Many people get occasional bloating, whether it is from something they eat, swallowing too much air, or even women experiencing their monthly cycle. But why is it that some people get bloated and seem to stay bloated? If you have this problem, you know what I’m talking about. No matter what you eat or do your clothes never fit, you feel as though you look nine months pregnant, and it is just plain uncomfortable. If this is you, it is time you finally had some answers to why you are suffering.

The chronic bloating comes from a process called Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). You may have heard the term SIBO, but what does that really mean and why does it cause the bloating?

In our bodies, the first part of the small bowel is called the duodenum. The duodenum is a sterile environment, meaning that unlike the colon, the duodenum is not supposed to have bacteria in it. For some unknown reason, our bodies can have a triggering event. A triggering event is something like a stress to our bodies, surgery, a high dose of antibiotics, etc. that can happen at any time. This triggering event tells the duodenum to slow down. The small bowel, which is normally like a free flowing stream, now slows down enough that bacteria are able to hang out in this area instead of flowing straight through.

Once the bacteria are in the duodenum, they feed off the starches you ingest. As they break down the starches, they give off Hydrogen gas. Once there is enough Hydrogen gas in the duodenum, it creates the perfect environment for another actor, called the archaebacteria, to come and hang out. This archaebacteria takes in Hydrogen and through an enzymatic reaction, it uses it as fuel and gives off another gas called Methane.

In the body Methane acts as a paralytic. So now the Methane slows down the flow of the duodenum even more. Where the duodenum was once a free flowing stream, we now have a stagnant pond which allows for even more bacteria to come in. More bacteria produce more Hydrogen which allows for more archaebacteria to enter, which give off more Methane. More Methane creates an even bigger stagnant pond in the duodenum, becoming a vicious cycle.

Once this cycle is in place, it is hard for the body to stop the cycle on its own. The continuation of this cycle is what causes some people to suffer from chronic bloating and abdominal discomfort. The bacteria are the main difference between people who have occasional bloating and those who have chronic. Once the body is able to rid the duodenum of the bacteria and archaebacteria, and return them back to where they belong- in the colon, the duodenum is then able to return to a free flowing stream and the body is able to function as normal. Which means you are able to fit back into your skinny clothes once again!

Written By: Kenneth Brown, M.D.