“But if extra bacteria in the small intestines causes SIBO, then why should I take more? Won’t that make the problem worse?”

I’ve worked with countless patients who were wrongly told by their nutritionists or doctors that they shouldn’t take probiotics if they had SIBO. It comes down to a misunderstanding of how probiotics actually work - because these practitioners mistakenly believe that probiotics work by colonizing the gut, and therefore they think that giving probiotics to their patients will make SIBO worse.

These practitioners don’t understand that most probiotics don’t survive in the GI tract. Most probiotics simply die on as soon as they come in contact with stomach acid, digestive enzymes and our immune system. Most of the rest die farther down in the GI tract before they are able to colonize. The key is understanding that the dead probiotic bacteria exert powerful effects on the body. When the probiotic bacteria die, they are broken up into fragments, and these bits and pieces change the way our immune system acts, and they also have direct anti-microbial effects. In my practice, I have seen mild cases of SIBO be completely resolved only by using probiotic treatments.