I Was Still Eating Food That Could Feed Bacteria in My Gut: Kate’s Story

I felt I was giving my body a reset that I couldn’t get in the same way through the elimination diets I had been trying. – Kate

Kate has dealt with a sluggish bowel her whole life, but the past six years changed things. In fall 2020, while she and her husband trained for her second marathon, her appendix became inflamed and had to be removed. She kept training and ran the race that March. Afterward, she says, “I felt like my body just shut down.”

Her already slow-moving gut slowed even more, and every run left her feeling backed up. “I felt like toxins were flooding my body,” she says. “That is the only way I can describe it.” Then, after a surgical procedure in summer 2025, the recovery further aggravated her gut, and brought low energy, brain fog, and trouble sleeping. She could no longer run.

Over those years, she tried one approach after another: elimination diets, a six-month coaching program, a LEAP/FODMAP protocol, and care with a functional medicine doctor. The more she researched, the more “I discovered I didn’t know,” she says.

Searching online, Kate came across small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), which she had never heard of. The symptoms sounded familiar, so she raised it with her doctor. He agreed it was worth checking, and a breath test showed her methane levels were “extremely high,” a pattern clinicians call intestinal methanogen overgrowth (IMO).

A three-month course of naturopathic products made little difference. That spring, Kate found mBIOTA’s website and asked her doctor about an elemental diet. He felt it was a big step and suggested trying other approaches first. She followed his plan, including oregano oil, another LEAP diet, and added fiber, but her bloating, cramping, and abdominal discomfort got worse. She brought the elemental diet back to her doctor and shared her plan to try the protocol.

Looking back at everything she had tried, Kate saw a pattern. When she looked at all the elimination approaches she had tried, she realized: “I’m still giving [my gut] food that’s gonna feed good and bad bacteria,” she says. “I was not eliminating the source of the problem.”

That is the idea behind an exclusive elemental diet. Elemental formulas deliver nutrition in its most broken-down form: free amino acids, simple carbohydrates, and fats that are absorbed early in the small intestine, leaving little for gut microbes to ferment. Researchers have studied elemental diets for this microbiome-modulating effect, in which limiting what reaches the gut’s microbes can shift the balance of which ones thrive.

Kate had read reviews about the taste and ordered two mBIOTA shakes to try first. “They were not bad; I enjoyed them,” she says. Her real worry was the long haul. Her main hesitation was wondering whether she would get to day three and start dreading the shake, knowing she still had many more days to go.

Kate began in mid-September and completed 16 days of shakes, about five a day. The first few days were the hardest. She had some mild headaches, nothing that needed medication, and a mental adjustment to make. By day three or four, she felt satisfied. A cup of black coffee each day and switching between the original and orange flavors helped her feel she wasn’t giving up everything.

Once she found a rhythm, the protocol fit seamlessly her family’s schedule. “It really did take the guesswork out of a very busy lifestyle,” she says. She drank a shake on her morning commute, kept a spare cold for school pickup, and had one at dinner, so she could still sit at the table and participate. She was surprised she could cook for her family without feeling hungry.

Kate tapered off with two shakes a day, then moved to solid food and low-fermentation eating right away, using the Good LFE x mBIOTA transition guide. Low-fermentation eating, she says, “has been a game changer after the protocol.. keeping my belly pain and bloating under check.” She had timed the protocol to finish before a trip to London and Edinburgh with her daughter, a high-school senior, which meant heavier meals than she would have chosen. Even so, she says, “I can still definitely feel results from those two weeks of giving my digestive tract a true rest and reset.” She reports less gut pain and less distension.

Kate’s mBIOTA Advice

Kate likes her shakes cold, with ice; lukewarm “wasn’t fun.” She planned each day around her next shake and used a temperature-controlled container on the go. Alongside the reviews, she found Dr. Mark Pimentel’s YouTube videos “really insightful.” Her advice: “Don’t second-guess yourself, if you have the money to do it. It is out of pocket, but when you think about how much you spend on groceries for two weeks’ time, I think it’s a no-brainer.”

Kate didn’t use a support resource during the protocol and wondered whether coaching was available for harder days. It is: mBIOTA’s clinical support team is available during the workday by text, phone, or email to help people through the protocol.

Where is Kate Now?

Kate still starts most days with a shake, which she says gives her hydration without “the sugar crash from a heavily caffeinated” and sugary start to the day. She is awaiting results from a follow-up breath test, but reports less bloating than before the protocol.

For anyone who has tried many avenues and is still struggling, she suggests asking a healthcare professional whether an elemental diet is an option. “If they’ve gone through so many other diet protocols, and are still struggling, then two weeks of your life is really nothing,” she says. 

*This story reflects one person’s experience and is not intended to represent typical results or to imply that mBIOTA can diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or medical condition. Individual experiences vary. mBIOTA Elemental is a medical food intended for use under medical supervision. Elemental diets should be used with appropriate guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.