Boosting Immunity Through Gut Health Heal Your Gut, Boost Immunity, & Get Your Life Back!

The Gut & Your Immune System

Did you know that at least 75% of your immune system is actually located in your gut?

That's why, if you're concerned about boosting your immune system and staying healthy, one of the FIRST things you should do is take a close look at your gut.

If your gut is unhealthy, your immune system will be compromised.

And that's a serious issue, as over ONE BILLION people worldwide have Irritable Bowel Syndrome - the "official" name for an unhealthy gut.

As if dealing with daily pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and food intolerances wasn't bad enough... an unhealthy gut actually puts your immune system at risk.

There has never been a more important time than now to make sure your gut is as healthy as it can possibly be.

In this guide, you’ll learn about some of the most common reasons for gut issues, and what you can do to start healing the gut and improve your immune system, as a result.

Common Symptoms of IBS, SIBO and Leaky Gut

Part of what makes IBS, SIBO, and leaky gut so confusing is that the symptoms all overlap. It's possible to have just one condition, two of them, or even all three. Here is a symptom list to better understand what some of the most common symptoms of all 3 conditions are:

● Bloating and distension

● Heartburn/acid reflux

● Food Intolerances

● Gas

● Constipation

● Diarrhea

● Pain/Cramping

● Brain Fog

● Joint pain

● Anxiety/depression

● Nausea

● Feeling of food sitting in the stomach

● Fatigue

● Skin Problems (eczema, acne, psoriasis, rashes, hives, etc.)

IBS, SIBO, and Leaky Gut

Do you have “digestive issues?” Pain, bloating, food intolerances, changes in bowel habits… What is causing these symptoms? (And how can we get rid of them?!)

If you do, it’s possible that leaky gut, IBS, or SIBO is to blame.

IBS stands for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, SIBO for Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth, and leaky gut is also known as increased intestinal permeability.

Today, I want to teach you not just what each of these are, but the difference between each - and, most importantly, how they are all related.

What Is IBS?

IBS stands for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

In Western medicine, “syndrome” is a way of classifying a group of symptoms. Think Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Restless Leg Syndrome.

In almost any syndrome, doctors use what is called a diagnosis of exclusion. A diagnosis of exclusion just means that there is no other physical explanation for a person’s symptoms.

Imagine you go visit your doctor with stomach pain and diarrhea. They might refer you to a gastroenterologist who performs tests to check for pathological issues, something like Celiac Disease or an ulcer. But if all those tests come back negative - yet you still have symptoms - you might be told you have IBS.

The most common symptom patterns in IBS are abdominal pain, bowel motility disruption like spasms or gastroparesis, diarrhea, constipation (or alternating between both) and pain, bloating and discomfort.

Doctors use something called the Rome Criteria to define what type of IBS a person has:

● Predominantly diarrhea

● Predominantly constipation

● Mixed constipation and diarrhea

● Post-infectious

(Just FYI - there is some controversy about the Rome Criteria. Not all doctors think it is useful.)

Depending on what type of IBS you have, your doctor might suggest medications or other treatments that can make the symptoms go away or be less severe.

What Is SIBO?

SIBO stands for Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth.

The name is actually pretty descriptive - even if it’s a mouthful to say. SIBO is when there is too much bacteria in the small intestine (part of our digestive system).

Remember that our digestive system is pretty big - it starts at our mouth, then goes into our esophagus, to our stomach, to the small intestine, and then the large intestine.

Our small intestine is actually longer than the large intestine, and it’s where most of the food we eat is broken down and absorbed.

In a healthy, normal small intestine, there should be almost no bacteria present by comparison to the large intestine - instead bacteria belongs in the large intestine. When bacteria gets stuck in the small intestine (or flows back up from the large intestine) SIBO can occur.

It’s actually a simple idea - bacteria overgrows in the small intestine.

But the why and the results of SIBO is much more complicated.

Why Should We Care About IBS & SIBO?

20% of the world's population is thought to have IBS - Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

IBS was once believed to be a syndrome - meaning a group of symptoms like bloating, constipation, and diarrhea - without a known cause or cure.

But now, research shows that the cause of IBS symptoms in as much as 60%-84% of people is actually SIBO.

Think of it like this: if 100 people are in a room, 20 of those people will have IBS.

And at least 12 of those people will actually have SIBO.

Now imagine that on a worldwide scale! Millions of people have SIBO, are suffering the symptoms of it, and just don’t know it.

SIBO isn’t a “new” disease - it has likely been occurring as long as people have been alive. But the understanding and widespread knowledge of SIBO is new. It was first recognized in the 1960s - but doctors thought it only rarely occurred. Then, in just the last 15 years, numerous studies have shown SIBO to be a root cause of IBS.

SIBO is not a fad or just a theory - it is a well-researched disease that can be treated effectively. Information about SIBO needs to be widespread so that millions of people can stop suffering.

What Does Leaky Gut Have To Do With IBS and SIBO?

The most important thing you need to know is that SIBO (which is often IBS) can cause leaky gut.

Leaky gut is when the tight junctions between the cells that make up the barrier between your digestive system and the rest of the body become “leaky” and allow pathogens and undigested food particles to pass unregulated into the bloodstream.

When pathogens and undigested food hit the bloodstream, they activate the immune system and can lead to a variety of symptoms (and eventually autoimmune disease).

That means a problem that starts in your gut could eventually lead to conditions like Hashimoto’s thyroid disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, alopecia, having psoriasis, Alzheimers, Parkinson's, and more.

Even if you don’t have IBS or SIBO, there are many other things that can cause leaky gut, including medications, environmental pollution, stress, and even eating a Standard American Diet.

Take Ownership & Find The Right Treatment For You

Whether you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, SIBO, leaky gut or a combination of all three, there is hope for healing and remission.

But, healing starts with becoming educated and empowered about what is happening to your body! Just like I did, you need to take ownership of your health. That means asking questions, researching, and staying informed.

After all, if you won’t advocate for yourself, who will?

That’s why I’m so excited you’ll be joining me for the Digestion SOS® Series!

Related Conditions To SIBO, IBS, & Leaky Gut

These conditions can potentially lead to IBS, SIBO or leaky gut, but they can also occur alongside or as a result of them.

❏ Autoimmune disease

❏ Depression and anxiety

❏ Lyme Disease

❏ Ehlers Danlos

❏ Thyroid disease

❏ Traumatic Brain Injury

❏ Parasite infection

❏ Yeast overgrowth

❏ Microbiome dysbiosis

❏ Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

❏ Lactose intolerance

❏ Carbohydrate intolerance

❏ Food allergies

❏ Diabetes

❏ Weight gain/loss

❏ Gastroparesis

❏ Dyspepsia

❏ Acid Reflux/heartburn

❏ Nutrient deficiency

❏ Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s & UC)

❏ Bowel surgery

❏ Hormone imbalance

❏ Celiac disease

❏ Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity

❏ Cancer, chemotherapy, and radiation

❏ Opioid use

Are Probiotics The Solution?

You’ve heard it before: Got gut issues? Just take a probiotic!

But are probiotics really the solution?

For some people, probiotics can actually reverse all symptoms of SIBO and IBS…. but that doesn’t mean they work for everyone.

In fact, the same probiotic that makes one person feel great can make another feel awful!

According to Dr. Allison Siebecker, probiotics often worsen bloating but improve bowel movements in those with IBS and SIBO.

So how do you know if they will work for you?

The very unscientific answer is to simply give them a try.

That being said, there are some probiotics that have been studied as more effective for SIBO and IBS and others that are backed anecdotally by thousands of people who have used them.

These are some of the probiotics the experts mention:

Probiotics

✓Megaspore https://sibosos.com/microbiome-labs 15% off Coupon code: SIBOSOS

✓Biogaia Protectis https://sibosos.com/biogaia-protectis

✓Culturelle Wellness https://sibosos.com/culturelle

✓Probiotic Advisor https://www.probioticadvisor.com/

Food Poisoning & Post-Infectious IBS

Have you ever had a bad case of food poisoning? Most of us have gone through the unpleasant 24 - 48 hours after eating food contaminated with some sort of pathogen: diarrhea, vomiting, nausea.

But after a few bad days, the symptoms subside. Your body has fought off the food poisoning. Everything is back to normal, right?

Maybe not…

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai have discovered that in a significant number of cases diagnosed as IBS, the root cause of the syndrome was previous food poisoning. (And about 1 in 9 people who get food poisoning then develop IBS!) It’s called post-infectious IBS.

To understand why this is so significant, you need to know more about IBS...

The Problem with Diagnosing Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Until recently Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) was a “diagnosis of exclusion.”

That meant that if you had IBS symptoms like:

● Constipation

● Diarrhea

● Bloating

● Gas

● Incomplete or painful bowel movements

● Mucus in the stool

Your doctor couldn’t diagnose you with IBS until they had ruled out other causes like:

● Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis, and Celiac Disease)

● Food allergies or intolerances

● Bowel obstruction

● Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

● And more…

The process of testing for these other diseases could be costly, risky, and time consuming, including:

● Elimination diets

● Allergy testing

● Colonoscopy

● Endoscopy

● CT scans

● Blood testing

When all those other causes were ruled out, your doctor could finally tell you that you (most likely - not conclusively) had IBS.

Why Has IBS Been A Diagnosis of Exclusion?

Until now, IBS has been a “diagnosis of exclusion” because doctors didn’t know what caused IBS in the first place.

Without identifying the root cause of IBS, they couldn’t test for it - so it had to be diagnosed by exclusion.

But all that has changed thanks to groundbreaking research completed in part by Dr. Mark Pimentel and Dr. Kapil Gupta of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. They discovered that in a significant number of cases diagnosed as IBS, the root case was food poisoning. (And about 1 in 9 people who get food poisoning then develop IBS!) It’s called post-infectious IBS. (And they’ve created a way to test for it!)

How Does Food Poisoning Cause IBS?

Here’s how the folks at IBS-smart™ explain it:

It has to do with a toxin called Cytolethal Distending Toxin B, or CdtB for short. It turns out that every one of the most common bacteria that cause food poisoning releases CdtB.

When a toxin like CdtB enters your body, your immune system fights back with an antibody - in this case, anti-CdtB.

Anti-CdtB can confuse your body into developing another antibody called anti-vinculin This harms a naturally occurring protein in your body called vinculin that helps cells migrate and connect to each other

This is an autoimmune response and leads to gut nerve damage and improper functioning of the Interstitial Cells of Cajal (ICC) and Migrating Motor Complexes (MMC), which regulate the contractions of your gut

This can ultimately result in Diarrhea-Predominant and Mixed-Type (Diarrhea with Constipation) Irritable Bowel Syndrome, sometimes many years after the initial infection.

That means anyone who has ever eaten a questionable salad or sandwich that sat out too long is at risk of developing IBS! (Even if you haven’t had food poisoning in years.)

Understanding the root cause of IBS allowed these brilliant doctors to create the test!

Does This Test Work for SIBO Too?

The answer is a bit complicated.

There is so much overlap between Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth and IBS. Dr. Steven Sandberg-Lewis says 75% of people with IBS have SIBO. And we know food poisoning is a major root cause of SIBO too.

That means you could have post-infectious IBS as well as SIBO. You could have SIBO and not post-infectious IBS. Or, you could have post-infectious IBS but no SIBO.

The only way to know for sure is by testing for both post-infectious IBS and SIBO.

Testing for SIBO is covered extensively in the Digestion SOS® Documentary Series Episode 3: The Results are in: Finding out what you really have with the right tests.

Top 10 Foods That Trigger IBS, SIBO, and Leaky Gut Symptoms

We’re all unique, but these foods are some of the most common irritants that cause IBS, SIBO, and leaky gut symptoms to flare up! If you’re struggling with symptoms, try reducing just these 10 foods - and be sure to see Episodes 5 and 6 of Digestion SOS®!

1. Onion & Garlic These flavorful root veggies are high in FODMAPS, which are difficult-to-digest carbohydrates They often cause increased symptoms for those with IBS and SIBO - even in small amounts!

2. Cruciferous Veggies Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage are all super nutrient-dense, but they’re also high in FODMAPs and can trigger symptoms Replace them with less-fermentable veggies like squash and see how you feel

3. Raw Veggies (i e salad) Cooking food makes it much easier to digest! Try swapping your lunch salad for a bowl with cooked veggies and you might be surprised to see your bloating and pain decrease

4. Apples & Pears These fruits are again high in fermentable FODMAPS and likely to cause symptoms! Low-FODMAP fruits include berries and citrus

5. High-fiber Breads And Whole Grains These are supposed to be healthy, but can actually be a nightmare for those with IBS, SIBO, and leaky gut. Try substituting simple starches like white bread and rice (or reducing starches altogether!).

6. Dairy Another common trigger food for IBS, SIBO, and leaky gut. Many people don’t tolerate either lactose, the sugar in dairy, or casein, one of the proteins in dairy.

7. Coffee Coffee contains caffeine, which can be a gut irritant for many people. Replace it with herbal tea.

8. Alcohol You might be surprised how much alcohol is impacting your gut. This is a difficult one for people to cut, but well worth experimenting with.

9. Candy & Sweets Sadly, sugary treats are well-known gut irritants and can increase symptoms like gas and bloating. Beware of sugar-free substitutes, which can provoke the same symptoms (or even be worse!). Honey and maple syrup are generally better tolerated than sugar

10. Smoothies & Juice These are a situation where the “dose makes the poison ” Smoothies and juice often contain far more of a food than we would consume if chewing were involved You might be able to tolerate eating carrot just fine - but carrot juice creates symptoms!

Looking for ways to make eating with IBS, SIBO, or leaky gut easier?

Here are a few of my favorite resources:

✓Fody Foods - https://sibosos.com/fody-foods

✓OWYN (plant-based protein drinks)

✓Dr. Rachel Pauls’ Happy foods

✓Casa de Sante

✓FODMAP App - An app that gives you FODMAP ratings for many foods https://www.monashfodmap.com/ibs-central/i-have-ibs/get-the-app/

Feel Better Now (With These Simple Solutions)

Constipation

● Try taking magnesium oxide before bed to bring water into the intestines and naturally promote evacuation. Start with 500 mg/night and work up to a max of 2,000 mg (most common effective dose is 1,000 mg)

● Apply a castor oil pack before bed. Extremely helpful for reducing inflammation and increasing motility. (This is the castor oil pack we recommend)

Gas and Bloating

● Brew a cup of peppermint tea or try enteric-coated peppermint supplements. (Not for those who have acid reflux/heartburn.)

● Simethicone (aka “Gas-X”) - this works by breaking large gas bubbles into smaller ones so they can be more easily passed. Don’t overlook this common OTC medication!

Diarrhea:

● Try activated charcoal caps (just be aware they can absorb medications and should therefore be taken separately from food & meds and can temporarily turn stool black!)

● Make homemade yogurt from the SIBO SOS® Cookbook available at sibosos.com, recipe on the next page.

TIP: Save about 1/4 cup of this yogurt to inoculate your next batch instead of using the yogurt starter, if you like. This works several times and the yogurt will get more sour with each batch. If you leave a batch in the refrigerator too long, it will start to get an “off” taste. If this happens, throw it out and start with a new batch of starter.

10

Most Surprising Things About SIBO, IBS, & Leaky Gut

1. You can have leaky gut anywhere in the intestinal tract—mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine or large intestine. ("Gut" includes all of these organs!)

2. In 60-84% of IBS cases, the underlying cause is SIBO. (Considering as many as 1 billion people suffer from IBS… that is a lot of people who actually have SIBO!)

3. The endothelial lining of the gut is only 1 cell thick. (In comparison, the skin on the palm of your hand is about 30 cells thick.) When gaps form between the connections of these cells (the tight junctions) then leaky gut occurs.

4. The gut connects directly to the brain via the Vagus Nerve and the endothelial cells lining the gut communicate with others throughout your body - that’s how gut conditions can cause symptoms as diverse as eczema to anxiety.

5. The sound of your stomach “rumbling” when you’re hungry is actually the noise of the Migrating Motor Complex “sweeping” the small intestines and preparing for new food. A dysfunctioning MMC is a top cause of SIBO.

6. Narcotics and slow down motility in the gut and trigger SIBO. Even short-term narcotic use can result in SIBO.

7. It takes an average of 6.6 YEARS to be diagnosed with IBS from the onset of symptoms.

8. SIBO is often related to: psoriasis, restless leg syndrome, and diabetes!

9. Doctors have just discovered that food poisoning can cause changes in the immune system and cause a newly-defined type of IBS: post-infectious IBS. A simple blood test can diagnose you.

10.Doctors still don’t know with certainty what causes autoimmunity, but the leading theory is that genetic predisposition combined with leaky gut triggers autoimmunity.

The Autoimmune-Gut Connection

Have you ever wondered exactly how the gut and autoimmunity are connected? Here’s what several of the experts featured in Digestion SOS® Documentary Series have to say:

“At least three-quarters of your immune system is located in your gut, typically communicating with the immune system throughout your body in your defense. Your gut lining is richly supplied with blood vessels. The gut is like a sixth sense with a surface area larger than a football field where it communicates with your other environmental interfaces with the world—skin, mouth, sinuses, respiratory tract and cervix.

And your gut harbors trillions of microbes, mainly bacteria weighing as much as your brain does. It plays a very important role in both your digestive and overall health. And this gut microbiome is in constant dialogue with both your gut and brains.”

Dr. William Salt, ND

“Intestinal permeability is the gateway into the development of autoimmune diseases. What does that mean? It means that it's the initiating problem that's going to manifest somewhere in your body, but it starts in your gut.

Hashimoto’s thyroid disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, losing your hair (alopecia), having psoriasis, Alzheimers, Parkinson's, plugging up your pipes, cardiovascular disease, they all have this immune component that seems to initiate with the leaky gut.

So, that's why it's important to understand this leaky gut thing and how to identify it and what to do about it.”

Dr. Tom O’Bryan, DC

“We know that improving someone’s gut health can improve autoimmunity. We know it can reduce someone’s need for medication. The gut and the immune system are intimately tied. I think that comment is more salient for those who've done everything and haven't been able to experience the results that they're hoping to experience.”

Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC

Your Host

I’m Shivan Sarna and over the past 20 years you may have seen me as a TV Host (especially if you like shopping). I’m not a doctor, nutritionist, or any other kind of health practitioner. So how did I end up at SIBO SOS​®?

After a lifetime of digestive problems, I was diagnosed with Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth in 2015. I was so excited to finally have a name for the symptoms that made me miserable - but I was quickly very frustrated by how hard it was to get access to reliable SIBO information, or even an appointment with a doctor who had experience treating SIBO. I set out to get answers about SIBO for myself - but along the way, I met hundreds (and then thousands) of other people like you who had the same problems: How do we find experts who really understand SIBO? What do we do if we can’t travel to see one of these experts? Will we have to suffer forever?

I went back to my teaching roots, I taught yoga in my own studio for years, and focused on bringing the experts together in one place to teach all of us: that’s how SIBO SOS​® was born.

After finding the answers for myself, I created SIBO SOS​® to get the answers to YOU. In your journey to understand, treat, and manage IBS, SIBO, and other digestive issues, I’m your guide, advocate, support, and shoulder to cry on. I won’t tell you what to do - but I’ll give you a nudge, introduce you to the people with the answers, and always be here to encourage you.

I created the SIBO SOS​® Masterclass and Q&As to solve this problem. Each Masterclass and Q&A gives you the opportunity to learn from an expert practitioner directly and then ask YOUR unique questions. It’s like attending a medical school class and having an office visit all rolled into one. I’m alongside you for support, guidance, and a shoulder to lean on. I’ve been where you are today, and it would be an honor to help guide you forward. Let’s kick SIBO’s butt together!

Get the answers you need so you can start healing and get back to life!

XOXO, Shivan

SIBO SOS® website Your SIBO SOS resource, SOS stands for Save Ourselves!

Expert masterclasses, interviews, live Q&A with experts and summits featuring digestive health and SIBO experts from around the globe!

https://sibosos com

The SIBO SOS® Community Created by fellow patient and SIBO SOS® founder, Shivan Sarna is a place where people with Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) can come together to learn and connect with others.

Whether you have been formally diagnosed with SIBO, IBS or Leaky Gut, or just suspect it, we welcome you!

Click here to request to join!

THE RESEARCH

Nanayakkara, Wathsala S et al “Efficacy of the low FODMAP diet for treating irritable bowel syndrome: the evidence to date ” Clinical and experimental gastroenterology vol 9 131-42 17 Jun 2016, doi:10 2147/CEG S86798

https://www ncbi nlm nih gov/pmc/articles/PMC4918736/

Hill, Peta et al “Controversies and Recent Developments of the Low-FODMAP Diet ” Gastroenterology & hepatology vol 13,1 (2017): 36-45

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5390324/

Pimentel M. Update on Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diagnostics and Therapeutics. Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2016;12(7):442–445.

https://www ncbi nlm nih gov/pmc/articles/PMC4969781/

Spiller, Robin Significance of Postinfectious Irritable Bowel Syndrome? Gastroenterology, Volume 156, Issue 1, 14 - 17

https://www gastrojournal org/article/S0016-5085(18)35282-X/fulltext

Pimentel M, Morales W, Rezaie A, Marsh E, Lembo A, Mirocha J, Leffler DA, Marsh Z, Weitsman S, Chua KS, et al Development and validation of a biomarker for diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome in human subjects Plos One 2015 May 12;10(5):e0126438

https://journals plos org/plosone/article?id=10 1371/journal pone 0126438

Morales W, Rezaie A, Barlow G, Pimentel M. Second-generation biomarker testing for irritable bowel syndrome using plasma anti-CdtB and anti-vinculin levels. Dig Dis Sci. 2019 May 31.