I'm back - AMA
I'm the guy who cured his SIBO with kefir and celery juice. My post on r/SIBO is the second most commented on of all time. The mods of that sub nevertheless banned me two years ago. They never identified the policy I violated, because there was no violation. They simply didn't like my opinions.
I'm writing this post for a few reasons.
First: Heartfelt apologies to the hundreds of people whose questions on my posts I've been unable to answer during my ban, and the many more whose own thoughtful posts I wish I could have engaged with.
Second: I saw a post on r/SIBO today with the title "considering ending life." That's what inspired me to make this post. I couldn't make it there, so I'm making it here. Nobody should have to feel that way because their tummy is upset. Yet modern allopathic medicine has allowed simple dysbiosis to become a debilitating condition millions feel powerless to confront.
I've learned a lot in the 2 years since I made my initial post about how I found a cure that worked for me. I remain 100% SIBO-free. And I'm still as confident as ever that the precise guidance I gave in my initial post, which centered around high-potency kefir and cold-pressed celery juice, is likely to provide lasting relief to *many* SIBO-sufferers. Take for example the guy who posted 2 days ago that kefir cured him. I've seen many such cases.
But I'm also increasingly cognizant of the fact it may not work for everyone. Having spent years carefully following this sub, a clear pattern emerges: the path out of the hell that is SIBO almost always involves addressing some combination of common intersecting root causes: acid/bile regulation, gut flora composition (probiotics), excess cortisol (stress), meal timing, motility, and movement (physical activity). Antibiotics alone could not possibly fix any of those problems. Probiotics, by contrast, address multiple of them simultaneously, and are often key to recovery (seek food-based, high-CFU sources, not probiotic pills, which in my experience do nothing). Limited, short-term antimicrobial use may play a supporting role, though rarely if ever does it appear to be the primary factor in a lasting success story. Rarer still are the cases where prescription drugs alone provide relief that lasts more than a few months. Possibly more frequent are the cases where prescription drugs worsen a person's condition, often in serious and even life-threatening ways.
All of this is utterly unexplored by the mainstream medical establishment. The reason is simple and obvious: incentives dictate outcomes, and the medical industry is incentivized to sell prescription drugs and surgeries. Cut and prescribe- there are no other tools available. Google "allopathic medicine" and you'll see what I mean. Cutting and prescribing is definitionally with allopathic medicine is.
The specific incentives that perpetuate this dynamic involve the intersection of patent and tort law and are thus poorly understood by the general public (AKA a snoozefest). In a nutshell: it's patent law 101 that naturally-occurring compounds (e.g. celery, kefir, ginger, natto, red yeast rice, plants of any kind) can't be patented; thus only synthetic drugs can be patented; thus only synthetic drugs can be monopolized (a patent is a legal monopoly); thus all medical R&D funding naturally finds its way to synthetic drugs; thus "science" exists only for synthetic drugs (studies are expensive); thus it becomes the standard of care to treat all conditions with synthetic drugs; thus any doctor who prescribes anything other than a synthetic drug has deviated from the standard of care and committed medical malpractice.
This cycle has resulted in a total blackout on meaningful, well-funded scientific research into natural, plant-based, and otherwise alternative remedies. It has extinguished thousands of years of indigenous knowledge. It handicaps doctors. It keeps patients in the dark. And it keeps sick people in pain.
All of which is to say: we need each other. Keep sharing your stories. Reach out to this community when you are suffering. And if you, like me, find a cure that works for you: pay it forward. Help others by sharing what you've learned. Love is all you need.
Finally, if you've kept reading this long: ask me anything! My time is very limited because I continue to work full-time in a demanding field that has nothing to do with gut health. I have never taken and will never take a cent for anything related to SIBO. I don't have anything to sell. But while I may be slow to reply, I will answer every single comment as soon as I possibly can.
I don't purport to have all the answers. I only know what worked for me and the patterns I've observed following this forum for quite some time. Everyone who's achieved remission - especially those who've remained symptom-free for years - has a crucial role to play. And so do those who've learned what doesn't work. Let's advance our collective understanding to the point where nobody ever "considers ending life" again because of a gut problem. There is a way out for all of you. You will find it if you keep an open mind and don't give up. Together we can get there. The only way out is through. Onward!