What is the connection between SIBO and Insulin Resistance?
First of all, what is insulin resistance?
Insulin resistance occurs when the pancreas releases a hormone called insulin, goes into the blood stream. On our cells we have insulin receptors, insulin will go into those insulin receptors and this will allow glucose or sugar to move into the cells. Then the cells will use that glucose to make energy. In insulin resistance, our body may be able to produce enough insulin but the insulin receptors are not as sensitive, therefore not as effective at moving allowing that glucose into the cells to make that ATP or energy. So what happens in that insulin resistance picture is that we have a build up of sugar outside of the cells.
What is SIBO? SIBO is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. We have microbes that live in our gut. We have an ecosystem of bacteria and fungi that live within our digestive tract. What we have in terms of SIBO, is we have an overgrowth of bacteria within the small intestines. What that bacteria like to feed on is sugar.
Now if we have an insulin resistant picture, then we can have an increase in glucose that is circulating through the body and not effectively moving into cells. Now the bacteria within the small intestines love to feed on sugar. So if we have an insulin resistant picture, this can be a contributing factor to a SIBO picture, as the build-up of sugar can help to feed that bacterial overgrowth in the small intestines.
Therefore, we need to get that insulin resistant picture under control in order to effectively the SIBO picture.
