Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Digestive Health Support Forum banner

Gut Fermentation- Flux

555 Views 5 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  moldie
I swear this is what's going on inside me sometimes. What's your take on this? What fruits or other foods do you think would aggravate this problem the most? Would the soft-skinned fruits like berries, peaches/nectarines and the like be worse? What about melons? Would it be better to eat freshly picked fruits- not over-ripe, and limit them? Which fruits have the highest sugar content? What about already fermented or aged products? Yeast included? I had a nectarine- 1/day for three days and my GI system was rumbling and bloating to beat the band (if you know what I mean). Was it the citric acid they contain, the sugars fermenting in my gut, or what? I don't have this problem with apples and bananas. Soy beans seem to be a problem though. Too much dairy seems to get me too- especially cottage cheese. When I don't eat anything, my abdomen is fine(no bloating or gas), but then I experience nausea. Is that due to the extra acid in the stomach produced when nothing is in it, or a blood sugar problem? Thanks for your insight. ------------------
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
Some people like to believe that fermentation (or more specifically bad bacteria) are IBS culprits. There is some data, but not a lot. People have experimented with replacing ALL of one�s gut bacteria with new bacteria. That�s not a procedure for the faint of heart, though.Anyway, fermentation should only be an issue if bacteria and substrate (sugar) meet. That generally can�t happen in the upper gut because it washes away most bacteria, so the only way things could be problematic if the sugar gets through. Lactose gets through in a fair number of people, but for some reason, doesn�t seem to cause a problem despite the popular belief. People have proposed the reason is that the good bacteria eat the lactose! In fact, a popular idea is to feed the good bacteria special sugars they like. Known as fructoligosaccaharides, or FOS. The Japanese have experimented with this with apparently mixed results. Another sugar which can get through is fructose or fruit sugar. That could make fruits problematic, but which ones, I am not sure. It also depends on the load of the sugar..small amounts shouldn't be a problem, but one study found bad bacteria and fructose as an apparent cause for IBS symptoms. Incidentally, when fructose is combined with glucose (it is when you eat sucrose, or table sugar), the fructose absorbs better. Another thing of note is that prunes have a known laxative effect, but it doesn't seem to be related to its sugar content. I don't think any of this is related to the outside of the gut, so that throws out the blood sugar concept. You don't get alter that too much without get very ill (diabetes).The upper gut symptoms could be related to intrinsic motility disorder of the stomach.
See less See more
Are you talking possible Malabsorption of Sugars then? Does Malabsorption of sugars seem to happen and Gut Fermentation usually follows?Can you explain the Malabsorption of sugar process again- i.e. why this occurs?------------------
G
Here is some information that has helped me.I hope it helps you.Fruit is digested primarily in the small intestine, and when eaten with other solids, its emptying from the stomach is delayed. This permits fermentation that produces indigestion (heartburn) and often gas formation (bloating). Fruit ideally should be consumed by itself as a snack to receive the best benefit of lower insulin secretion after a meal and to prevent gas, pain and bloating. Also, try eating fruit thirty minutes before or two hours after a meal. Basically try not to mix fruit with proteins, starches, or any kind of vegetable. Fruits digest so quickly that by the time they reach your stomach, they are already partially digested. If they are combined with other foods, they will rot and ferment. Only eat fruit with other fruit.Melons digest faster than any other food. Therefore, you should never eat melons with any other food, including other fruts. Always eat melons on their own. (There are other foods not to mix - if your interested let me know and I'll give them to you.)Please let me know if you give this a try and what happens.Good Luck..
See less See more
Malabsorption can be specific or generalized. Specific malabsorption can result from enzyme deficiency such as lactase deficiency causing lactose malabsorption. Lactose is a cobmination of gluocse and galactose.It�s also possible to has isomaltase deficiency, which would prevent one from breaking down maltose (a combination of two glucose molecules). Another one is sucrase deficiency, preventing digestion of sucrose (table sugar), which is glucose and fructose. Corn syrup is actually a pregdigested version of sucrose.Fructose malabsorption probably results from a defect in the transporter proteins that are involved with facilitated diffusion of it across the intestinal cell membrane.Generalized malabsorption means that some disease process is affecting the absorption of all nutrients. Fat is often affected the worst and the excess fat in the stool is called steatorrhea. That results in weight loss. Many diseases can cause this, but IBS does not.What Alley is referring to is the food combining diet. There is no truth to it, however. You can feel free to combine fruits, meats, breads, whatever. The digestive system is a very good mixer and the enzymes are very powerful. They don�t mind. Fermentation does not take place in the uppger gut because bacteria (with the exception of ulcer bacteria) don�t live there.Abnormal Delayed gastric emptying can cause bloating. That would be an intrinsic disorder of the gut. That could happen with anything you eat, but it could be worse with fat ingestion since fat triggers gastric inhibitory peptide which does keep food in the stomach longer, which is a normal part of digestion.
See less See more
I guess I have an open mind so I will take both of your suggestions and ponder them. I only know at this point that I should probably stay away from over-ripe fruits and for some reason particularly nectarines and peaches now; (darn, they were my favorite!) Thank-you both for your input. It can all get very complex. Sometimes I wonder just how good my enzyme production is. ------------------[This message has been edited by moldie (edited 09-10-1999).]
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top