Lose the Belly Bulge by Summer
Dysfunctions in your digestive function may be the cause of excess belly weight. Many of my patients come into my office complaining of bloating and fullness in the abdomen. They may even complain of being “fat,” but many times it is not fat but swelling that is causing the distension. This can from a few different causes but a very common one is due to bad flora such as bacteria and yeast (Candida) in our digestive tracts. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) are becoming more frequently seen in primary care practice. It is important to identify and treat the cause of the abdominal swelling to get you back to a healthier you.
Symptoms of IBS include gas, bloating, abdominal discomfort, constipation and/or diarrhea and may also include heartburn and nausea. It is really common for them to come on after travel out of the country, after having a bout of food poisoning (vomiting and/or diarrhea) or after using antibiotics. These symptoms are caused by bad types of bacteria and/or Candida fermenting the carbohydrates from your diet. The fermentation process also produces toxins that poison your mitochondria (engine of your cells) leading to fatigue, brain fog, body aches and pains. Bad flora in the gut can also lead to an increase in glutamate production, a neurochemical that causes insomnia and attention deficit issues.
SIBO is a more severe form of IBS that has A LOT more fermentation, abdominal swelling and pain. Oftentimes people with SIBO have very large abdomens that can look pregnant at times, that commonly get worse throughout the day. You can have a hydrogen/methane breath test to screen for this condition. We also sometimes do comprehensive stool testing to identify which organism is overgrown. My favorite test for this is called the GI Map by Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory. They use PCR testing looking at the DNA of the flora in your gut, and helps identify the amount of your good bacteria, bad bacteria, yeast, parasites and a few digestive function markers. Knowing which type of flora is over-grown plays a big role in identifying the most successful treatment.
Once we have identified that IBS or SIBO is the cause of your excess belly weight, we can then make changes in your diet to greatly improve symptoms. Another diagnostic tool I use is having patients go on a low FODMAP diet for 1 month. If the bloating and digestive symptoms improve, it is a dead giveaway that there is flora problem. FODMAP stands for fermentable oligo- di- mono-saccharide and polyols, they are the types of sugars that bad flora love to eat/ferment. There are many different lists on the internet for the FODMAP content of foods, but my favorite is from Monash University, you can find the link on our website’s resource page: https://www.naturopathicmedicalclinic.com/resources . They also have an app available that makes it really easy to identify high FODMAP foods as well is know how much you can eat per meal without getting symptomatic. Within 2 weeks on this diet, your digestive symptoms including abdominal swelling, should be greatly improved. But, go off the diet and your symptoms can return with a vengeance!
To facilitate a faster and more prolonged resolution to your symptoms we may also choose to add in herbs that dampen down the bad flora in the gut. Again, we gear this to the specific type of flora that is overgrown. We identify this through stool testing, food sensitivity testing, and/or from your specific list of symptoms and physical exam. We also may use a high dose probiotic WITHOUT prebiotics. Prebiotics are often added to probiotics because they feed the flora to help keep them alive longer, but they can also feed the bad flora in the gut. Many times, my patients with SIBO will get worse with probiotics and this can be due to the product they use containing prebiotics. Not all probiotics are created equal, so I strongly recommend getting a high dose (over 60 billion) that you buy from the refrigerated section of your health clinic or health food store.
By treating the cause of your belly swelling, we not only slim down the waist line, we are optimizing your health to keep you healthy and feeling your best.