treatment and it’s just improved from there
I started the elemental diet along with the herbal antibiotics today. My doctor told me that I can eat if I want and just to replace a meal or two with the ED powder. I am hoping for the best. 🙌
@@Angel-ms7sf Total fail. I spent a whole year trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Extremely expensive with holistic doctors. At the end I found Tranont. That helps tremendously with the bloating.
The one you have combined sibo , I have got same one but so what was your symptoms and what treatment did you get ? After watching all this video then got confused
No, gas wasn't such an issue for me. I did get bloated but not so gassy. After the ED I did feel great, despite not getting a negative breath test result.
In your Sibo test, you did after the ED, the hydrogen levels didn't go up until after 90minutes. I thought hydrogen levels going up after 90 minutes are a result of fermentation of lactulose in the large intestine. That's what I've been told that what happens after 90 minutes is due to bacteria fermentation in the large intestine. Now I'm confused.
I’ve an ileostomy & 2 small bowel resections due to adhesions, now experiencing obstructions requiring NG tube into stomach. Dietitian to put me on elemental diet, wanted to ask how weak you felt on it, I’ve heard people suffer fatigue, I also need to lose 3 stone. Im absolutely dreading it as I love sweets. I really doubt it will help my adhesions! I’ve had 8 obstructions in 7 months. Any advice is defo welcome 🇬🇧🇬🇧🤴🏻
You talk about trying to lose weight but do your cook books also support gaining weight while on the SIBO diet? Your cook books list great recipes that contain close to none of my trigger foods, including onions and vinegar for my GERD! I'm just wondering if there's a calorie count in the books so I can easily track my daily consumption with my dietitian. Thank you so much for making this channel and the website. It feels like a beacon of light in a world where doctors just lead me in circles trying to find a cause to my digestion issues.
Zatchham my books aren’t designed for weight loss or weight gain in mind. Instead I focus on providing delicious and healthy SIBO friendly recipes that take the stress away from eating. You could easily enter the recipe ingredients into a calorie counting program like MyFitnessPal if you wanted to work out your macros and calorie content.
Well an elemental diet is typically for 1 to 3 weeks, which is much longer than you can water fast. So although water fasting has the same principle of starving your gut bacteria, but only for shorter bursts
Just curious if you have heard about the supplement IP6? I had heard that it can be helpful with access iron, have you heard of this? I am just curious because since going into menopause my ferritin has increased but iron is ok?
I also have hemochromatosis and my doctor think I have SIBO. She did not test me she said that they don’t do testing. She gave me a prescription for Xifaxana to take to see if it helps with my SIBO symptoms. But i don’t even know if i have SIBO . I did not take them . I didn’t realize hemochromatosis is link to SIBO. I been feeling so bad for the past two years . No doctor can find out why I’m so sick . I lost so much weight I’m only 87lbs . I can’t afford to go on a SIBO diet if I’m going to lose weight. I have burning through my whole body . Does your hemochromatosis affect your life at all ? How do you know if your organs are in trouble? What test did you take for SIBO ?
mobfighter Boss this article should help you get your head around SIBO more: www.thehealthygut.com/start-here-small-intestine-bacterial-overgrowth/ and this podcast is all about SIBO testing and will help you understand why it’s important to know if you actually have SIBO and what type: www.thehealthygut.com/podcast/breath-test/
There is a DIY version of the elemental diet that is cheaper. Also, you have to subtract the cost of food for 2 weeks from the price because you won’t be eating. I’m going to try the DIY version.
Hi Rebecca I'm so glad I came across this video. I also have abdominal adhesions and I'm getting small bowel obstructions every so often. I've tried every diet I can think of and I'm still in so much pain. Is there any advice you could give me to help with this? I'm so exhausted from trying to figure this out without any doctors to help. Thank you!!
@@itsagoodday2165 thank you so much for the advice. I did try the carnivore but unfortunately the solids put me in the hospital. But I definitely like the diet and will do it when my bowel let's me. I'll check out that massage too. 😊
It's a treatment option for SIBO. You can read more about what it is and why you would do it here: thehealthygut.com/part-1-how-to-prepare-for-the-elemental-diet/
@@TheHealthyGuts Oh wow.. Now, I'm nervous b/c I just bought 10 bags of it, and planning on starting it soon :/ I have 20 ppm methane dom. Low hydro, Now I'm worried I should of got the Keto version
I know quite a few people with hemochromatosis and they were told by their Oncologist/Hematologist to donate blood or Therapeutic Phlebotomy! I wonder why your doctor did not recommend this method since it is not a transmissible condition?
did you ever make a video talking about the weight loss method you switched to that was working for you? I would love to do what you did you seem to be glowing in this video
Leandro, eu comprei o Neocate LCP. É uma fórmula elemental usada em crianças. Como não encontrei nenhuma outra fórmula, pedi para minha nutricionista calcular quanto eu deveria tomar por dia. Estou no quinto dia. O gosto é nojento, mas parece estar funcionando
@@leandroinacio9127 estou me alimentando exclusivamente com o Neocate. Recomendo procurar uma nutricionista para calcular o quanto você precisa ingerir. Eu já emagreci bastante
I don't know why "SIBO" would only be two types of bacteria- methane or hydrogen producing ones. Seems to me that there could be thousands of different types of bacteria overgrowth. I think you killed off some of the most Inflammatory types that don't fall under the two types tested by the breath test.
The breath test doesn’t test for bacteria types. It measures gas output (hydrogen and methane and in the US you can now test for hydrogen sulfide as well). Leading SIBO researcher, Dr Mark Pimentel, has been studying the types or organisms that create SIBO and there are 3 key species: M. Smithii, Klebsiella and E Coli.
Methane isn't produced by bacteria, Betty. The reason it's tested for is because it's produced by an organism known as an archaea, which require different drugs to kill than the standard Hydrogen treatment (which is rifaximin.) Also, Archaea cause problems both in the small intestine and large intestine, so it must be a drug that can reach the large intestine, which rifaximin generally does not (and is one of its hallmark benefits.)
@@TheHealthyGuts Hi there, I've just bought the "Bioclinic Elementall Diet" (apparently its the only one u can buy in Australia?). I took it for 1 day, my symptoms worsened, so I stopped to do more research. It does contain a lot of dextrose, I read above that you did an ED dextrose free? Who advised the dextrose free one please & where can u get that? Is it possible to get your daily nutrients plus energy requirements without the dextrose in there? It did feel so counter-intuitive for me to start consuming a sugary drink all day long after months on a total sugar free sibo diet!
I believe I've got sibo since 4 months due to intense stress and ill eating habits(I've littrealy no other health problem but this)... I've read serval studies as to how stress affects the autonomous nervous system which in turn affects digestion and favours sibo... also planning to work with a naturopath to get myself treated- I did love if you could share your opinion on if I'd get better with the typical treatment protocol for sibo and by caring more for my overall mental health....
In clinical studies, the Elemental Diet is the most effective treatment at rapidly clearing gas levels in approx 85% of patients. So it can be very effective. SIBO returns because the underlying cause(s) has not been addressed and commonly a prokinetic has not been used.
Hi Rebecca and thank you so much for your very helpful videos! I was wondering one thing: how do you explain the belly still swelling (it's my case) several days after starting the elemental diet, when the bacteria are not supposed to have food anymore?
Courtney Rose it’s not recommended and you don’t need to. You do one or the other. Many people start with herbs and move to the ED after they’ve tried everything else.
@@JamieR that's actually incorrect. Herbs + ED aren't generally recommended at the same time. Plus, the herbs can be very irritating to the empty gut and are often better tolerated when there is some food in the stomach/digestive tract. What is more commonly prescribed is a course of herbs, followed by the ED, and if still required because SIBO hasn't cleared, a subsequent course of herbs after the ED. Anti-fungals are different and are sometimes required during the ED if there is a fungal overgrowth as well as a bacterial overgrowth. I had some anti-fungals ready in case I needed them during the ED, but I was able to manage it well and never ended up in a full blown candida flare.
The SIBO test is not 100% accurate, you could as well have a false positive. Trust what you feel! Also try to massage your valve (right from the navel) regularly.
It is a very good indicator of whether there is an overgrowth or not. We do not produce hydrogen or methane gas, so if they appear on a breath test, it shows bacterial activity.
@@TheHealthyGuts Rebecca, so do you still have SiBO? This is my 2nd time doing the elemental diet since the same time you did yours. I just want to know if you have finally found a treatment that worked for you. Thanks for all the info you have shared with us. Very helpful.
@@jazzy17forever I don’t have it at the moment but may well get it again given I’ve had multiple cases of food poisoning (MMC damage aka functional issues) and adhesions (structural issues). But I find when I treat it when I relapse, it takes less time to recover from the relapse than it did the first time I treated it.
@@TheHealthyGuts oh no. I hope you don’t get it anymore. 😣 I’ve had Sibo for 4 years and I’ve done several rounds of herbal treatments with xifaxan and elemental diets and nothing has helped. Is very frustrating. Thank you for your books and your podcasts.
@@jazzy17forever I have chronic relapsing SIBO so I will continue to get it, but now I know what it is, when it does return I get onto treatment quickly and it’s really not a problem for me like it used to be.