Lots of you guys have been asking about this, here’s the low-down.
SIBO is short for small intestinal bacteria overgrowth. And yes it’s a thing!
Essentially it’s when a higher concentration of bacteria crawl up and inhabit your small intestine. But our small intestine doesn’t do so well with having to accommodate extra microbial guests, so they can mess with the normal functioning.
What are the symptoms?
Common symptoms include bloating, diarrhoea, tummy pain and urgency. Sound familiar? Like IBS perhaps? Well, there certainly is a crossover between the two.
In fact, one meta-analysis (that’s when the results of multiple studies are looked at) found that 40% of people with IBS had a positive breath test for SIBO.
Full disclosure
Breath tests certainly aren’t clear cut and they have pretty significant limitations, so they only form part of the picture. For more details, including ways of managing SIBO, check out my book Eat Yourself Healthy & Love Your Gut.
