Carbohydrates that are Safe for SIBO

Do you suspect you have SIBO? Or potentially SIFO?

SIBO is getting a lot of press these days and for good reason, a LOT of people are struggling with it.

What is it? Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and I believe for most, they are also dealing with SIFO, small intestinal fungal overgrowth related to mold toxicity and other chronic fungal infections.

How does this happen?

  • Eating poor quality food

  • Taking antibiotics, birth control, PPI's, or other medications that negatively alter the gut microbiome

  • Too much stress leading to sympathetic dominance

  • Drinking alcohol causing an overburdened liver

  • Constipation which leads to poor detox and drainage from liver, gallbladder and colon. This increases the toxic load.

  • Parasites are often the true cause of SIBO, especially for those who keep treating it but it continues to come back.

  • Other pathogens like mold and heavy metals which negatively impact the microbiome.

One of the first places to start when addressing SIBO is diet, and often client's are eating absolutely no carbs because one bite triggers severe bloating. This is not sustainable, nor is it healthy for your hormones, specifically thyroid hormone in women. This can also negatively impact your sleep and make you feel more sympathetic dominant, (think high heart rate, racing thoughts, increased adrenaline).

So we want you to be consuming some carbs in order to keep the balance with other hormones. In addition, I have seen that eating some carbs especially while parasite cleansing can be extremely effective because this is what they feed off of and we need them to feed and then to take our herbal anti-parasitics to kill them.

So what carbs are ok to eat? Of course for each person this will vary but for many some safe carbs are:

  • Berries, especially blueberries

  • Grapes

  • Honeydew melon (1/2 cup)

  • Papaya (can be a histamine liberator, proceed with caution)

  • Kiwi (histamine liberator)

  • Parsnips

  • Red bell pepper

  • Carrots

  • Sweet potato

  • Yams

  • Turnip

  • Zucchini

  • As far as grains, some can tolerate millet, buckwheat or teff

If needed to, take with a DAO enzyme and I'm also a big fan of this product to help with SIBO symptoms while also addressing the root cause. It is something I would also bring when eating out in case I was worried about reacting to foods in order to prevent bloating.

Keep in in mind these diet restrictions are temporary and the goal is to reduce gas in the small intestine that is produced by the harmful bacteria that shouldn't be there. So by combining the low FODMAP diet with your SIBO, parasite and/or mold protocol, you should only have to restrict carbs for the first phase of the program.

Heather Oricchio