The Bad Gut Trifecta Experts Gloss Over: SIBO, Gallstones, and Gastritis

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If you have SIBO, gallbladder problems, or gastritis, you know very intimately just how complicated it is to find foods that you can eat without wreaking havoc on your intestines and stomach, let alone what diet will help you lose weight.

I’ve listened my way through nearly every nutrition book on Audible, and only one or two books even mention gastritis and gallstones. Only on an occasion or two have I heard (mainly from female authors) that keto diets are “tough” for people with gallbladder problems. I think I remember Dave Asprey mentioning a little something about it, but I can’t remember for certain.

So, let’s break it down, because it’s a huge problem for people with “gut” issues, and it’s constantly glossed over by so-called experts.

SIBO

First, SIBO. What is SIBO? It’s a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and there are two kinds that I know of. They are methane-dominant and hydrogen-dominant SIBO.

Basically, what happens is that the bacteria end up in places in our intestines where they aren’t supposed to live, start feeding on the mucous membranes, causing inflammation, get into our blood via holes in the gut, and poison us with their poop (called endotoxins). They expel either methane or hydrogen, hence their classifications.

The pain is real, let me tell you.

When the bacteria are overgrown, you have two options: take antibiotics or starve the bacteria.

Antibiotics work sometimes, somewhat, and then usually result in a recurrence of bacterial overgrowth. A vicious cycle ensues whereby the antibiotics kill off protective good bacteria and the surviving bad bacteria end up taking over even more than before.

Starving the bacteria leads them to travel further in the digestive tract for food, they eat the mucous membranes, causing more gut permeability and inflammation in damn near every inch of your body, from your neck to your butthole. I can talk that way because I’m not a doctor. (This is a good time to make that clear to you.) But if you have SIBO, you already know I’m speaking from experience.

You have to starve the problematic bacteria to lower their numbers, even though starving them can cause problems too. Starving them is the only way to keep them from blowing up your stomach and turning your body into a cesspool of brain-fogging micro-excrements.

You can do this using natural antibiotics like oregano oil, clove, and cinnamon. There are others, too. You can fast. You can do elimination diets, i.e., eat foods that feed you but don’t also feed them.

SIBO/Gastritis Complications

But alas, if you have gastritis, you might as well just punch yourself in the stomach all day and night because that’s the light side of what it’ll feel like to take these herbals (or any antibiotics for that matter) or to attempt a fast.

Gastritis complicates SIBO cures. When the stomach is inflamed, taking most supplements is just going to make it worse. Even the cellulose capsules of supplements can make it worse.

Hardly anyone talks about how even in regular multivitamins, which you need to take if you’re on an elimination diet (except the carnivore diet; more on that later), there are ingredients in the pills that aggravate gastritis.

Jonathan Aviv talks about this in The Acid Watcher Diet, which is an excellent book on the subject. Fake sweeteners like xylitol, which is used to sweeten gummy vitamins or chewables, sugar alcohols, and popular keto sweeteners like monk fruit extract, sucralose, and additives such as maltodextrin, dextrose, rice fillers, etc. are especially irritating to the gut and stomach lining.

When you have gastritis, SIBO, and gallstones, diet becomes a nightmare.

Fasting, which can help SIBO and gallbladder attacks dramatically, is absolutely excruciating when you have gastritis.

What can you eat?

What can you eat when you have SIBO and/or gastritis? Definitely not oatmeal. Don’t touch bananas. Two foods you always see on the “do eat” list of every gastritis Facebook group. Sorry, nope.

Maybe that banana will help for a minute. But soon the belly bugs will eat that banana and grow and multiply. That oatmeal is going to put more little holes in your intestines, which the bad bugs will burrow through and get into your bloodstream.

Even though some foods are good for lowering stomach acid, bacteria love eating them, and your SIBO will get more problematic.

When you have SIBO and/or gastritis, your best bet is to go on the SCD diet or carnivore diet. My opinion here… Carnivore: short-term only.

When I did it, it helped greatly to reduce gastritis and SIBO but severely raised my blood pressure and gave me chronic headaches that I still suffer from to this day. But as elimination diets go, it’s the only one that gets you all your vitamins without having to take vitamin supplements. Vitamin supplements irritate gastritis.

This is the crux of most diets:

1. high-fat, low-carb
2. healthy fats, plant-based complex carbs, and lean protein
3. high-carb, low-fat
4. carnivore
5. vegan
6. low-fodmap, low-oxalate, low-histamine, low-purine, low-lectin, <insert low-something here> diet.
7. Eat whatever you want, just eat it within an 8-hour window, or OMAD (One Meal A Day).

High-Fat/Low-Carb

Let’s start with high-fat, low-carb… It’s supposedly great for health benefits of all kinds. I’ve read Jason Fung and want to follow his recommendations. I love Dr. Berg. I wanted to do it. Being pre-diabetic, I wanted to follow all of Fung’s advice because it all made so much sense. I tried to do it.

It’s great for SIBO but terrible for people with gallbladder issues or gastritis. High-fat foods cause your stomach to produce more acid. My ulcers did not appreciate that at all. In fact, I think trying to put too much fat in my diet is what gave me ulcers in the first place. I don’t have H. pylori.

I’m pretty sure keto also gave me adrenal fatigue and caused me to have what are now chronic palpitations and heart arrhythmias. I added carbs back in, and I’m actually sleeping again.

So no, I’m not a fan of keto, and though I think eating fat is especially important when you have gallbladder problems, too much fat is a ticket to the ER.

Healthy fats, complex carb plants, and a lean protein diet

Let’s move on to the ever-reasonably-sounding healthy fats, complex carb plants, and lean protein diet. This one is hit and miss; it depends if you didn’t try keto first because you will gain about 20 pounds and watch your blood sugars spike as you reacquaint your body with carbs. That’s just the first thing.

Secondly, complex carbs are a SIBO growth hack. Go ahead, have SIBO, and eat brown rice. Watch your stomach balloon into the little purple girl from Willy Wonka. Take a day off because you might have to go to the ER when the bacteria start feeding and having a bachelor party in your colon.

I wouldn’t touch a complex carb with a ten-foot pole with SIBO. I ate a quarter cup of quinoa and watched as my eyes looked like I had smoked two blunts with Snoop Dogg. The histamine produced is not only extremely uncomfortable, but it actually poisons you.

I also notice that any grain, even pseudo-grains, gives me massive gallbladder pain. Even non-gluten grains. This phenomenon is talked about extensively in the book “Wheat Belly”.

These well-meaning doctors touting fiber as a weight-loss food are so quick to leave out the fact that fiber is a menace. There is a great book with that exact title, and I highly recommend you read it. Fiber is an invitation for pain if you have SIBO, gastritis, or gallstones.

But we need fiber, right? Right? …

Good gut bacteria thrive on fiber, and we want those good guys in our guts. So we have to eat some of the things that they eat to keep them happy. Right? Right?

High-carb, low-fat

Let’s move on to the next diet: high carb, low fat. This is the diet that is recommended for gallbladder problems. At my last ER visit, my discharge papers recommended I eat this way.

This is bullsheets. Yes, eating a low-fat diet will help you feel better and avoid a gallbladder attack, temporarily. Did you also know that eating a low-fat diet will also cause your gallbladder to handle fats even worse than before?

I followed an extended low-fat diet after pregnancy, and that’s what really messed up my gallbladder in the first place. I’m not the only one. Dr. Berg talks about this exact thing, and when I watched his videos, I knew he was correct because it happened to me too.

You have to eat fat, or your gallbladder will just stop working. My ejection fracture rate is something like 25% now. Technically, I should be getting my gallbladder removed, and I have a standing order at the ER to get it out anytime I want at this point. But I want to keep my gallbladder!

High-carb diets are also bad for metabolic fitness. According to “new” or “older/wiser” thinking, carbs are actually what causes atherosclerosis, heart disease, high cholesterol, etc. It’s the insulin jacker-upper. It’s a cortisol increaser. It’s the double-chin, triple-belly maker.

So, let’s just move on to the next diet. Carnivores, oh meat eaters, how you are so mean to vegans. Don’t you just know so much, and everyone else is just so stupid, right?

Honestly, carnivores, in my experience, are kind of an emotionally insufferable bunch. Just way too holier than thou. And vegans, you know… them too, really. Two sides of the same coin. But don’t get me started on those nutjobs who are pushing us all to eat bugs and lab-grown meat. Ya’ll need a time-out!

Carnivore

I will say that I have been plant-based nearly my whole life, and I have had health problems the whole damn time. It took me a minute to wrap my head around the possibility that eating only meat could heal me. But alas, I was desperate and nearly disabled, with a toddler to take care of by myself.

I decided to read what all the fuss and controversy were about, and after thoroughly digesting every book on the subject on Audible, I was compelled to try it. The arguments for it were very interesting and made a lot of sense.

So I did it. I went carefully into carnivore. Starting with only meats (nose to tail, liver, effing gross, but I ate it) and ripe fruit. I knew better than to try to cut out carbs completely from day one.

I have to say that going carnivorous was the fastest way my gastritis ever went away. It was remarkable. Also, because I know that ruminant meat offers a full spectrum of proper nutrition, I knew I wasn’t going to give myself any vitamin deficiencies like I had done so many times previously in other diets.

I love that most carnivores don’t take vitamins. They don’t need them. It’s kind of amazing, and to me, it’s proof that we as humans are intended to be meat eaters.

Even my gallbladder took to the carnivore diet like a champ. It handled all the fat just fine. All was fine. I slowly started removing fruits and got to the point where I was just eating meat and salt, and guess what? Can you guess?

I started having massive high blood pressure episodes and chronic headaches. Now I’m on blood pressure medications and beta blockers.

Not ideal considering all I’ve been doing is following so-called experts on their so-called healthy diets and trying very hard not to take prescription medications.

So what could have gone wrong? Oxalate dumping (read Toxic Superfoods)? High histamine? Red meat, especially ground meat, is high in histamines. I did try eating steak instead, and it was better but not resolved.

So the carnivore diet is good for SIBO, fine for the gallbladder, and great for gastritis, but ultimately not good for my overall health. I need to be able to eat a range of foods without kicking the SIBO back into high gear, which then triggers gastritis.

What about veganism?

I do notice that when my gastritis is in a flare, eating certain raw fruits and veggies helps me keep the acid at bay. Carrots, celery, pears, peeled apples, watermelon, and cantaloupe are my go-to fruits and veggies to get out of a flare.

But being vegan absolutely requires supplementation. You have to supplement B12, omegas, and amino acids for sure. If you don’t get enough fats and proteins, for instance, your body will start eating its own organs, including the heart.

If you’ve never heard of Weston A. Price, now is a good time to familiarize yourself with him. Humans need fat-soluble vitamins. Human teeth will turn to bone dust without them, and teeth are a good indicator of overall health. He doesn’t say that exactly, but I’m distilling the material for you.

Fasting

I found out the hard way that men and women need to fast differently. I love the idea of OMAD (one meal a day).

It makes so much sense that if we get our calories all in one meal, the rest of the time our bodies can go off and take care of other things while nefarious cells such as cancer cells will die of starvation. This is how monks and spiritual gurus eat, and they live forever, don’t they?

Well, I tried this and ended up with tachycardia episodes in the middle of the night. I learned the hard way that I need carbs and protein before bed, or I have massive cortisol issues in the middle of the night.

Not everyone is adrenal sufficient. After having a child and not sleeping for a couple of years, eliminating carbs and fasting was not the right direction to take.

Now I aim to stop eating by 7 p.m. and not eat until 8 a.m. the next morning. I do not put any restrictions on eating certain foods at certain times of the month, especially the week before my period, as per the book “Fast Like a Girl,” which I highly recommend you read.

I have found this to be much better for getting sleep. I also attribute improper fasting to at least some portion of my hormone-perpetuated weight gain.

Wrapping up

I’ve read Dr. Gundry, Dr. Fuhrman, Dr. Hymen, Zinczenko, Dr. Mindy Pelz, Dave Asprey, Dr. Bill Schindler, Haylie Pomroy, all the carnivore guys and gals, Dr. Sandra Cabot, Peter Kozlowski MD, Shivan Sarna, Don Colbert, L. G. Capellan, H. B. Thomason, Alberto Villoldo, Dr. J. DiNicolantonio, Benjamin Bikman Ph.D., David Perlmutter, Jonathan Aviv, and all the ones in between, like the grape diet, Dr. Sebi diet (not a doctor), Anthony William Medical Medium (also not a doctor), McDougal, William Li If I’ve left any of your favorites out, I apologize. I have probably read (or, technically, listened to) them too.

Do you have any favorite books you think I should read on the subject? I’d love to hear about them.

None of them talk about the SIBO-gastritis connection or the gastritis-gallbladder connection. If you look for gallbladder books, there are just a couple, and they’re abysmally lacking. They tell you nothing. Even the liver books barely cover it.

In conclusion, it’s complicated. With my experience in doing every diet under the sun and still being overweight and not having lost a single pound on any of these diets and still suffering, I can say that religious adaptation to these diets is not a recipe for success.

Did I mention that I did 6 months on a vegan smoothie diet, ala Dr. Brooke Goldner, and actually gained 10 pounds and felt like I was definitely going to die on more than one occasion after consuming high-oxalate blenders full of greens and flax seeds or chia seeds?

Every human body is different, and every microbiome is different. On every single one of these various diets, there are people who found amazing success, and there are people for whom the diet didn’t work.

I have clawed my way out of medical crises on several occasions for several different reasons, and I know more about nutrition now than I should need to, in my opinion. I definitely know more than all of the gastroenterologists I have seen, which I think is really sad.

I believe I caught a fat-making bacteria when I got infectious IBS a couple of years ago, and everything has made me gain weight since, and I’m constantly battling gastritis. I get my gastritis under control, and then my son will bring home some kind of norovirus from preschool, or I’ll eat some off food, and I’ll go into a flare. It’s a battle. My gallbladder is full of stones, which runs in my family. I ate very poorly for most of my life before I knew anything about nutrition.

I also have some kind of gastro-cardiac syndrome, which my cardiologist says there’s no data on or information on, and he can’t help me on the subject. Youtube has a little information, but not much. Vagus nerve stuff, probably… I’m just shooting around in the dark on this one.

I recently started using the app “Nerva,” which is hypnotherapy for the belly. I’ve only done two days of it so far, so I can’t tell you yet if it works. I will report back on that.

Keeping SIBO at bay

If you are interested in what I eat to keep the SIBO under control and gastritis on the lighter side, here’s my go-to food list when things go awry.

Fruits/veggies

Peeled apples, peeled or deseeded cucumbers, pears, cantaloupe, watermelon, carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, kale, butter lettuce, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, avocados, pumpkin, and spaghetti squash sparingly, as well as very small amounts of red onion and lemon.

Meats

Pastured chicken, grass-fed steak, and pastured eggs (I have been reducing these since having high blood pressure episodes; I’m not sure if it’s helping or not yet).

Dairy

If I add dairy, I start having problems, but I do sometimes have a little yogurt or cream (raw from a local farm).

Grains

I eat sourdough rye occasionally, per Dave Asprey, when I really need some bread to feel like a normal person.

The almond flour wraps work nicely, and that’s what I usually eat my chicken sandwiches with.

Treats

One or two squares of super-clean chocolate for a treat, or else it flares my gastritis. No junk-fun snacks *cries of orthorexia*

I found dried jackfruit recently, which is very yummy and makes a good snack. Also, dates are delicious and can be dressed to taste like a Snickers bar.

Spices/condiments/butters

Salt, tarragon, rosemary, mint, sage, cardamom, vanilla, ginger, mayo, blanched almond butter, apple butter

I have had good success with Dr. Ruscio’s Elemental Heal meal replacement shakes, though they are too expensive to use regularly for me. Maybe you can afford it, but I have a hard time wrapping my wallet around spending $75 for two days’ worth of shakes.

I tried to develop my own recipe at home but didn’t get the same results, so I still buy it when I go into a flare and need immediate help.

I have also tried about a million different probiotics with limited results.

If you have any other ideas about any of these things, I’d love to hear them.

Here’s what I think is true about diet after all that I’ve read and experienced so far: (Again, I am not a doctor.) I know people have firm opinions on what is the right kind of diet for them, and I just know that what works for you is what is right. This is just advice I’ve picked up from one place or another that has helped me.

1. Eat low-oxalate fruits and vegetables.
2. Eat low-lectin foods or reduce lectins. Dr. Gundry is probably still in my top five for knowing what the hell he’s talking about.
3. Eat high-quality meats. Grass-fed, pasture-raised. I don’t believe in vegan diets; sorry, Dr. Sebi, who isn’t a real doctor; Anthony William, also not a doctor; et al. I have been vegan in the past, and my teeth nearly fell out. I also gave myself a wicked B12 deficiency. If you try to eat extra greens to resolve the teeth thing, as many Youtube videos suggest, be prepared to poison yourself with high oxalates.
4. Eating grains, even pseudo-grains is not great. There are just too many chemicals in the plants, and even the non-GMO versions are still mutated and messed with. You’re better off getting carbs from higher-carb veggies or fruit (non-citrus and low-fiber if you have gastritis). Removing grains does lighten your B vitamin intake, so make sure you get them elsewhere.
5. The kinds of fats you eat matter. Use the right fat for cooking and the right fat for salads.
6. Don’t eat foods that make you sneeze, have a nose drip, make you sleepy, or raise your blood pressure or heart rate 10–15 minutes after consumption. This is an indication of a histamine reaction.
7. Get the plastic out of your food and check your dishwashing detergent to make sure it’s not left on your dishes when you eat off of them.
8. Drink the best water you can afford.

Conclusion

I realize this story probably doesn’t solve your health issues, but maybe it gives you some jumping-off points. If you have gastritis, gallbladder issues, or SIBO, you know the suffering is the stuff of nightmares. Absolute torture.

Hopefully some “experts” will catch on that they are missing the mark.

Not everyone is just trying to lose weight, though I realize that sells books.

All these diet books that say you’re going to lose weight and feel great if you eat this or that and then don’t offer any solutions for people with SIBO, gastritis, or gallstones — well, then who the heck are they writing for? Just overweight folks and diabetics?

No one with serious gut issues gives too much concern to mild bloating, gas, or discomfort, okay? Or do they? Maybe I’m just jealous that some people only suffer from that. It seems minor to me. Or maybe that’s all the supplement companies will attest to solving in their marketing.

I want the battery acid diarrhea to end, and/or I also want my intestines to not be filled with cement at the end while holding a bag of hot diarrhea at the top. I want firm, comfortable poop and a relaxed, easily rested stomach that doesn’t move on its own like someone let a wild animal loose inside them. I want my bile to be clean and easy-flowing. I want my stomach to stop burning like someone peeled off a layer with a razor blade.

I want my liver to be fat-free and my food to be full-fat, okay?

There are so many gastroenterologists, and none of them can even tell a person how to save their gallbladder. There are only a few decent books on SIBO and basically none on gastritis or healing gallbladder disease.

If you find any more answers, I’d love to hear them.

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