Stella asks, “I am wondering what I can do to keep my weight up during the first stages of the SIBO diet. What did you do? How long did you stay on the strictest part of the diet?
I can answer the question, “What did you do?” within the explanations of the other two questions.
What can I do to keep my weight up during the first stages of the diet?
Add extra calories through beverages when you can.
Adding extra calories from drinks just after a meal can be really helpful with maintaining or gaining weight. While waiting the suggested four hours between meals to eat is indeed beneficial, there are times when adding beverages with calories the body can absorb instantly is more important. Between meals I limited my beverages to contain honey and oils so my body could absorb the nutrients high up in my digestive track and with little energy wasted digesting. My Chai Tea is a great option for in-between meals. I drank many different variations of this tea throughout my treatments, and it is still one of my favorite ways to start a busy day. If you have added coconut milk to your diet and tolerate it well my Chamomile Lavender Steamer is a great option as well.
Add marrow bone broth and remove chicken broth.
A lot of Intro Diets contain chicken broth, but because chicken broth is often problematic for those with SIBO, many SIBO patients find relief when they switch to marrow bone broth. Cartilage found in chicken produces a more slippery broth that SIBO bacteria can eat, which in turn produces SIBO symptoms. If you have tried an Intro Diet with chicken broth and have not seen symptom relief or changes in symptoms within two weeks, remove chicken broth or look into switching SIBO diets.
Marrow bone broth can be used in soups and stews to replace chicken broth. Because bone broth helps to coat the insides of the intestines, it calms inflammation and irritation caused by infection, and provides healing power.
When I did my Intro Diet, I did not have the advantage of knowing the research and having the personal experience I have now. I didn’t find out for over a year after I did my Intro Diet that chicken broth is actually problematic for most SIBO patients. I heard Dr. Siebecker speak on this during part of her talk at the SIBO Symposium in May 2015. However, it made perfect sense to me, because one of the times my SIBO infection returned was directly after drinking a mug of rich chicken broth. While I love chicken broth now, if you have problems gaining weight or have SIBO symptoms it is worth replacing chicken broth with marrow bone broth until you are well on your way to healing.
How long did you stay on the strictest part of the diet?
The strictest part of the diet is usually the Intro Diet for whichever SIBO diet you choose. It is so important to remember that the Intro Diet is not designed to be a long term solution, it is designed to be used as a tool to reduce symptoms, promote healing, and reveal which foods the body tolerates well, and which foods the body does not digest well.
With that said, I stayed on the Intro Diet two days. And then three weeks. Let me explain what I mean.
I was already at low weight when we started me on an Intro Diet. The Intro Diet that I did was the Specific Carbohydrate Intro Diet. I saw a significant relief of symptoms within the first two days but was SO hungry, so we added peanut butter and banana and I stayed on the Intro Diet plus peanut butter and banana for three weeks. I ate a lot of Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies with meals.
My Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie Recipe
2-4 Tbs peanut butter
1 ripe banana
1-2 Tbs honey
1/2 cup 24-hour yogurt
Splash of vanilla (no sugar)
Ice or water as needed
Place all of the ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth.
My symptoms tended to make me lose weight so I was able to actually get stronger during this time. I added more foods after the three weeks and stayed on a very limited portion of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for a total of 8 months before the SIBO Specific Food Guide was published. During my 8 months on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet I really struggled finding the serving sizes of foods my body liked. When the SIBO Specific Food Guide was published it helped me tailor my diet to what my body tolerated.
Don’t be afraid to eat foods you know you tolerate well.
The whole reason for an Intro Diet is to calm symptoms, give your body some freedom to heal, and determine which foods you tolerate. If you know you tolerate a certain food really well, go ahead and add it back to your diet. It is important to not stay focused on restrictions but to focus on providing your body what it loves and needs in order to heal. Remember, no one diet fits everyone all of the time.
Thank you for your questions! Happy healing!
As always, please remember I am not a doctor. Consult your doctor for medical advice.
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