# Is over-eating the primary cause of Leaky Gas?



## tummyrumbles

Most of us overeat but don't realise we're going it. This link gives an easy to read explanation of how overeating can lead to carbohydrate maldigestion, IBS and GERD.

http://chriskresser.com/the-hidden-causes-of-heartburn-and-gerd

The single biggest cause of indigestion is overeating. We tend to talk about IBS rather than indigestion but they're really the same thing. I didn't know I over-ate until my daughter told me.

Chronic over-eating is believed to dilute stomach acid, as too much food overloads the digestive system. Stomach acid stimulates the release of pancreatic enzymes. If you regularly overeat, your stomach acid will be depleted, enzymes responsible for digestion won't be secreted and carbohydrates won't be digested properly.

The fermentation of carbohydrate that doesn't get digested results in gas. This helps to explain why the gas in Leaky Gas is so chronic.

Complete evacuation will only work so far. There is always stool in the colon. If you regularly overeat and malabsorb your carbohydrates, then all stool will be somewhat gassy from the action of the bacteria. Every time you eat peristalsis will move stool further down into the colon. This is why so many of us experience gas every time we eat.

According to this site:

"... 30g of carbohydrate that escapes absorption in a day could produce more than 10,000 mL (ten litres) of gas"

This might help to explain why low FODMAP and low starch diets alone might only have limited success. The maldigestion itself stems from overeating, not from FODMAPs or starches. These high carb foods will aggravate the problem because these are the preferred food for bacteria, but carbs don't cause IBS. People generally eat high FODMAPs and high starch foods without any problems. Something had to happen to change us from normal people with a normal digestion to malabsorbers. I can trace when my IBS symptoms started and it would have been early teens, when I started eating badly, as most teens do.

It's quite possible that fermenting food residue in the colon makes it more difficult to evacuate. Excess gas can get trapped in the colon and this could possibly trap stool. This has been my experience anyway. The less gas the previous day the easier and quicker evacuation tends to be.

It's difficult to get rid of a bacterial overgrowth once you have it. A SIBO specific diet which combines both Specific Carbohydrate diet and the low FODMAP diet should help assuming you can tolerate the extra fibre from vegetables. The main thing is to stop overeating. Try grazing, with several smaller meals throughout the day.


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## annie7

thanks for your post, Tummyrumbles.

about grazing--and i'm not meaning to argue here--far from it. it's just that i keep reading articles that mention the importance of the migrating motor complex in the small intestine--the cleansing housekeeper waves-- as far as SIBO is concerned. and that how grazing may increase the risk of developing bacterial overgrowth and can also cause SIBO relapses after successful treatment.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2014/01/28/how-grazing-affects-your-digestive-function

and that meal timing is important as far as SIBO is concerned--spacing meals 4-5 hours apart, avoid snacking..

i remember we discussed that here, too.

http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/topic/179961-migrating-motor-complex-sibo-the-importance-of-fasting/

and like i said, i'm not trying to argue here. it's just that it all seems very tricky. maybe it's one of those YMMV sort of things--we each have to find out what works best for us.


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## tummyrumbles

Well, that's not embarrassing! Good on you Annie for being on the ball. Yes that was my post. Symptoms have been much reduced since going low starch and eating more veges but I still had gas creeping up in the afternoons and I couldn't understand why this was. The complete evacuation worked but only up to a point. Around midday the gas would gradually start up again and grow in intensity. I've only had a few days where there was no gas at all. You might remember one of those posts and how excited I was as I thought I'd solved my LG (and I remember your kind reply). I only ate a few jaffles the previous day and I couldn't understand why this worked so well, with wheat being a problem food and all. Now I understand what happened. It wasn't the food itself that was important, it was the fact that there wasn't much of it. I have GERD as well and I believe these issues are all related. This IBS is so confusing and I really shouldn't have posted studies that didn't relate personally to me. From now on I'll only post studies that back up my personal experiences. I have found that the gas is very much reduced if I don't overfill my stomach at mealtimes, so yes this contradicts the MMC theory. In fact, grazing results in much quicker evacuations and I think for the reasons outlined above. I hope everyone tries this as I really do believe overeating might be the underlying cause of malabsorption and gas.


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## annie7

oh no, please---i certainly didn't mean to embarrass you--not my intention at all.

i actually found that earlier post of yours quite helpful. you always research things so carefully and it's so helpful that you share your research with us.

i'm glad you found grazing to be helpful. yes, it is exciting when we finally find something that helps us!







congratulations!

thanks, as always, for sharing.


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## hzw7500

Do you take any probiotics tummyrumbles?


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## tummyrumbles

At the moment I am but I'm not sure they make a difference. The ones I take only have 2 bacterial types anyway. I believe I have bacterial overgrowth so probiotics might not be a good idea if it's SIBO.


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## hzw7500

May i ask which one you are taking?
I think i might have sibo too and have read that soil based organisms are more suitable than d- lactated probiotics. But i dont really have the science / knowlegde to know if those claims are true. what do you think of it?


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## tummyrumbles

The one I'm taking is a well-known one over here, Inner Health Plus and only has 2 types acidopholus and bifidobacterium. I've found no changes. If you want to try a probiotic VLS # 3 has a good reputation but as far as I know is only available online. If you do have SIBO some people think that probiotics, yoghurt etc aren't a good idea because the problem is an overgrowth where bacteria don't belong, in the small intestine, so it doesn't matter which bacteria you add, in that sense they're all bad. If a soil based bacteria is more effective / natural then these populations will grow in the small intestine, because whatever you did in the first place to get SIBO, chances are you're still doing it. I can't find much information on bacterial overgrowth in the large colon, where it might be a different story where bad bacteria might overtake the good bacteria. I suspect I've got SIBO because of all the throat gurgling and unusual burping I do and I have elements of GERD as well so I won't be continuing with them once the bottle is finished. I found that stopping overeating meant that I could go a whole day with no gas at all but that's after complete evacuation. The only problem is all food can cause gas for me because the overgrowth is still there. A lot of people claim success with a low carb diet and this is what I need to do. I have a problem with will-power and this makes it hard.


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## AIRPLANE

I did a low-carb, very little sugar diet for about a year or so a few years back. It did help some, but still had difficulty with complete evacuation. I did lose weight which was welcome.

However, I believe I do need some type of fiber for bulking and maybe to help bind things together, maybe to help get more out at once. For me, brown rice seems to help but I don't want to eat it everyday, especially since I have heard that rice can be high in lead. I have heard of red rice, and I guess another kind, black rice, is expected to become popular and they are supposedly lower in lead. I don't tolerate psyllium, and once tried acacia and they made me feel worse.

I did just start taking Jarrow Saccharomyces Boulardii with MOS. MOS is a prebiotic and those are usually an absolute no-no if you have bacterial overgrowth or gas problems, but this one supposedly helps prevent bacteria from adhering. I am one week in with it. It did back me up pretty bad at first but that seems to be getting better. I did have brown rice the past couple of days and I didn't have incomplete evacuation for a change. I have eaten brown rice before which did help move things through but it still took several trips. I tend more towards diarrhea than constipation, although in my teens I had constipation.

So while they do recommend low-carb, low-residue foods to avoid feeding bacterial overgrowth, it is also important to keep things moving. For me, that means some type of fiber like brown rice. I am experimenting with herbal antibiotics as well. Haven't tried Lauricidin yet but depending on how the Jarrow Saccharomyces Boulardii with MOS works, that is next on my list.


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## tummyrumbles

"So while they do recommend low-carb, low-residue foods to avoid feeding bacterial overgrowth, it is also important to keep things moving."

Yes I agree, this is the hardest thing for IBS. The good foods that move things along also cause gas. Rice is high in arsenic and contains phytates that inhibit enzymes that digest food. Rice is an anti-diarrheal which means it can cause constipation for some. Brown rice has more arsenic and phytates than white rice but does have more fibre. Black rice or wild rice is a grass and a pseudo-grain but might not be as toxic as rice. I've found the best food is veges but it's a real balancing act. Just enough to move things along but not too much to cause irritation or excess gas.


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## AIRPLANE

That is so true- the trying to balance everything. I find that I can have a little cheese, but not much unless I take something to help digest the casein. Lactose supplements did not help. And vegetables are very dicey for me- No cruciferous vegetables. One weird thing I have noticed is cabbage though. Oddly, it kills me if it is cooked, but raw shredded doesn't bother me which is strange. For the most part, the only vegetables I can eat comfortably are French green beans, spinach and lettuce. And some high starch ones but then again maybe I shouldn't.The only fruits that I can eat are kiwis, strawberries and raspberries.Bananas are ok sometimes but not others. I love avocado but can only eat a little at a time. I have an issue with eggs as well.

You are right about the arsenic in rice which is why I would hesitate to eat it everyday. I think the black rice is different from the wild rice- I just read about it recently. It hasn't really become popular yet but is expected to. Besides the rice, popcorn also is somewhat helpful for bulk. However, I read that if someone has SIBO due to a faulty illeocecal valve, popcorn isn't recommended.

So while it is good to be aware of the general guidelines- like the Fodmaps- we still have to tailor our diets individually based on what we can tolerate. I think I was already avoiding a lot of Fodmaps before the guidelines came out, just based on my reactions over the decades. And with SIBO,I wonder if there would be differences depending on whether you are hydrogen or methane predominant or a combination of both. Supposedly I have no methane, only hydrogen.

Then there is the recommendation that Annie mentioned about meal spacing since the small intestine apparently can't move things forward while it is digesting food. To do this, one needs filling foods to avoid hunger in between. Let's face it, the non-starch vegetables are not the most satiating for very long, and too much protein can be constipating, even for some of us who are diarrhea predominant. Again comes trying to find the correct balance.

One other complication is that if we avoid some foods for a long time that we stop making enzymes to digest it. So there can be instances where foods that bothered you at one time wouldn't necessarily bother you now but you would have to begin eating it in small amounts regularly to find out. I haven't had much luck with digestive enzyme supplements, except for one that helps with both gluten and casein. Also a couple that I take on the occasions where I eat legumes, although I don't think I handle the fiber in them very well so only dare to eat them when I will be home the next day.


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## tummyrumbles

That's interesting that if you stop eating a food you stop making the enzymes for it. That makes sense I guess. The migrating motor complex theory can confuse things too. If you do have SIBO you're supposed to have long fasts because the MMC is delayed but this is just theory. Did the person who wrote that actually have SIBO and did they find that long fasts helped them? This is the problem, that all these studies that say such and such will help IBS is more wishful thinking than anything else.Long fasts mean you're more likely to overeat when you do eat because you're so hungry and I think this might have caused my IBS as it's the only thing I can think of that I've constantly been doing since a teenager. I don't put on weight (I lost fat cells when a baby from a bad gastro episode, according to my mum) so overeating is easy to do. The downside is that if the calories aren't being digested properly they just turn to gas which is much worse. I'd like to know why we all start out normal and end up with IBS. It's can't just be starches and FODMAPs and alcohol because normal people have all these with no problems. I gave up alcohol 20 years ago and milk about 10 years ago, which leaves starches and FODMAPs. These might be problem foods for normal people too but they don't have chronic gas from them that lasts all day and night. I miss baked beans and lentils bacon and onion fry but I do the same as you and have these on a Saturday when I'm home on Sunday. Yes it's tough. Non-starchy veges aren't very satisfying and I don't like the idea of filling up on meat and fat. I think boiling and mashing your high starch veges might be the best way to eat these. Have you tried cauliflower au gratin? It's delicious. I boil the cauliflower for a few minutes only, as I don't like it watery, and put some mayo on it with a sprinkle of mustard, then grated cheese on top then into the oven for about half an hour. It causes gas but then what doesn't cause gas. If you can tolerate some high starch foods you might like oven baked sweet potato chips, they're very addictive.


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## AIRPLANE

It was in Dr Mark Pimentel's book on SIBO, "A New IBS Solution". He said that the small intestine can't sweep things out at the same time it is busy digesting food. Dr Pimentel is the one who does most of the research on SIBO at Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles. He is with the motility department there. I wish he would write another, more updated book but he's likely kept pretty busy with research. I have heard that the levels of the gasses found on the breath test has changed- think they now diagnose SIBO at lower levels than they did previously. I signed up for Dr Allison Siebecker's free newsletters as she works with SIBO patients and knows Dr Pimentel. It helps to stay somewhat updated as it sounds like things can change pretty fast as far as diagnosis and best treatments. I thought I heard somewhere that things like GMO foods, antibiotics in meats, poultry and seafoods were being looked into as possible contributors to SIBO.

Another thing about eating. Many experts say that digestion begins before we even start eating. I suppose that means we start salivating in anticipation of a meal. I wonder if this part is affected by whether we really like what we are about to eat. If so, I know that I will likely never salivate over a bland salad the same way I would a good pizza, thus another possible problem with all the diet restrictions.Makes me sympathetic towards children who have to choke down healthy foods they can't stand the taste of!


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## tummyrumbles

I have a lot of respect for Dr Pimentel as he was probably the first doctor to find a physical cause for IBS, that's assuming IBS is SIBO. I'm convinced IBS is some sort of bacterial imbalance and SIBO makes more sense than anything else, but still doesn't explain how we got the IBS in the first place. That's a good point about digestion. I don't really enjoy salad veges at all but I'm eating more of them now in the hope they speed up the colon generally and help to move the bad stuff out. If you find a food distasteful this has to affect digestion as the brain is involved in these processes. I'm hoping that small camera technology can be improved so they can have a look inside the colon and see what's actually going on. I think incomplete evacuation might have a lot to do with it. The food residue from incomplete digestion could be causing bacterial growth as this food should have been digested in the small intestine. Instead it's feeding bacteria and causing gas as well. It's possible that pockets of this gas can form in the colon and block stool and this could be why so many of us have broken mushy BMs. Some people here claim they now have perfect BMs from probiotics, diet change or whatever but I'm not sure what their initial problem was. I don't understand how probiotics would solve malabsorption say from overeating as the problem is that overeating dilutes stomach acid so the food just isn't being digested properly. Adding more bacteria to the mix doesn't seem to be a solution to me because you're still left with a lot of food residue, a lot of bacteria and a lot of gas. If you don't overeat though, you're back to square 1 again, trying to find out the cause of the malabsorption. Can you post if you find out any new theories about SIBO? I had a look at Dr Siebecker's website but it seems you have to pay to access these.


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## AIRPLANE

The information on Dr Siebecker's siboinfo.com page is pretty limited. There is an option to sign up for free newsletters which I did and it seems like you get more information. I just got one the other day and it has a lot of articles you can view for free- not the seminars she has done which you do have to pay for. I also signed up on the Underground Wellness site. A guy named Sean Croxton does interviews that you can listen to. He did a series of free online interviews last fall called the 'Digestion Sessions' with several health experts over a period of several days. There was an option to purchase them but there was no charge to view them during that time. He had previously done what was called the 'Thyroid Summit' which I didn't know about or see. Thyroid problems can be another contributing factor to digestive issues and there is a lot of debate about how that is being diagnosed and treated. My mother and sister are both hypothyroid and are on medication for it. My thyroid tests showed that I was on the lower end of normal so no treatment recommended but from what I've read, the usual medication for that, Synthroid, has come under question. Trying to read and sort out information on thyroid problems is just about as complicated as trying to figure out digestive problems.

Another good site is Chris Kresser. Quite a lot of information there, usually along with several reader comments/discussions. Main problem with all of this is having the time to read or view them. There was also some sessions by a Donna Gates recently called the 'Healthy Gut Summit'. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to view most of them, but one annoying thing was that she is a big fan of fermented foods and kept bringing those up. There was one session on biofilms that I would have liked to have listened to but didn't have time. Biofilms might be one reason for antibiotic resistance and the difficulty in eradicating things like SIBO because they protect the bacteria. They are essentially like the plaque that we get in our mouths which can lead to gum disease. In fact, on the news today there was a story about someone in Silicon Valley, California who has come up with an expensive toothpaste that he claims treats dental-related plaque very well. As for SIBO, not all of the experts are on board with the biofilm theory but then again when new ideas emerge, there usually is a lot of initial resistance to them from the experts.

I did briefly try a product that supposedly breaks down biofilms, called Interfase Plus, but didn't tolerate it well enough to stick with it- made my cramps, gas and loose stools worse. It may have been a case of things getting worse before they get better but I couldn't stick it out. So for now I just started Jarrow's Saccharomyces Boulaardii with MOS, and continue to rotate various herbal antibotics like Berberine (which is supposedly good for hydrogen which my breath test showed), some Oregano Oil, allicin, olive leaf, and occasional peppermint oil capsules. I also take ginger capsules with every meal since it is supposed to be good for digestion as well as nausea which I do get from time to time.

Yes- the probiotics idea is confusing. If there is indeed bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine- where normally there is supposedly very little bacteria- then taking them orally would theorectically only add insult to injury. As Dr Pimental said, SIBO isn't about what kind of bacteria it is, but it doesn't belong in the small intestine. However, whether we have SIBO or not, our large intestines may indeed need some probiotic supplementation. This is where the fecal transplant idea makes sense, in that it puts the bacteria where it is needed, besides possibly providing strains and a balance that haven't been identified.


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## tummyrumbles

Chris Kresser is great isn't he? I got my link from his website in my opening post. He explains things well without under or over explaining. Biofilms still seem to be contentious issue with some claiming these don't exist. Yes it's a big question - probiotics or not? If you have bacterial dysbiosis in the colon then just about any probiotics would help, if they take up residence there and grow - and has it been proved in studies that they do actually this? I know there have been studies of VSL #3 but these seem mainly subjective with people saying they feel a lot better. We need really tiny cameras that can see down to bacteria level and see whether the probiotics actually take hold or not. Probiotics aren't all that expensive but I don't like feeling silly and being ripped off. If you have SIBO then no, that seems to be the situation but how do we know which one we've got or even if it is bacterial imbalance causing the IBS? Testing isn't all that accurate and I know people here have posted they've gone on the antibiotics course but the SIBO returns in a couple of weeks. Motility is a big factor too. It could be that lazy habits can make a colon permanently sluggish and maybe this too encourages bacterial growth. I think diet is the answer but the diet is so hard! I can eat salad all day at work but come late afternoon I would gnaw someone's arm off if I couldn't get a hamburger. (I shouldn't be saying this here - you didn't really read that). I'm persevering with the salads and as many veges as I can take but trying to space everything out.


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## AIRPLANE

Yes, I agree about the probiotics. It would be interesting to know if they actually end up where they are supposed to and if so, are they helping? I have tried many brands over the years and they either made things worse or did nothing. And of course wonder if we should take them if we may have SIBO. I have read about various stool tests being done by alternative medicine practitioners that supposedly can check out what is or isn't there but it still doesn't sound very impressive. Hopefully this kind of testing will become mainstream and it will improve. I think it would be interesting if our bacteria could be checked periodically throughout our lives- like maybe establish a baseline when we are younger (and hopeful healthier although children can have digestive problems as well). I could even see possibly 'banking' some of our own bacteria when we are healthy and then it would be available to us later if needed for fecal transplant. Just like with blood transfusions, I would imagine the best 'donor' would be ourselves. And I know mine could be messed up from antibiotics. Not long before I started with the diarrhea, I had been given repeated courses of Tetracycline for acne. Even scarier I was doing laundry in a nursing home and I am hearing about increasing cases of C Difficile- even for people not exposed to it in a hospital type setting. Too many broad-spectrum antibiotics can disrupt things, and sometimes we might not get our bacteria back in balance.

I heard that Dr Pimentel was working on a blood test for IBS that checks for something called vinculin antibodies. Not sure what this would do as far as helping with treatment. All I can find on it now is that it might change how IBS is diagnosed- that it would no longer be a diagnosis of exclusion like it is now. Will have to wait for more information to come out.

I thought this was interesting. It made me think of carrageenan, which I think might be a type of seaweed, that is used as a thickening agent in some foods. I have heard that it is very irritating to the GI tract and should be avoided. I read that on Dr Andrew Weil's site- another place I visit for information and subscribe for free emails.

http://t.today.com/health/could-what-makes-food-creamy-help-make-you-fat-2D80514690


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## tummyrumbles

What an interesting idea about a bacteria bank! Is such a thing possible? It would be very expensive to maintain I guess and to test all the cultures, and you'd have to keep the bacteria fed. It would be interesting to see what happens with a Bali belly curry! Did you think of that yourself or did you see it somewhere? The trouble with a project like that is that bacteria aren't isolated and the way the colon works everything is interconnected - brain, enzymes, neurons etc which is why IBS is so hard to solve. This raises an interesting question. My daughter and her partner both ate out and had food poisoning with vomiting and diarrhea. When they recovered a few days later he was totally fine, but she had diarrhea after meals for a few weeks. I got her onto the low FODMAP diet and she came good, although maybe she would have anyway. But why did she get IBS-D, even if only temporarily, and he didn't? This is the thing about IBS I don't get. All the additives in food for instance, antibiotics, alcohol, starches, FODMAPs - all of us are exposed to these things but it's still only a percentage of people that get IBS. A person can drive themselves crazy trying to figure it out and I just don't think it's possible. I think we have a genetic weakness but that could be any gene, anywhere and there's probably several genes all over the place that could potentially lead to IBS. They did a study where they thought they isolated "the IBS gene" and found a drug to block activating this gene. Only trouble was the drug caused heart palpitations and other complications. I'm really over the studies. I've been reading on some of the probiotics studies and the doctors send the patients letters asking them if they feel better. The controls are free to choose their own diets. How scientific is that? Of course you're going to stop eating hot dogs and hamburgers while you're on the study, just because of the novelty of it. As soon as it's over it's back to your normal lifestyle. If they're going to seriously test things like probiotics have people eating the same diet over a week, some days with probiotics and some without. The thing with probiotics too is that most digesting is over by the time the carbohydrate gets to the colon to feed the bacteria, that's assuming it's not SIBO. Carbohydrate digestion doesn't usually involve bacteria until most of it is digested anyway. No-one fully digests FODMAPs and resistant starch but the small amount of gas doesn't seem to bother normal people or maybe they just get rid of it straight away. With us it seems to get blocked in the colon, causing motility issues / constipation / diarrhea and maybe this is due to genes, who knows. So if you are a carbohydrate malabsorber probiotics aren't really going to do anything as the damage is done already. For whatever reason the digestive enzymes couldn't do their job.

I hope you keep us posted with the news you're getting from the websites. I hadn't heard of carrageenan but our food standards allow it over here. I notice it's in almond milk which I don't drink thank goodness.


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## AIRPLANE

Yes, I agree that it can drive you nuts trying to figure it all out. It is similar to weight issues- why some people can eat as much and whatever they want and never have to worry about obesity, regardless of physical activity. I have heard about bacteroidetes and firmicutes being looked at for this but I'm sure it is fairly new so wouldn't expect any groundbreaking information on it anytime soon. I feel the same about many of the studies as you do- whatever med or diet is being tested- there are so many variables. Heredity, past antibiotic use, current or past acid reducing meds, past illnesses. Even environmental exposure, skin products, hair products, besides our food and water supplies. I generally drink bottled water but then I hear about the danger of plastic- even the coating on store receipt paper which I handle all day at my job! Just about every expert has their own ideas but of course I am willing to hear whatever they have to say. Some just think it is a cumulative thing- our bodies can deal with so many things until there is the straw that breaks the camel's back.

The bacteria bank was my idea- just was comparing it to a blood transfusion. I was thinking that maybe the bacteria could be frozen but don't know if it could survive that way. I do think it would be interesting to track any changes periodically and if it corresponded to the development of digestive symptoms then it would give the bacteria theory more validity. But again, it could still be only one factor for a symptom, part of a cumulative effect.


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## tummyrumbles

Airplane, I think I've cured my IBS! I've been going low starch the last few days and I've had straight days at work with only one small fluff after lettuce. I can't remember ever going a whole day at work with little to no gas, unless I ate very little the previous day.

I've been grazing on salads all day at work, starting about 12 and finishing about 3. Lettuce, carrot, tomato, cheese, 2 eggs. When I get home I have meat and veges, banana (very ripe) & yoghurt.

My first night on low starch I had pork hock soup with well-cooked potato, pumpkin & carrot and well-cooked broccoli. There wouldn't have been much starch in the potato as I cooked it so long. The second night for dinner I had hamburger with lettuce instead of a roll, but everything else: fried onions, lettuce, tomato, beetroot. The third night fish in coconut milk, cauliflower au gratin and mushrooms fried in butter. I was actually very full.

I hope you try this diet. I'm going to post in the diet section a starches and fodmaps list so you can print it out.

Thanks for letting me know about Dr Pimentel's vinculin tests - that really helped my understanding of IBS causes. I found a lot of related information here:

http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/topic/230161-ibs-as-an-autoimmune-condition-cdt-b-molecular-mimicry/#entry1060857

Give the low starch diet another go because this is definitely the cure. But yes, complete evacuation is all-important and you just have to stay there until you've finished. The last 3 days evacuation has been about half an hour, but it used to be 4 hours.


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## hzw7500

Hi tummyrumbles, I have followed your dietary advise and im now on the 4-5th day and so far i have seen Major reduction in my lg. Couldnt believe it worked this fast.
People havent been reacting much like the days before the diet. I m not fully cured but it definitaly is tolerable to go out now. Just a few coughs but no weird look, i think i went from smelling like garbage to a faint fart smell. I ll keep continue doing this diet and see how it goes. Thank you for the hard work you ve put in.


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## tummyrumbles

Thank's wonderful to hear. I'm so glad there's another success story. It's a tough diet to keep to. I have a sluggish colon and the biggest part of my LG was the fact that it takes me a while to go, so I have to sit there until I'm finished. I also tend to over-eat too so have to stop doing that. Be careful with the fibre, and fats as well (thank you Annie for that hint). Just introduce fibre very slowly, especially the salads. You last thing you want is diarrhea from a sudden overload of fibre or fat.


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## searching4answers

Lg/ibs/SIBO "cured" update 3 years later

To answer the Question you posted...Not necessarily. LG is caused by backed up stool, mine was found out through an xray.

First of all there is no cure, it's about managing your symptoms and keeping them away. A doctor telling u that you have IBS is basically saying "Idk wtf is wrong with your tummy". Tests are how you find the answers to the right diagnosis. Yes I've been through all the other non invasive tests 1st and all came back negative except for one.

Here's a little back story. I've had ibs symptoms since 15 yrs old. Diagnosed with (SIBO) small intestine bacterial overgrowth by *hydrogen breath test* at 17, now 22. I managed my sibo & lg symptoms in my first year of college after struggling to find a cure that wasn't there. This is my first time logging bk in since 3 years ago bc I've happily moved on with managing my symptoms,but I have not forgotten the frustrations of all those suffering. I just want to share what works for me.

*Symptoms* included sharp abdominal pain (upper left & lower right), bloating, nausea, lethargy, leaky gas, constipation, rosacea, popping and fluttering noises in stomach whether I ate or not. Treated it with Flagyl antibiotic, "cured", it came back. Now having been managing my symptoms successfully for the last 3 years. I found success through committing to a low carb, low sugar, no high fructose, no wheat diet, in addition to daily exercise, Miralax 1-2x a day, and Culturelle probiotic (Health & wellness-blue label) 2 pills 1-2x a day.

*LG Tips:*The diet similar to FODMAP reduces gas, sharp pains, nausea, rosacea, lethargy, sweats. The miralax reduces constipation which = no leakygas. The probiotics decreased my bloating & stomach noises in the event I eat bad. Daily jog also helps sweat out toxins. If embarrassing smell is an issue tips include filling part of sock with coffee grounds to put in pocket or scented dryer sheet btwn underwear fabric, also keeping something over your lap (jacket) when sitting & cross legged sitting position to lessen smell. Pm me to learn more about my exact diet & tips Good luck and hope this helps you move on as I have.


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## tummyrumbles

Just bumping this thread because of the fantastic results I've had by not over-eating. The main thing is to eat smaller meals during the day and the earlier you have your dinner at night the better. I try not to eat at all after 7.30 pm, which means I try to go to bed by 10 pm so I don't start getting hungry. Over-eating is so easy to do. If you eat until you feel full, you're over-eating. It takes a while to get used to it, but eating less in one sitting means you digest more, so in a sense eating less is eating more! I think it was the over-eating that led to my bacterial overgrowth in the first place. Over-eating means that you have taken in more food than your stomach can digest. This means that food is moving through the colon, at least partially undigested, and we all know that bacteria love partially undigested carbs. There's not a lot about over-eating here on these forums; actually there's very little. The best thing to do is just try it for yourself. There's a lot of misinformation here about fibre. Leaky Gas is caused by incomplete evacuation. We need a certain amount of fibre for efficient elimination. You have to gradually increase your fibre but the optimum fibre level is different for each person. I can tolerate a fair bit of fibre and seem to need this if I want to go in under an hour. Too much fibre leads to colonic spasms and just delays things even more. Too little fibre and things aren't moving through properly. I'm wary of things like nuts, dried beans, highly concentrated fruits like figs, dates etc. The best foods are the gentle, easy to digest veges and keep highly refined starches to a minimum. I don't take any meds at all - no probiotics, no drugs, no nothing. I wish I had known about this decades ago as it would have saved me a lifetime of sorrow. Oh well, better to know late than never at all.


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