Fast Tract Diet 101

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• Heartburn / Acid Reflux / GERD

• Laryngopharyngeal Reflux
Disease (LPR)
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) /
Small Intestinal Bacterial
Overgrowth (SIBO)
• Small Intestinal Fungal
Dr. Norm’s 4 Pillar Approach Overgrowth (SIFO)
• Intestinal Methane Overgrowth
(IMO)
• Leaky gut and Autoimmunity
• Celiac and Crohn’s disease
• Diverticulitis
• Histamine / Mast Cell issues
• Weight loss and weight gain
• Asthma
• Rosacea
• Other issues related to digestive
health

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

YOUR HEALTH DEPENDS ON THE

MICROBES IN YOUR GUT

- Norm Robillard, Ph.D.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

Copyright 2015 - 2024, Norm Robillard, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be

used or reproduced in any form whatsoever without
written permission by the author, except in the case
of brief quotations in articles and reviews.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................7
MY JOURNEY TO THE FAST TRACT DIET..........................................................8
BEYOND HEARTBURN ..................................................................................10
PART I GUT MICROBES AND YOUR DIGESTIVE HEALTH............ 11
HEALTHY DIGESTION ...................................................................................12
KEY ELEMENTS FOR HEALTHY DIGESTION ....................................................12
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THINGS GO WRONG ...............................................13
DYSBIOSIS AND SIBO ...................................................................................16
CONVENTIONAL TREATMENTS ....................................................................18
IN SUMMARY ..............................................................................................19
PART II FAST TRACT DIET 101 ............................................................. 20
FAST TRACT DIET STRATEGY ........................................................................21
FERMENTATION POTENTIAL (FP) IN FOODS .................................................22
FERMENTATION POTENTIAL (FP) FOOD TABLES ...........................................23
SAMPLE FP TABLES ......................................................................................25
WHAT’S NEXT? ....................................................................................... 28

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Norm Robillard, Ph.D.

Founder of Digestive
Health Institute
Author of the Fast Tract
Digestion book series
Creator of
Fast Tract Diet Mobile App

Dr. Norm, one of the leading gut health experts is a microbiologist. He

is the creator of Fast Tract Diet, a science-based holistic dietary
solution for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (FGIDs), Small
Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) and related digestive and
general health issues.

The Fast Tract Diet was presented at Digestive Disease Week in 2013
to give researchers and gastroenterologists a drug-and-antibiotic-free
option for treating SIBO related conditions.

The Fast Tract Diet has been endorsed by numerous health experts
including the New York Times Best Seller, Co-author - Dr. Mike Eades,
GI surgeon - Dr. Alan Hu, Osteopathic doctor - Dr. Lisa Vaughan and
many certified nutritionists and healthcare providers.

Dr. Norm consults with people around the globe via phone and Skype
providing holistic, dietary, behavioral, root cause and supplemental
solutions based on his 3-pillar approach to digestive health.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

INTRODUCTION
This free ebook covers:
1. An overview of healthy digestion
2. What happens when healthy digestion is damaged or disrupted
3. How most digestive problems relate to an imbalance of bacteria in our
gut
4. How changing your diet and behaviors can dramatically improve your
digestive health

Digestive health issues often lead to painful and debilitating symptoms of

functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), nutritional or mineral deficiencies,
and even systemic or autoimmune health problems relating to leaky gut.

This guide offers an introduction to a science-based dietary and behavioral

solution for a wide variety of these digestive, systemic and autoimmune
illnesses involving dysbiosis, which is an imbalance in intestinal microorganisms.

The most prevalent form of dysbiosis is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth

(SIBO) where bacteria from the large intestine migrate to and overgrow in the
small intestine. SIBO is generally diagnosed by a non-invasive test called the
Lactulose breath test.

When SIBO is detected, many doctors recommend powerful antibiotics, but this
approach should be viewed with extreme caution because of:
▪ Side effects and health risks
▪ Bacterial resistance
▪ Risk of increasing dysbiosis
▪ Risk of Clostridia difficile (C. diff) infection
▪ SIBO recurrence

As an alternative to drugs (proton pump inhibitors, H2 blocker, IBS medications,

etc.) and antibiotics, I have developed the safe and effective Fast Tract Diet
system based on solid scientific evidence backed by extensive research and the
latest developments in medical science. Before jumping into the heart of the
matter, let me give you a history behind how a microbiologist (me) became

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involved in SIBO and how I developed the Fast Tract Diet system. It all started
with my own case of acid reflux.

MY JOURNEY TO THE FAST TRACT DIET

As I look back, it has been 15 years since I proposed

a new evidence-based theory on the underlying
cause of acid reflux. The idea is based on how our
gut bacteria process carbohydrates.

My first clue came in 2004 when I was

experimenting with low carb dieting. Within one or
two days after starting the diet, my chronic
heartburn dramatically improved. I was amazed
and shocked. How could GERD (Gastroesophageal
reflux disease), a chronic condition that had
plagued me over 20 years be addressed so easily?

While the revelation itself was a great reward, I really wanted to know why!

Did carbohydrates actually cause acid reflux and if so, how?

As I studied the digestive process for each of the three food groups
(carbohydrates, fats and proteins), I had an “aha” moment, which had
something to do with bacteria in our intestines.

You may have read about these gut bacteria collectively referred to “gut
microbiota”. Like all animals, humans evolved in a complex partnership with
bacteria. Some 100 trillion bacteria comprised of over 1000 different species
form an ecosystem like a tropical rain forest in our intestines. These friendly
bacteria help develop, train and maintain our immune system and out-compete
unhealthy disease-causing microbes.

But most importantly, this diverse collection of bacteria combines forces to help
us digest foods that we can’t through a process called fermentation. Using a
wide variety of digestive enzymes that we don’t possess, they can break down
tough fibers, resistant starch and other complex carbohydrates. From these
complex carbohydrates, gut bacteria produce vitamins to keep us healthy and
fats that nourish us.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

This relationship is mutual for the most part. We get more calories that would
otherwise be lost. Bacteria have access to a food source, a warm safe place to
live and reproduce in our intestines. Through thousands of years of evolution,
this partnership helped us survive during lean times when food was scarce.

But here is what was interesting to me!

As a microbiologist, I had studied various intestinal bacteria throughout my

career, and I recalled two important properties:

1. Most bacteria get the bulk of their energy from carbohydrates

2. Most bacteria produce lots of gas

Depending on the strain, bacteria produce copious amounts of hydrogen and

carbon dioxide gas. Also, intestinal Archaea, which look like bacteria under the
microscope but are actually a separate branch of life, produce a third intestinal
gas, methane.

Carbohydrates are the best fuel source for gas formation. According to Suarez
and Levitt,1 30 g of carbohydrate that escapes absorption in a day could produce
more than ten liters of hydrogen gas in the intestine.

Imagine how much pressure this amount of gas can create in our intestines?

Intestinal bacteria produce so much gas that there have been well documented
cases of explosions during intestinal surgery.2,3 And this gave me an idea:

“What if some of the carbohydrates I had been consuming were not being
efficiently digested and absorbed into my blood steam, and instead they were
persisting in my small intestine?

Wouldn’t there be a chance that my acid reflux was the result of intestinal gas
pressure from a bloom of gas-producing bacteria fed by these unabsorbed
carbohydrates?

I.e. “Mentos in a coke bottle”

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

As it turns out, there is lots of evidence that supports this theory, and this is
documented in two of my books, Heartburn Cured and Fast Tract Digestion
Heartburn.

I believe in time, this new idea will replace the 60 year old scientific dogma that
acid reflux is caused simply by weakness or relaxation of the lower esophageal
sphincter, the valve at the top of our stomach.

BEYOND HEARTBURN

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this new theory (carbohydrate

malabsorption and bacterial overgrowth) is that it has much broader
implications. I realized that many other disease indications involve the same
problem, which I will talk about in the Dysbiosis and SIBO section.

At the same time, I became deeply interested in determining which types of

carbohydrates are the biggest culprits in driving this overgrowth of gas-
producing bacteria. The idea was that finding the responsible carbohydrates to
limit their consumption would be a more targeted approach compared to
cutting out all carbohydrates.

Based on this premise, the drug-and-antibiotic-free Fast Tract Diet was born to
treat not only acid reflux and IBS, but a wide array of other digestive health
conditions based on modulating our gut microbiota to improve digestion.

Special thanks go to a couple of smart people in this effort:

• Dr. Mike Eades asking me a critical question, “what carbohydrates are most
offensive?”
• Gray Taubes’ contribution to my research on fiber.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

PART I
GUT MICROBES AND YOUR
DIGESTIVE HEALTH

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

HEALTHY DIGESTION

Now, let’s turn our attention to digestion. What is digestion and how does it
work?

Digestion is the process of deriving nutrients from what we eat.

Humans have a highly advanced digestive system that can extract energy from
literally any life form (food). We can digest nutrient-dense animal-based foods
as well as a broad variety of plant based foods including complex carbohydrates.

Certain things need to occur for healthy digestion. Each type of food must be
fully broken down as shown below:

Fats Fatty acids

Proteins Amino acids

Carbohydrates Basic sugars (mostly glucose)

This is the only way these nutrients can enter our blood stream from the
intestines to nourish our bodies.

KEY ELEMENTS FOR HEALTHLY DIGESTION

Let’s take a moment to understand how our foods are digested step by step.

1. Chewing helps to break food into smaller pieces

that are easier to breakdown.

2. Enzymes in our saliva, stomach and small

intestine including amylase (for starch), lipase (for
fats) and various proteases (for proteins) help
digest each type of food.

3. Muscular contractions in our esophagus, stomach

and intestines help keep food moving through the
digestive tract. Also, these muscular contractions

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

in the stomach and intestines help mix up the

food as it is being digested.

4. Stomach acid helps digest protein, protects our body from ingesting too
many live bacteria and facilitates the absorption of vitamins and minerals
including vitamin B12, calcium, magnesium and iron.

5. Mucus secretions protect and lubricate the surfaces of the intestinal tract
and support (feed) our healthy gut microbes.

6. Bile helps fats mix with water to aid digestion with lipase enzyme and also
kills or inhibits a variety of pathogenic bacteria.

7. Gut bacteria breakdown complex carbohydrates that our bodies can’t and
produce fats and vitamins that our bodies can use.

All of these elements are essential for healthy digestion. In addition, our
digestive tract is lined with a mucus-covered gut barrier (mucosal barrier or
brush boarder) that is normally impermeable to undigested foods and
bacteria.

To help guard the mucosal barrier and maintain the order of our microbiota,
our digestive tract is armed to the teeth with a highly evolved immune
system.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

All is well when our digestive process works as it is supposed to. But predictably
most digestive health issues stem from a breakdown of one or more elements
of healthy digestion.

1. Mucosal barrier and villi damage. Food or water poisoning and

gastrointestinal infection exposes our digestive tract to disease causing
bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites. Toxins and other virulence factors
produced by invading organisms damage our mucosal barrier and trigger a
vigorous inflammatory response. This inflammation often results in more
damage and can bring about imbalances in our own healthy gut microbes.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

Diabetes, Crohn's disease, coeliac disease, multiple sclerosis, SIBO and

irritable bowel syndrome can also damage the mucosal barrier.
Damage to the mucosal barrier can lead to leaky gut, a condition where food
particles and bacteria can leak out from our intestine and come into contact
with our systemic immune system. The results range from allergic reactions
to conditions such as rosacea, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia as well
as autoimmune conditions including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis,
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Graves’ disease and ankylosing spondylitis (similar
to RA, but affecting cartilage in the spine).

Another major problem is

damage to tiny structures
that line the small intestine
called villi. Villi and
microvilli, small hair-like
cells located on villi, create
massive amounts of
surface area (is flattened
out our villi and microvilli
would cover a tennis court)
for absorbing nutrients.

Microvilli also contain sensitive carbohydrate-digesting enzymes on

their tips. Bacterial enzymes, toxins, inflammation and autoimmune
reactions (in the case of celiac disease) can damage these structures and
their enzymes severely limiting our ability to complete digestion and absorb
nutrients.
One important result from villi damage is malabsorption that floods the
intestine with undigested food. Too much unabsorbed food, particularly
carbohydrates create an environment where bacteria can flourish in the
small intestine. This is the beginning of SIBO which can turn into a vicious
cycle1 of bacterial growth, damage to the small intestine, more
malabsorption and more bacterial growth. SIBO is discussed in detail in the
next section.

2. Altered motility is another major problem affecting digestive health.

Normally, coordinated muscular contractions keep food moving through the

1
Elaine Gottschall was the first to describe the “vicious cycle” of carbohydrate malabsorption and bacterial
overgrowth in her book Breaking the Vicious Cycle.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

digestive tract. The term, migrating motor complex (MMC) describes this
process which is particularly active during fasting between meals.
Both diarrhea and constipation are often motility disorders. In diarrhea, food
is not being fully digested and passes through the digestive tract too quickly
for the body to process. Nutrients are lost and water is not adequately
removed, so that stools don’t adequately form. In the case of constipation,
the slow movement of food can allow excess fermentation to occur while
blocking or slowing down healthy digestion.

3. Low stomach acid is another

condition that impedes digestion.
Loss of stomach acid is most
commonly associated with chronic
use of proton pump inhibitor drugs
(PPIs) but can also arise from a long
term stomach infection with H. pylori
bacteria, abuse of NSAIDs, or an
autoimmune condition that damages
the stomach’s parietal cells which
produce stomach acid.

Stomach acid is essential to digest protein, absorb vitamins and minerals,

and to kill disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites. This acid barrier
also protects our lungs and sinuses from bacteria from our own gut that
otherwise might cause problems via gastroesophageal reflux (GER). This is
the reason GERD is linked to pneumonia and asthma. Lastly, low stomach
acid increases susceptibility to serious diarrhea-causing C. diff infections and
SIBO.

4. Digestive enzyme deficiency can also impair digestion. Reduced amylase

(some people have fewer copies of the gene for salivary amylase), lactase,
protease or lipase enzymes result in maldigestion and malabsorption
flooding the intestines with even more undigested food for bacteria.

5. Dietary excess. Though not a breakdown in our digestive system, consuming

more food, particularly carbohydrates, than our digestive system can
manage represents perhaps the most important single cause of
malabsorption that floods our small intestine with too much undigested
food. Age likely plays a role and helps explain why we tend to suffer with
more digestive problems as we get older.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

DYSBIOSIS AND SIBO

As we have discussed in the previous section, certain events can throw our
digestive system out-of-whack.

These problems commonly lead to dysbiosis, a condition where the microbe

population in our gut becomes unbalanced often times involving too many gas-
producing bacteria and dramatic symptoms.

The most prevalent form of dysbiosis is small

intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), defined
as the presence of more than 100,000 bacteria
per milliliter (mL) in the small intestine. Most of
the bacteria in SIBO originate in the large
intestine. Large intestine bacterial strains such
as E. coli, Klebsiella, Proteus, Bacteroides, and
Clostridia have been recovered from the small
intestine of people with SIBO.

The main problem with SIBO is that these bacteria though generally harmless
and helpful in the large intestine, become harmful in the small intestine. They
can disrupt digestion by producing toxins, enzymes and intestinal gases. They
can also cause intense physical discomfort and damage the small intestine.

The symptoms of SIBO include:

• Abdominal pain
• Cramps
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Gas
• Bloating
• Acid reflux
• Flatulence
• Nausea
• Dehydration
• Fatigue

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

More severe symptoms of SIBO may include:

• Weight loss
• Failure to thrive
• Steatorrhea (the body’s failure to digest fats)
• Anemia
• Bleeding or bruising
• Night blindness
• Bone pain and fractures
• Leaky gut syndrome
• Autoimmune reactions

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) is a common condition linked to a

variety of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) and other health
conditions including:

• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

• Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD)
• Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease (LPR)
• Celiac disease
• Crohn’s disease
• Sjögren’s syndrome
• Diverticulitis
• Fibromyalgia
• Asthma
• Rosacea
• Interstitial cystitis
• Autoimmune disorders (Hashimoto’s, Rheumatoid arthritis, etc.)
• Cystic fibrosis

If you rounded up everyone in the US with these conditions, you would end up
with well over 100 million people. To get a sense of where these high numbers
come from, take a look at a sample of these conditions and how many people
are impacted:

• Acid Reflux and LPR - 60 million

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome - 50 million
• Rosacea - 32 million

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

• Asthma - 26 million
• Autoimmune diseases (all) - 24 million
• Fibromyalgia - 5 million
• Interstitial cystitis - 3 to 8 million
• Celiac Disease - 3 million
• Rheumatoid arthritis - 1.3 million
• Sjögren’s syndrome - 0.5 to 3 million
• Crohn’s Disease - 600,000

Here are three important things to keep in mind about SIBO:

1. SIBO that often involves leaky gut is linked to each one of these
conditions.
2. SIBO bacteria feed mainly on carbohydrates.
3. The best and safest strategy for controlling SIBO holistically without
drugs and antibiotics involves:
- Systematically minimizing carbohydrate malabsorption
- Identifying and addressing all potential underlying conditions (1-5 in
the previous section) that contribute to the risk of SIBO.
- Leaning pro-digestion behaviors and practices that minimize
malabsorption.

CONVENTIONAL TREATMENTS

The Fast Tract Digestion books discuss in detail the numerous medical
treatments for SIBO-related conditions along with their (in) effectiveness, side
effects and health risks, but here are some highlights.

Conventional medical treatments for acid reflux include:

• Over the counter antacids

• Histamine antagonists (H2 blockers)
• Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)
• Stretta, Fundoplication surgery,
LINX® procedure

None of these treatments address the root cause (i.e. SIBO / dysbiosis), yet carry
significant side effects and in many cases, long term health risks.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

Conventional medical treatments for IBS include:

• Diarrhea medications, (i.e. Imodium, Kaopectate, Pepto-Bismol)

• Osmotic, lubricating or stimulant laxatives
• Prescription drugs, (i.e. tegaserod, alosetron, lubiprostone, linaclotide)
• Antispasmotic drugs
• Antidepressants
• Antibiotics

Based on my review of both over the counter and prescription medicines for
IBS, I conclude that drugs to treat IBS have missed their mark. No single
medicine effectively treats IBS over the long term. Even antibiotics are limited
in their effectiveness, carry side effects and health risks and don’t offer a
permanent solution. They also kill the good bacteria, which often makes the
problem worse.

There are many more drugs used to treat autoimmune conditions, asthma and
the other conditions listed above. All of these medications have side effects and
health risks. The best strategy is to control SIBO by holistic dietary and
behavioral means and then see if medications can be eliminated (I believe you
can in most cases), or at least reduced to minimal levels.

IN SUMMARY

The process of digestion can be quite complex. But understanding the key
elements one by one helps you gain a better picture of what is going on,
especially when things start to go in a wrong direction.

Digestive health issues stem from damage or disruption of the healthy digestive
process as well as overconsumption. These issues commonly lead to dysbiosis /
SIBO. SIBO affects over 100 million people in the US alone who have varied
digestive, autoimmune and / or systemic illnesses. However, drug and antibiotic
therapies are not effective because they do not address the primary underlying
causes, which lead to carbohydrate malabsorption and / or alterations in
motility.

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PART II
FAST TRACT DIET 101

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

FAST TRACT DIET STRATEGY

Treating SIBO without drugs and antibiotics involves recognizing the biggest
offenders. What are the hard-to-digest carbohydrates that are most subject to
malabsorption, therefore, most likely be the symptom and illness drivers?

The Fast Tract Diet addresses this question with a solution based on the
molecular structure of carbohydrate-containing foods.

Based on a significant amount of research captured in the Fast Tract Digestion

books, I have identified the following 5 carbohydrate types:

• Fructose, including polymeric forms (apples, oranges, bananas, grapes,

etc.)
• Lactose (milk, ice cream, etc.)
• Resistant starch (most potatoes, most rice, most grains, bananas, pasta,
etc.)
• Fiber (whole grains, bran cereal, legumes, supplements, etc.)
• Sugar alcohols except erythritol (diabetic and sugar-free snacks, etc.)

For both celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), all wheat, rye
and barley based foods and condiments that contain gluten protein must also
be eliminated.

Controlling the amount of these carbohydrates in our diet, along with pro-
digestion behaviors (such as properly choosing, preparing, and consuming
starchy foods) offers the soundest means to prevent and treat SIBO.

The Fast Tract Diet is a flexible tool that quantitatively limits the 5 hard-to-digest
carbohydrates in your diet so that it is adaptable to your own dietary
preference.

Let me address one common question before the next section. Does the Fast
Tract Diet starve both bad and good bacteria in our gut? The answer is NO. The
Fast Tract Diet limits but doesn’t eliminate dietary fermentable carbohydrates.
Fermentable carbohydrates are those that are likely to escape digestion and
absorption thus being available for bacteria to consume by the process of
fermentation.

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The typical Western diet contains approximately 100 to 150 grams of

fermentable carbohydrates per day. The Fast Tract Diet limits this amount to
between 20 and 45 grams per day. You can think of it as “putting your gut
microbes on a diet” as opposed to a fast. Also, your own intestinal mucus
secretions as well as some fermentable material from animal-based foods
continue to feed gut bacteria even if certain dietary carbohydrates are
significantly reduced.

The goal is to limit excessive bacterial overgrowth, fermentation and symptom-

causing gas. Once overgrowth is controlled, your own body’s control
mechanisms have a better chance of supporting good bacteria and eliminating
bad bacteria. Also, as your symptoms improve, you can begin adding back each
of the five carbohydrate types in a controlled fashion to determine your
tolerance levels which likely vary by carbohydrate type and individual.

FERMENTATION POTENTIAL (FP) IN FOODS

We now know that limiting the five types of carbohydrates will lead to a
dramatic improvement in SIBO-related conditions. But avoiding these five
carbohydrates can be quite complex without a thorough knowledge of their
types and amounts in all the foods you consume.

To overcome this challenge, I developed a point system to derive “symptom

potential” in foods. The lower the points, the lower the symptom potential and
vice versa. Fermentation Potential (FP) is a mathematical formula I created that
assigns points to each food, and it is the backbone of this point system. But you
don’t have to do the math yourself.

To find out the FP points for your individual foods, you can simply use the free
online FP calculator on the Digestive Health Institute website or refer to the FP
food tables in the Fast Tract Digestion books and / or Fast Tract Diet Mobile
App (the app now lists over 1,100 foods with their FP values). To give you an
idea, I will show you samples of the FP food tables in the following section.

For more information on FP and the science behind the Fast Tract Diet to
address SIBO and its related conditions, refer to Fast Tract Digestion books.
Ready to start the Fast Tract Diet? Try the Fast Tract Diet Mobile App.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

FERMENTATION POTENTIAL (FP) FOOD TABLES

The Fast Tract Digestion books and Fast Tract Diet Mobile App contain the FP
values of a huge number of food items. These tables will help you choose foods
that are the most gut-friendly. The tables are broken down into food types such
as:

▪ Beans and legumes

▪ Grains
▪ Pastas
▪ Breads
▪ Cereals
▪ Rice and potatoes
▪ Vegetables
▪ Fruits
▪ Dairy
▪ Beverages
▪ Snacks and desserts
▪ Sweeteners and condiments
▪ Eggs, meat and cheeses, etc.

You will see the excerpts from the FP food tables in the next section providing
examples of low, medium and high FP foods. Keep in mind that the purpose of
the tables is not to tell you what to eat, but rather to demonstrate the dramatic
differences in the FP values of different foods to help you make better choices.
Remember that 30 grams of unabsorbed carbohydrates (30 FP points) can result
in 10 liters of intestinal gas!

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

I personally favor whole foods over processed foods and avoid wheat and most
legumes (unsprouted legumes are low in points and a great option for
vegetarians). I also favor organic produce from my own garden whenever
possible and consume moderate amounts of low-lactose dairy while avoiding
sugar.

But given that people have different dietary preferences, I wanted the tables to
contain a good variety of foods that are available in the marketplace. Also, I
want to repeat, “the Fast Tract Diet (FP system) is a flexible tool to limit the 5
hard-to-digest carbohydrates: therefore, you can use it regardless of your
specific dietary preferences.”

People with celiac disease or gluten intolerance must avoid wheat, rye and
barley-based foods as I mentioned in the previous section.

The key is to choose the foods with the fewest FP points or to reduce the serving
sizes of higher FP foods and stay within the recommended FP guidelines.
Reducing serving size reduces the FP points by an equal amount. For example,
if you consume milk, lowering the serving size (1 cup to ½ cup) will cut the FP
points by half. Of course, consuming cream in place of milk is a safer choice
because cream contains less lactose, and it will cut the FP points by even more
than one-half. Adding lactase enzyme supplement is another option to reduce
the FP value of dairy products.

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

SAMPLE FP TABLES

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

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 Fast Tract Diet 101

WHAT’S NEXT?
We have been endowed with a huge variety of helpful gut microbes through
evolution. They perform a variety of important functions supporting our overall
health and nutrition. We are just beginning to understand specific growth
patterns of gut bacteria in response to diet, particularly fermentable
carbohydrates.

These patterns will likely be different for different people, especially people who
suffer from SIBO-related conditions. Further study on the many types of gut
bacteria and their relationship with digestive and autoimmune diseases will
help.

While carefully following new research in this area, I am convinced that the
following three steps comprise the most comprehensive yet simple approach to
control symptoms of acid reflux, LPR, IBS and all other SIBO-related conditions:

1. Limit the five types of carbohydrates discussed in this ebook

2. Identify and address any additional underlying conditions
3. Embrace pro-digestion behaviors

Keep in mind that this approach does not completely “eliminate” fermentable
carbohydrates: therefore, you do not need to be concerned with starving your
gut microbiota. But it does impose limits that I believe are in line with our paleo
ancestors. Unfortunately, our gut microbes have been impacted by the overuse
of antibiotics, preservatives, western diet and caloric abundance. As a result, so
many of us are not able to tolerate as many fermentable carbs as our ancestors
may have consumed.

This is an interesting article on how foods used to look like.

If you suffer from functional gastrointestinal disorders and / or SIBO, I
recommend you try the Fast Tract Diet before reaching for a pill bottle.
There is nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

If you are already on medication, try the diet to see if you can get off it or reduce
it to a minimum with your doctor’s consent.

Not sure if the Fast Tract Diet is for you? Read the professional reviews and
genuine experiences / testimonials of Fast Tract Dieters or join the Fast Tract

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Diet Official Discussion Group on Facebook to inquire about people’s

experiences. This is a closed and supportive community of Fast Tract Dieters.
All are welcome to join, except spammers!

Do you need help for your individual digestive and related health issues? You
can make an appointment with me for individual consultation through the
Digestive Health Institute. I serve clients around the globe via phone and
Zoom. For more information, visit our consultation page or contact us through
our contact form or call our office at (844) 495-1151 US.

FEEL BETTER, LIVE LONG, ENJOY LIFE

1
Suarez F, Levitt M. Textbook of Primary and Acute Care Medicine, edited by Gideon Bosker. Part VI, Section
107
2
Dener IA, Demirci C. Explosion during diathermy gastrotomy in a patient with carcinoma of the antrum. Int J
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