Since my mid 20s I knew my health was on the decline. I was an avid drinker of coffee, consuming six, seven, sometimes 10+ cups a day. I ate fast food religiously; a drive-thru was the equivalent of a kitchen to me. And I would sometimes go seven days or longer without a bowel movement. In fact it was my mood was in the toilet most of the time (ha).
My skin was a disaster and I had severe acne. Heeding the advice of my dermatologist, I took round after round of antibiotics to keep the acne under control.
In my 30s I decided I needed to change my dietary choices, mostly out of fear of my declining health. I bounced from diet to diet (vegetarian, vegan, mediterranean, paleo) in search of some elusive, ‘pristine-like’ health. I did experience some positive changes with all of them. My skin improved some. I began to have better bowel movements (although far from normal). I still felt weak most of the time, had bad joint pain, and recently developed many food intolerances. I felt like a hollow shell of my youthful self. But I wasn’t ready to chalk this up to normalcy quite yet.
I researched for months and months, reading forums, books, blogs and anything else I could digest. I eventually discovered that I suffered from asymptomatic SIBO.
What The Heck Is SIBO?
SIBO stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth and it is a complicated disorder to treat. For some people it can be the cause of stomach/intestinal distress. For others like myself, it presents no gut related symptoms other than leaky gut (food intolerances) and the results of those intolerances (pain, lethargy, irritability). Trying to cure leaky gut is virtually impossible if someone suffers from SIBO. And when someone’s large intestines become damaged (where bacteria are supposed to live and thrive), bacteria will migrate up to the small intestines where they do not belong, creating all kinds of problems and havoc.
So What Do You Do?
Convinced this was the source of my continuing discomfort I read through tons of material looking for a way to clear this SIBO up. Most mainstream advice was for me to take a round or two of the antibiotic, refaximin. I was not keen on this idea as I believed antibiotics were what got me caught up in this mess to begin with. So that idea was far from appealing.
I could have taken various herbs and natural substances which didn’t seem like a bad idea; however, they can be extremely pricey and people often have mixed results.
Upon further research it became evident that some people were having incredible luck with taking a blend of essential oils internally.
The three key oils for defeating SIBO are Oregano, Frankincense and Clove.
Why Oregano?
Oregano oil is known as the ultimate, natural antibiotic. It is highly potent and contains the phenol carvacrol, known to effectively kill parasites, yeast and bacteria. It should be taken with caution and always diluted.
Why Clove?
It is used as an anti-inflammatory (for joint pain and internal discomfort within the gut). And like Oregano it is known to be anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-microbial.
Why Frankincense?
This is the father of all oils. Its uses are many and it even has the unique ability to amplify the effectiveness of other oils it is paired with. Frankincense always boosts immunity, fights infections and like clove, is also an anti-inflammatory.
See below for the recipe I used to eliminate my SIBO.
What You Need
- 1 drop oregano oil
- 1 drop clove oil
- 1 drop frankincense oil
- 3 drops extra virgin olive oil (for dilution)
- Gelatin capsules
What You Do
Fill the capsule with the above oils and seal. Take this with food three times a day. I recommend you do this for 2 weeks. You may experience what is known as die of symptoms (I sure did). It’s not uncommon to feel light headed, dizzy, achy and sometimes have mild nausea. This is a sign that the oils are killing off massive amounts of bacterial overgrowth. If the symptoms become too much to handle, you can always cut back on your dosage (one or two times a day instead of three). Everybody is different so do what works for you.
During this process you should slowly re-introduce healthy bacteria back into your daily regime through probiotics or fermented foods. How to do this is beyond the scope of this article so I recommend you do some digging for additional information.
NOTE: You should not cheap out on the oils you are using. You need high potency essential oils for this to work. My personal brand of choice is DoTerra. I have experienced dramatic results using their oils.
In Closing
If you suffer from or suspect that you may have any type of bacterial overgrowth, I recommend you skip over the antibiotics and give essential oils a chance. They can take care of the problem equally as well and sometimes better than antibiotics and they contain various constituents to help ensure their safety.