by Beth O'Hara
My GI issues had just started turning the corner – I was so excited to be eating more foods without having intense gut pain!
Unfortunately, all of a sudden, I started having diarrhea again. The pain was ramping back up.
Sadly, even my food intolerances started coming back. I was feeling so discouraged.
But I knew I could figure it out with some detective work. I hadn’t changed anything in the past 3 months, so what could it be?
A clue finally emerged – my gut pain worsened when I drank the hydrogen water from this fancy machine I was testing. This seemed strange since I had used it before without any problems.
But then I remembered I’d sent the machine off for some repairs. The company said they would drain the machine of water entirely and sanitize it before sending it back to me.
But when I was looking for clues as to why I was feeling sick again, I realized my issues started soon after I got the machine back.
So, I tested the water with mold plates.
The hydrogen machine came back with high levels of both mold and bacteria – YUCK!!
I had literally been drinking mold and bacteria for several weeks. (Spoiler alert: I don’t use this machine anymore!)
Before I’d seen the water testing results though, I figured my gut issues were from SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.)
So, I did an Elemental Diet to get rid of it. But a week in, my diarrhea became severe.
This is the opposite of what should have happened with an Elemental Diet!
Between the Elemental Diet issues and the mold plate results, it dawned on me that I had both SIBO and SIFO (small intestinal fungal overgrowth).
And then testing confirmed my suspicions – a number of the gut fungal markers were elevated!
The Elemental Diet can work very well for SIBO.
But the Elemental Diet can worsen SIFO. And I was definitely getting worse.
If I had done the Elemental Diet while taking antifungals, I would have been better off.
And SIBO, SIFO, and Mold Toxicity are all mast cell triggers. It’s no wonder I felt so sick!
Have you had unexplained gut issues, too?
Not everyone with SIBO or SIFO gets diarrhea. Some people get constipation instead. And others can alternate between loose stools and constipation.
There are lots of other symptoms, too. I’ll share those with you in just a bit. But first, what exactly is SIFO?
Keep reading to learn more about:
- What is SIFO?
- SIFO, SIBO, and Mold Toxicity
- Is SIFO common?
- Causes of SIFO
- Symptoms of SIFO
- SIFO and its effects on mast cells
- Testing for SIFO
- How to get rid of SIFO
Let’s start by answering the question:
What is SIFO?
The name suggests that SIFO (small intestinal fungal overgrowth) is an overgrowth of fungus. In a way, this can be true.
But it may be more accurate to say that it is a fungal imbalance in the gut. An imbalance will often mean overgrowth, though. So, you may just hear it referred to as overgrowth.
The two most common culprits behind SIFO are
- Candida (a yeast which is a type of fungus)
- Mold Colonization in the gut
First, let’s look at SIFO from Candida.
Candida is the fungus most commonly studied in relation to SIFO.
Candida albicans is one type of fungus naturally found in your gut. This is the scientific name for what you probably know as simply Candida.
Now, everyone has a small amount of Candida in their gut. This is normal. It’s when there is an overgrowth of Candida that problems begin to happen.
When I got SIFO from the hydrogen water machine, it wasn’t my first run-in with fungal issues in my body.
When I had them before, I had tell-tale signs for a couple decades before I knew what was going on.
I had issues like:
- Terrible GI issues
- Vaginal yeast infections
- Dark patches of skin in my groin area
- White coating on a cracked tongue
- Sinus congestion and postnasal drip
- Thick, yellow toenails
- Bad sugar and carb cravings
But when I had SIFO and these other fungal issues before, the practitioners misdiagnosed me with systemic Candida overgrowth.
Candida was only one part of the problem.
So, if you have SIFO from other types of fungal species, addressing Candida alone may not do much to help your symptoms.
For example, molds like aspergillus or fusarium are different types of fungi that can lead to SIFO. And you don’t deal with them in the same way you deal with Candida
In my case, my symptoms never cleared up no matter how hard I worked on getting rid of the Candida.
And it was because the doctors I saw were missing that mold was underlying all my symptoms!
I had all kinds of issues related to mold. SIFO ended up being one of them.
The kinds of SIFO I see a lot in those with MCAS aren’t as commonly known about. And if you bring up SIFO, many times you’ll get strange looks or possibly be dismissed.
But it may be much more common than previously thought.
2 studies were recently done on a test group of patients with unexplained GI symptoms. Results showed about 25% of the subjects had SIFO.
And SIFO may be more common among people who:
- Have Mold Toxicity
- Have Diabetes
- Have motility issues in which gut muscles aren’t pushing food through the small intestine properly
- Are taking PPIs, steroids, or antibiotics
- Low stomach acid
- Have weakened immune systems
But Candida isn’t the only fungal issue that can cause SIFO.
Mold Colonization in the gut happens a lot, too. It’s just not being talked about or studied enough yet.
Let’s look at Mold Colonization and SIFO next.
SIFO from Mold Colonization
Unlike Candida, mold shouldn’t be growing in the gut at all. I’m talking about mold species like aspergillus or fusarium. These molds can colonize in the gut and create tons of problems.
Here’s how Mold Colonization in your gut can happen.
First, you need exposure to mold.
Have you been exposed to mold for several weeks or longer? If so, you might have inhaled mold spores.
Mold reproduces by spreading spores. These spores can get into the air that you breathe.
Think of a fluffy, white dandelion blowing in the wind. Mold spores spread through the air kind of like that except you never see them. They’re microscopic.
Here’s one way mold spores can get from your sinuses to your gut.
At some point, you’ve probably experienced post-nasal drip. It happens to all of us. This is where mucous from the nose drains down the throat.
So, you end up swallowing this mucous containing mold spores.
Mold spores can also get in your gut by landing in your food and drinks. In areas where there are a lot of mold spores in the air, this can happen.
That’s how mold spores get in your body. And if these mold spores take hold and grow, mold will actually start growing in your body. That’s Mold Colonization.
Mold Colonization can be a two-fold problem. First, it can result in Mold Toxicity.
Mold Toxicity is what happens when you get ill (often chronically ill) from toxins made by mold. These toxins are called mycotoxins.
And when mold is growing inside you, that means more mold toxins are being released from that mold inside your body. You’ll feel even sicker.
You can actually have Mold Toxicity and not Mold Colonization. But if you have Mold Colonization, you are almost always going to have Mold Toxicity.
Mold Toxicity can cause serious health issues. But you can have Mold Toxicity and not have SIFO.
However, if you have Mold Colonization in your gut, that’s likely going to create the perfect conditions for SIFO to flourish.
And here’s where it gets really bad if you have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.
Mold and Mast Cells
Mold releases all kinds of enzymes (like proteases and hydrolyses) to break down your body’s tissue.
Mold needs to break your body down so it can feed on the nutrients in your tissue!
Mold decomposes your body the same way it uses these same enzymes to decay a piece of fruit or bread.
What does this mean if you have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome? Your mast cells are major responders to mold. They are also responders to injury.
Your mast cells will be triggered by mold AND your mast cells will see this decomposition of your tissues as a type of injury.
You’ll end up with a lot more mast cell activation which can lead to all kinds of reactions.
Next, let’s look at more connections between mold, SIFO, SIBO and MCAS.
Mold’s Role in SIFO, SIBO, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
A healthy immune system should be keeping both bacterial and fungal species in check.
But mold toxins weaken the part of the immune system that should keep bacteria and yeasts (fungus) from overgrowing.
And mold sets up extra protection for itself once it’s in your body.
It disrupts your system in a way that keeps your immune system from attacking mold spores!
Oxalates are another part of this picture.
Certain molds can produce oxalates when colonized in you. Candida feeds off oxalates. That means even more Candida growth.
So, it’s no wonder that mold exposure is one of the most common root causes for both SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and SIFO (small intestinal fungal overgrowth).
In fact, a weakened immune system makes it hard to keep any kind of virus, bacteria, or mold in check.
That means if you have Mold Toxicity, it’s also more likely you’ll get viruses like Epstein Barre (EBV) and tickborne infections like Lyme.
When I had SIFO the first time (before the water machine disaster), I hadn’t addressed detoxing mold yet.
Since that time, I had started to work on detoxing mold.
I was starting to feel much better, but I wasn’t fully recovered. My immune system was still considerably weakened from the mold.
It made me more vulnerable to get both SIBO and SIFO when I was exposed to bacteria and mold from the water machine.
I truly hope you don’t ever have to go through this once, let alone twice!
But if you do find yourself with SIFO, I’ll give you some ideas for how to get rid of it later on in this post.
