Cheating on the SIBO diet is really common, especially when starting the diet or when treatments have felt unsuccessful. Some doctors are not particular about the allowance of cheating while others are staunchly against any cheating, and even some will encourage it for longer cases. With all of these differing opinions, what is the best route?
I agree that cheating on a SIBO diet can prolong SIBO or prolong treatment, so I do not agree with cheating on a SIBO diet, however, I highly encourage hacking the SIBO diet.
Hacking the SIBO diet means finding the best foods for your body, regardless of where they fall on the FODMAP spectrum or on the SIBO restrictions spectrum.
If you are new to a SIBO diet, please follow the diet for at least a month so you can begin to see what food items work for you and what your body does not tolerate well.
So what does hacking a SIBO diet actually look like?
Hacking the SIBO diet means finding the foods that work best for you and sticking to them. All SIBO diets have restrictions on both food items and quantities. In order to hack a diet, you have to figure out what foods your body tolerates well. Because Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth is highly specific to each individual all individual tolerances will be different. SIBO is located in a different spot in the small intestine with differing strains of probiotics for each individual. In addition, each person has differing body chemistry, unique health issues, and differing levels of damage to their intestines. As a result, no one diet will work perfectly for everyone.
When you begin to follow the guidelines of a new diet there are usually things that stand out. For instance, you may be surprised by the allowance of a certain food or the quantity allowed of that food. If you find yourself surprised ask yourself, “Why?”
- Has that food item ever fit into your diet without causing symptoms?
- Are you surprised by how little or how much of the food is allowed?
- Can you eat that food without binging and causing symptoms?
Thinking through these kinds of questions will help you to determine what works best for your body. If the food item is allowed on the SIBO diet but you don’t tolerate it, stay away from it no matter what other SIBO lists or friends say. Don’t try to force your body to accept something it does not want or like.
In contrast, you may be surprised to find one of your favorite, go-to foods not on a SIBO-safe list. That doesn’t mean you necessarily need to give it up. It is important to evaluate the situation. Your SIBO diet should be tailored to your tolerances. Does the food cause you symptoms? Often, our go-to foods are actually safe foods for us. Think though what the food is providing for you? Is it nutrients or is it an emotional attachment? What does your doctor say about your diet or the particular food? And make sure to evaluate if the food is causing any symptoms at all, even delayed symptoms? Delayed symptoms can be caused by the food itself and it can also be caused by quantity.
Quantity matters with SIBO. The first time I made a cookie recipe with honey and almond flour I ended up with terrible symptoms and wanted to scream that the diet didn’t actually work. It wasn’t until I realized that four cookies was just way to much for my body to digest at one time that I saw how my symptoms directly correlated to the amounts of foods I was eating.
As you begin to find food your body does well with, make a list of these items and stick with them. As your body begins to heal, and your symptoms decrease try adding other foods back into your diet and see what happens. Customization is encouraged! This will allow you more freedoms and to enjoy the foods that your body likes.
Some foods I hear are often well tolerated by SIBO friends
- Avocado (greater than 1/4)
- Cacao chips or baking chocolate or other chocolate without sugar.
- Gelatin
- Rice crackers, white rice, and white rice noodles (in smaller quantities-not giant bowl fulls)
- White potato in small amounts
- White fresh breads
- Cooked fruit or fruit in higher quantities than 1 or 2 servings per day
- Nut milks in higher quantities than recommended
- Nuts in any quantity
- Lactose-free dairy
- Coconut Aminos
Some foods I hear are often NOT well tolerated by SIBO friends but are allowed on SIBO diets
- Greens (even cooked)
- Carrots
- Nuts
- Honey
- Stevia
- Dairy of any kind (even lactose-free, 24-hour yogurt and aged cheeses)
As you can see, there is a bit of cross over. Some foods that are SIBO-safe are complained about as causing symptoms and some foods that are not on SIBO-safe lists are well tolerated. So it is important to determine what your body likes and dislikes and stick to your own personal customizations. By doing so, you will be more likely to stick to the foods that will help heal your body and not drive you crazy with restrictions. A wise woman often tells me, “When you feel better, you actually heal faster.” Make sure you are eating foods that are helping you to feel better!
Is it cheating when my doctor tells me to eat a normal diet during treatment?
No. Some doctors will encourage a standard diet, or small amounts of carbohydrates in addition to the SIBO diet during some treatments in order to feed your SIBO bacteria to keep it active and kill it with your antibiotic protocol. This method of treatment is often called, “feed and kill.” In some cases, it can make treatment more effective. Most SIBO doctors follow a “feed and kill” treatment with a strict SIBO diet until the microbiome rebalances.
Is there a difference between cheating and taking a break?
Yes. There is a huge difference between cheating and taking a break from a SIBO diet. Taking a break means you are stopping treatments for awhile and stopping the diet for awhile. This is usually encouraged when your treatments are showing on test results as unsuccessful. An unsuccessful treatment is when test results show your SIBO either has not changed or has increased. While this does happen, it is usually a direct result of an underlying issue or underlying cause of SIBO not being addressed. Sometimes it is important to stop treatments, run further testing, and take additional time to determine what is going on in your body. If this is the case for you, you and your doctor should decide what kind of diet is the most appropriate for your situation.
Over All
Hacking a SIBO diet is important! Using diet to heal your body and provide your body with nutrients is of the utmost importance. SIBO diets are designed to be customized to your own personal needs. Your SIBO diet should be tailored to you!
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Carole Pilon says
I have SIBO-C and the fast tract diet by Dr. Norm Robillard from the Digestive Health Institute is the only thing that works absolutely for me.
Check it out!
Brooke says
Your recipes are a new found source of joy for me… tried the beef stew and carrot muffins this week. Thanks for the encouragement along the road! It’s precious!