Happy Tuesday! 

I wanted to use this opportunity to talk about some of the natural remedies I have incorporated into my everyday regiment.

– Turmeric – Helps with inflammation within the body
– Ginger Root – Also helps with inflammation & an uneasy gut.
– Licorice Root – Coats the stomach & helps ease pain (Also tastes great)!
– Dandelion Root – Helps with stomach acid production!
– Peppermint – Helps reduce gas, bloating, & nausea.
– Flax Seeds – Helps with constipation.

Most of these can be found fresh or in the herbs & spices section of your local grocer. Ginger, dandelion leaves, & roots can actually be purchased fresh and used in cooking! I have also found Licorice Root & Dandelion Root in tea form, by Traditional Medicinals, which is my preference.

Turmeric Tea
For those just discovering their SIBO, I highly recommend Turmeric Tea, as you are experiencing a good amount of stomach inflammation and should bring you some relief! To get started, try this Turmeric Tea Recipe! This is my favorite recipe that I found online, sans the calling for cayenne pepper (although if you can handle it, go for it)!  I also avoided adding honey, considering I was on contest prep and needed to track my carb macros. I actually am not sure how I react to honey yet, as I haven’t tried it. However, if you experience SIBO symptoms after ingesting honey, you may want to stay away from it until further down the road.

Be creative! If you don’t have time to boil water or you might be lucky enough to have a hot water tap at home – I generally will choose a Traditional Medicinals or Yogi tea of choice, cut up some ginger root, shake some Turmeric in there if I need it, 1 packet of Stevia, and stick it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Then I cover the mug and let it cook for a good 10 minutes.  Traditional Medicinals & Yogi teas, along with others I am sure, have great lines of different teas that incorporate a lot of herbs and spices that can help ease some discomfort.

As for the flax seeds…I one day would love to mix it with Kefir, but have not had the courage to try, as it is technically dairy regardless of its probiotic content. For now, I eat it within my raspberries every morning. I have only recently tried them in my diet – they work like a CHARM.

My Recent Progress & Observations
My doctor recently had me pause the Yeastonil & Parastonil over the past month, as I developed GERD and it was irritating my stomach. During the last 2 weeks of my prep, I was taking Xpel, which is a diuretic with naturally derived ingredients. I was nervous at first, but my body did not seem to have a negative reaction. It was actually causing visual Yeast die-off! I did become very constipated leading up the show, which I suspect would be due to the diuretic, however, once I was able to drink normal again, my body is acting in a very strange way…NORMAL.

After doing some research, I found that the ingredients in Xpel are actually very similar to my Apex Energetic’s SIBO arsenal of supplements (HPL-R, Yeastonil, Parastonil).

YEAST.
I hate yeast more than I hate bacteria. Yeast colonizes itself into your digestive tract and can be extremely difficult to eliminate – for me, that has been the case. So I tried something yesterday. Strengtia is another strain of probiotic that I had tried 2 months ago and experienced an adverse reaction. Turns out, it contains a “friendly” form of yeast called “Saccharomyces boulardii”. Sadly, incorporating strains of good yeast & bacteria at the wrong time during recovery can actually feed the bad stuff. Up until this point, I have only been able to take the strains in Sibiotica. Well, I took a Strengtia yesterday and..NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. I feel fine.

Sibiotica – Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium breve, Lactobacillus plantarum.
Strengtia –   Saccharomyces boulardii,  DDS-1 Lactobacillus acidophilus,  Bacillus coagulans, & Arabinogalactan.

Seriously. I went out to eat on Saturday and although I was careful to order gluten/dairy free, I was still anticipating there to be SOMETHING to piss off my stomach. I mean, with SIBO, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING. And there was nothing…I went out to dinner like a normal human being, on a Saturday. Had drinks. Enjoyed myself..and the rest is history.

Next time I write, I am going to talk about how I plan on getting through Thanksgiving with a bad gut.

Keep your head up.
<3 Steph