Easy Low-Carb Meals for SIBO

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or SIBO refers to an abundance of colonic microbes in the small intestine. While it can be treated with antibiotics and natural remedies, it’s common for it to make a reappearance. To ensure control over SIBO symptoms, it’s important to work on long-term treatment plans that deal with SIBO triggers before they worsen. One such treatment plan is through dietary changes.

Why Should You Watch Your Diet Carefully if You Have SIBO?

If you’ve recently been diagnosed with SIBO, you’re probably looking up ways to enrich your diet and promote positive gut health. Since SIBO results in various digestive problems like bloating, excessive gas, abdominal pain, constipation, and diarrhea, it’s important that what you’re eating doesn’t worsen bacterial overgrowth.

Your body has complex systems that keep your gut bacteria balanced. Having SIBO, then, means that one or more of these systems are impaired. Some of the substances that regulate microbiomes in your gut include acid, bile, enzymes, and immunoglobulins. When one or more of these substances have been compromised, you might develop digestive problems.

Because of this, watching what you eat makes all the difference in bacterial overgrowth. Minimize bacterial activity by deliberately avoiding foods that feed gut bacteria. Since most carbohydrate groups trigger SIBO, you’ll benefit from eating low-carb meals.

What Are Easy Low-Carb Meals for Sibo?

Here are some easy, low-carb meals you can make to manage your SIBO symptoms:

• Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry
• Salmon and Roasted Vegetables
• Zucchini Noodle Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
• Low carb Shrimp Scampi
• Cauliflower Rice Bowl with Grilled Chicken

Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

Chicken and vegetable stir fry is a SIBO-friendly recipe that includes vegetables, chicken, basmati rice, and a tasty sauce. Low carb and easy to make, you can prepare this meal during the second phase of your SIBO diet where fiber and fermentable carbs are reintroduced into your meals. The sauce has three basic ingredients: coconut aminos, honey, and lime. The vegetables are then lightly sautéed in them.

Salmon and Roasted Vegetables

Salmon and roasted vegetables is a low-FODMAP meal that will definitely satisfy your appetite. It is high in protein and healthy fats and low in carbs and relatively easy to prepare. Aside from being low-FODMAP, Salmon is also a great source of omega-3 fatty acids. Vegetables such as mushrooms are also low-FODMAP additions that you can easily roast alongside your salmon meat.

Zucchini Noodle Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Instead of using typical gluten- and grain-based noodles, consider zucchini noodles. They are the ideal substitute for pasta as they are low-carb, filling, and tasty. Making zucchini noodle spaghetti with meat sauce is low-carb and SIBO-safe because it does not contain the carbohydrate groups that irritate the gut. Easy to prepare and heavy on the stomach, this meal is perfect for newbies to the SIBO diet.

Low-carb Shrimp Scampi

This low-carb shrimp scampi is a keto recipe that you can incorporate easily into your SIBO-safe diet. Since it is keto, this meal is naturally low in sugar and FODMAPS (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols). Shrimp is a great source of protein filled with healthy fats, so you can enjoy this meal guilt-free with zucchini noodles to satisfy your pasta cravings while still eating gut-friendly food.

Cauliflower Rice Bowl with Grilled Chicken

Typically, you can’t eat cauliflower during the first part of your low-FODMAP SIBO-friendly diet. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t eat it at all! It is safe to indulge in this meal during the second phase of your diet where you are reintroducing certain carb groups back into meals. While this recipe looks carb-heavy, it actually isn’t! This cauliflower rice bowl with feta, olives, vegetables, and grilled chicken is low-carb.

Eating Low-Carb Meals for SIBO Management

It’s crucial to pinpoint and address the underlying cause of SIBO to successfully manage it. One way to do this is to watch what you eat. And to ensure that what you’re eating truly is safe for your gut, you should talk to a physician, dietitian, or a qualified health professional. The health professional will then be able to help you create a safe and healthy long-term meal plan.

Of course, having SIBO doesn’t mean you can’t satisfy your cravings or have to completely restrict your diet. Since SIBO is a condition that is directly affected by the food you eat, it follows that you’ll need to make the necessary dietary changes to improve your gut health and manage your symptoms. 

Keep in mind that you don’t have to worry about the food if it doesn’t contain carbohydrates and fiber. Generally, you can eat foods like beef, pork, lamb, deer, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, butter, oils, and hard cheeses without getting sick. The low-carb SIBO meals enumerated here feature some of these ingredients and should be safe to eat.