Are you bothered by abdominal bloating, gas, flatulence, belching or an irritable bowel (constipation alternating with diarrhea, or maybe predominantly one or the other)? You may have a condition called “small intestine bacterial overgrowth,” or SIBO, a relatively newly recognized form of intestinal dysbiosis. You may already know about one kind of intestinal dysbiosis, where candida and/or other bad bugs get the upper hand over the good bugs in your intestines. SIBO is another kind of intestinal dysbiosis found only in the small intestine—that twenty-foot long convoluted tube curled up in your abdomen that leads from stomach to colon. When bacteria and other microorganisms that usually live in the small intestine, with beneficial or at least neutral effects, proliferate abnormally (“overgrow”), a pathological situation develops. This leads to the kind of symptoms mentioned above, as well as to nausea, leaky gut, malabsorption and deficiencies in certain n…

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort, along with chronic diarrhea, constipation, or both—either mixed or in alternation. Its impact ranges from mild inconvenience to severe debilitation. The economic burden of IBS to our country was estimated at $30 billion yearly in 2007. It affects 25-45 million people in the US, about 10-15% of the population worldwide. Studies indicate IBS is rare in underdeveloped countries and increases as countries (and their diets) become westernized. Women are twice as likely as men to be afflicted with IBS.Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) isn’t restricted to adults. It’s been estimated that up to 25% of school-aged children worldwide suffer from RAP, and that about 60% of RAP is actually IBS. Although factors such as stress, hormonal fluctuations, and food allergies and sensitivities can trigger IBS and RAP, their causes are unknown.However, research done in the last twenty years indicates that for anywhere…