I personally consider my food choices presents for my future self. I have a little ritual, just like some people pray and are thankful for every meal. 

I express my gratitude as well, but I reversed the process. I trained myself in asking myself the question: is this something my future self is thankful for.

Another thought that helps me is the next thought. If I want to become ninety without (more) health problems, my current body is the more younger and more ‘health-flexible’version of that older body.

All choices from today on will either tax my body (and mind) and jeopardize a health problem free future. Or my choices wil contribute to keeping my organs as young as possible and will keep my health in the best version as possible.

For me this makes choosing what to do with my food and lifestyle choices much more easy.

I can’t wait till I have seen it! I think this course’s topic is important for almost every aspect of a healthy life!

 , I love the red ‘paint’ stripe in the design! 

Whoever draws that blood sugar value in your picture needs your course badly by the way!

 I know how overwhelming it can be when you learn about the dysfunctions in your body. A SIBO diet (or low FODMAP diet) as a remedie for a SIBO can feel like a lot of rules to remember. Here is a strategy I use with my clients. It consists of 2 parts:

Part 1: Focus on what happens in the stomach first. It influences what happens downstream in the GI tract.
1. The microbiome is like a garden

The garden’s terrain (or microbiome in this analogy) determines what plants (or bacteria) can grow there. If you start to reduce the H. Pylori overgrowth, and you are optimising stomach acid you are going to influence the terrain of the microbiome.

When the chyme leaves the body, you want it initially to be really sour. The pancreatic enzymes neutralize the sourness of the chyme. But the same enzymes help protein & fat digestion. If stomach acid isn’t sour, it will influence the number of pancreatic enzymes that are secreted.

2. Change to a lower carb/higher fat diet
Why? Because to digest fats, we need bile and bile is really cool. It is your body’s solution to ‘anti-biotics’. Bile contains ‘bactericides’ which disinfect. In the garden analogy, you could compare bile with the manure of the soil. It basically keeps the ‘soil’ of the intestines optimal for a balanced bacterial culture.

The main take-home message so far: by optimizing the upper part of the digestion will influence what happens to the lower parts of the digestion!

Part 2: Build up a low FODMAP diet the easy way:

Perhaps I should explain first what FODMAPs are. FODMAP is an abbreviation for a lot of expensive words. But basically, it is food for the gut microbiome. Take this food away, and you are on a low FODMAP diet.

3. Consider a carnivore diet for a few months instead of a SIBO diet (or FODMAP diet as it is called often)
A carnivore diet is not for everyone. It is for you to determine if this would fit you. Things you need to consider are not only if you feel well with the idea. But if you feel a protein-heavy diet like this isn’t working because you feel protein digestion is impaired, a SIBO diet might be a better choice for now. I am just mentioning this as an option because the rules of this diet are so much easier to remember.

It may take away a part of your overwhelm.

When it comes to removing FODMAPs: a carnivore diet is the lowest in FODMAPs of all diets. Do add in a good quality multivitamin here if you choose to use this strategy.

4. How to learn a low FODMAP diet the easy way:

Divide your health journey into steps that you can oversee and are comfortable enough with. This is personally how I would start with the SIBO diet:

1. Start carnivore (without the milk products of course)
2. If you don’t see doing yourself a carnivore diet, add in a few favourite vegetables that are low in FODMAPs.
3. Add in more low FODMAP vegetables as soon as you have familiarised yourself with the vegetables of the previous step.

Extra tip
When you want to be on a SIBO/low FODMAP diet, consider eating more bitter vegetables.

Bitter herbs/vegetables can stimulate the production of stomach acid. Here is a list of bitter vegetables that are low FODMAP:
• Endives
• Arugula
• Mustard
• Swiss Chard
• Dark chocolate/cacao powder
• Kale 
• Watercress
• Dandelion (inclusive dandelion thee)

Here is something I wouldn’t recommend:
• Coffee is bitter & low in FODMAP but still can irritate the intestines. I wouldn’t advise it personally

I hope this answer will take away a part of your overwhelm!

Hi Dara,

First of all: Welcome to the forum! 

Because it is difficult to get a complete picture of your unique situation, it is difficult to give personal advice via the forum.

That said, anemia can certainly be a cause of fatigue. The size or shape of the red blood cells makes it impossible to deliver oxygen efficiently. There are different types of anemia:
1. In macrocytic anemia, the red blood cells are too large, so they no longer fit into the thinnest capillaries. A B12 deficiency can be the cause, but vitamin B9 and/or B6 deficiency can cause the same dis-ease.
2. In microcytic anemia, the red blood cells are too small. The protein that transports oxygen is missing, called hemoglobin, which is highly dependent on the micronutrient iron.

Especially if people do not feel any relief after 1 or 2 months with B12 injections and the anemia persists, I recommend that the next step is to determine vitamins B9 and B6, iron, ferritin (the storage form of iron in the body) and haemoglobin at the doctor’s office.

Finally, fatigue can arise in many different ways. Throughout the course you will find different reasons. But here are some other common reasons for fatigue.
• Good sleep hygiene is critical (this is discussed in detail in the course material). 
• The vitamins have to be in the food to be absorbed. In a vegetarian diet nutrient deficiencies like B12 and iron can happen.
• You need good quality stomach acid to absorb minerals and vitamins like iron & vitamin B12. Stomach acid production can be influenced by several reasons like stress and bad eating hygiene. This is also discussed in detail in the course material.

Hopefully I gave you some tools to move forward!