Most gut-related problems (excluding celiac and inflammatory bowel-type problems) can be traced back to an imbalance or overgrowth of bacteria in the digestive system.

Bacterial overgrowth is especially problematic when it occurs in the small intestines (SIBO). Studies have shown that SIBO is ten times more prevalent in acne rosacea patients than in people with clear skin. Unfortunately, we have no data on how prevalent it is among acne vulgaris (normal acne) patients, but other data suggests digestive problems are far more common among acne patients than in people with clear skin.

The small intestines aren’t suited to handle significant bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates. In his book Fast Tract Digestion Dr. Norm Robillard states that just 30 grams of fermentable carbohydrates can yield 10 liters (2.6 gallons) of intestinal gas.

Let’s talk about a typical Western diet – oatmeal and bread for breakfast; a banana for snack; a cheeseburger, fries and soda for lunch; and rice, carrots, chicken, and chocolate cake for dinner. A daily diet like that can easily contain 160 grams of fermentable carbohydrates. That’s over 50 liters of gas filling the intestines.

It’s easy to see how such gas volumes makes you feel bloated and uncomfortable. Intestinal gasses also affect motility (how fast food moved through the intestines), which further worsen bacterial imbalance.

While bacterial imbalance is often a symptom of some other problem (low stomach acid, insufficient bile secretion, a side effect of certain drugs), it’s the thing we have to address first. Simply because you can’t make progress on other matters until we have the intestinal gas under control.

We’ll do this by putting your gut bugs on diet and by using herbal antimicrobials to speed up the process.