SIBO: how it affects health and what foods should be consumed with caution

In recent months talks a lot about SIBO on social networks and on various websites. This disorder is often referred to as an “epidemic” of people with gastrointestinal problems. In the same sense, product offers “treat” it as if it were disease In itself.

However, this advertising practice has led to diagnostic errors and unnecessary treatmentaccording to experts from Spanish Society of Digestive Pathology And Spanish Association of Neurogastroenterology and Motilitywho decided to analyze the scientific data on SIBO and publish a research paper. positioning against disinformation.

They also clarified which foods may be the most harmful and should be chosen with caution.

SIBO is an acronym in English meaning “gut bacterial overgrowth” In ten years, SIBO has gone from “a pathology barely known to some gastroenterologists to the most commonly misdiagnosed pathology of the digestive tract,” experts from two Spanish organizations said. Veronica Martin Dominguez, Carolina Malaguellada and Cecilio Santander.

They warned that there was widespread use of self-testing and ignorance of pathology, both on the part of many specialist and lay doctors and on the part of patients.

Everything meant that there were patients exposed to “impossible diets and unnecessary antibiotic treatment, not to mention the serious damage that diagnostic errors can sometimes cause when other pathologies that actually underlie the disease are not treated,” they warned.

In dialogue with Information, Maria Marta PiskorcDoctor of the Neurogastroenterology Department of the Hospital de la University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and dick Argentine Society of Gastroenterology, stated: “It is interesting that a position paper from two Spanish medical societies has been circulated because it highlights the problem we face. Due to misinformation circulating, SIBO has been overdiagnosed, resulting in them receiving treatment they do not need.”

Intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) can cause abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea and, in rare cases, malabsorption.

“It should be noted that SIBO itself is not a disease. Nor can it be said that there is an epidemic of SIBO. It is a state associated with other entities. This means that SIBO can develop in people who have had bowel surgeryproblems in pancreatic function, having sclerodermaor – what is most often – have irritable bowel syndrome“he emphasized Piskorzh.

In the case of irritable bowel syndrome, the cofactor is SIBO. “But patients may also have stress, fermentation of certain foods, or changes in sensitivity as a contributing factor,” the doctor said.

To date, available clinical evidence suggests that most patients with symptoms such as bloating, flatulence, intermittent diarrhea and other symptoms do not suffer from bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine.

For diagnosis, tests should only be performed on a select group of patients who have not responded to first-line treatment or have an underlying disease, according to specialist Pirkorc.

There is a diagnostic test that is a culture of a jejunal aspirate. However, this test is invasive and expensive and does not detect all cases.

Also in subject positioning Spain A glucose breath test is recommended, which has greater specificity than the other type of lactulose test. But these tests must be interpreted by experienced personnel to avoid false positive results.

When a person has bloating, the doctor Veronica Martinco-author of the position paper and a specialist physician in the digestive system service at La Princesa University Hospital in Madrid, told Mesdscape that they should make changes to their lifestyle to include exercise at least three times a week, weight control and a healthy diet.

Frequent use cookies, cakes, pastries, biscuits or industrial bread.

Ideally, you should limit or reduce the frequency of consumption of these foods: pre-cooked frozen foods and meals called “fast food» like pizza and other refrigerated dough.

Also reduce your intake of ice cream, frozen yogurt and margarine puddings, any fried or pureed foods, processed foods, chips, chocolate, sauces, alcohol and sausages.

“Irritable bowel and SIBO patients are sensitive to fermentable foods known as FODMAPs. They do not need to follow a restrictive diet for an extended period of time., because they can deplete the gut microbiota and cause nutritional deficiencies. Yes, they must learn to identify which foods cause symptoms and eat less of them. Therefore, it is recommended to consult with a specialist,” he commented to the publication. Information doctor Jorge Olmosformer President of the Argentine Society of Gastroenterology and Head of the Department of Neurogastroenterology in the Department of Gastroenterology of the Hospital Clínica.

If there is no improvement, you can see your doctor and use pharmacological treatment to control your symptoms. Antibiotics are usually prescribed to prevent excess gut bacteria and improve symptoms. “You should avoid self-medication and don’t get carried away with comments on social networks. It is best to consult a doctor,” Dr. Olmos insists.

According to him, there is a myth that now “everything is SIBO.” Juan Pablo Stefanolo, gastroenterologist at the Favaloro Foundation in Argentina. “Attempts are currently being made to attribute SIBO to a large number of common and nonspecific symptoms for which there is no high-quality evidence to support it. The widespread availability of breath tests makes it necessary to try to explain the origin of symptoms in the absence of other specific testing. But this is an imperfect test and can produce false positive results.”

Another big problem, as Stefanolo also noted, is that “certain diets are recommended as treatment when the only treatment offered for SIBO is the use of antibiotics prescribed by a suitable specialist.”