Not a prescriptive diet — a way to starve the bacteria.
The core idea is to reduce the foods that aren't fully absorbed in the small intestine and become fermentation substrate for bacteria. Refined simple carbohydrates like white rice and white sugar are absorbed fast, leaving almost nothing behind for colonic bacteria to ferment. By contrast, brown rice, whole grains, fiber, and raw vegetables pass through undigested and ferment (essentially rot) in the colon, feeding overgrowth. Garlic, onion, scallion, and chives are sulfur-rich aromatics that feed VSC-producing bacteria, producing foul, toxic gases like hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan. And fermented foods and probiotics introduce external microbes directly, which can make an existing overgrowth worse.
The fiber, whole grains, raw greens, garlic, and probiotics sold as "gut health" become fuel in a gut that is already overgrown. → What SIBO is · Bloating & the smell of gas
Carnivore's simplicity, without the sulfur load.
Strict carnivore diets remove plant fermentation substrate — which helps many with SIBO — but a heavy load of protein plus sulfur (and eggs, aged cheese, processed meats) can still feed VSC-producing bacteria and produce the same foul gas. Carnirice keeps the low-substrate logic but leans on white rice as the clean fuel: simply-salted, well-cooked meat or white fish alongside white rice, rather than protein alone. It is gentler to sustain than zero-carb, and it avoids the sulfur-gas problem that trips up some carnivore dieters.
Avoid · caution · relatively safe.
Build meals around the "relatively safe" column. Even a safe item is restricted if you react to it. When in doubt, don't eat it.
| Category | ✗ Avoid | △ Caution | ✓ Relatively safe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetables | All raw vegetables & salads, lettuce, cabbage, kale, blanched greens, most high-fiber vegetables | Mushroom, carrot, radish — only cooked soft at high heat, small amounts | Pickled radish / cucumber pickles (optional) |
| Aromatics | Garlic, scallion, chives, onion, turmeric (curry), black pepper, paprika | Chili flakes, jalapeño | Lemon (as fruit or seasoning) |
| Fruit | Banana, apple, pear, tomato, strawberry, fig, persimmon, mango | Melon, watermelon, cherry, pineapple, berries, avocado | Citrus (orange, grapefruit), grape (skin removed), grape juice, soft/canned peach, peeled plum — skip all fruit if gas is severe |
| Beverages | All leaf/herbal teas, kombucha, fruit syrups, most juices, "zero"/diet sodas, compulsive large water intake | Cold coffee drinks; alcohol only when unavoidable (not encouraged) | Hot coffee with white sugar, orange/grapefruit juice, original (sugar) cola |
| Meat | Raw meat, garlic-marinated meat, garlic chicken, heavily seasoned delivery chicken | Processed meats (sausage), heavily-seasoned braises | Chicken, pork, beef, lamb, duck — salted only, cooked well at high heat (no smoked). Sweeten marinades with fruit/sugar/soy only |
| Seafood | Seaweed (nori, kelp), oily fish, salted/fermented seafood, raw fish, sashimi, sushi, raw oyster | — | Well-cooked white fish (flounder, cod), anchovy, squid, octopus, shrimp |
| Grains / starch | Brown rice, whole wheat, oats, barley, psyllium, konjac | Sweet potato, potato, most breads, toasted bread, corn | White rice, white sugar, rice noodles, pasta, udon noodles, rice crackers, toasted baguette |
| Nuts | Cashew | Almond, peanut, pine nut, macadamia (whole) | Cooked chestnut, walnut, pecan |
| Dairy | Yogurt, oat milk, almond milk | Cheese, butter, cold milk | Boiled milk, heated cheese/butter |
| Legumes | Bean sprouts, red beans | Soy milk (better avoided), cooked beans | Soft tofu, silken tofu |
| Eggs | Raw or undercooked egg | Fully cooked egg | — |
| Sauces / fats | Honey, sugar substitutes, curry, MCT oil, chili sauce, mayonnaise, sriracha, wasabi, ginger | Soy sauce, ketchup, sesame/perilla oil, coconut oil, chocolate treats | Olive oil, strawberry jam with enough sugar |
| Supplements | Probiotics, fiber supplements, greens/plant extracts (garlic, noni), juice-form extracts, calcium, MSM, allicin | Berberine, quercetin, vitamins, omega-3, magnesium (stop if diarrhea), biofilm disruptors | Digestive enzymes |
※ Adapted from the clinical food guide of Yang June-sang Clinic. Safe foods differ by individual and allergy; decide specifics through medical care.
A few rules that carry most situations.
Raw greens & salads
Raw vegetables are exposed to bacteria, mold, and parasites, and their fiber isn't digested in the small bowel — it ferments and drives overgrowth. If you must eat greens, cook them soft, salt only, one bite per meal. Even lightly-blanched greens are risky, since mold can survive the heat.
Garlic, onion & aromatics
These are the single biggest trigger. Dumplings, stir-fries, and marinades hide scallion/onion/garlic; eating them produces hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, and dimethyl sulfide, which spread as odor to the mouth and even the scalp — and destabilize the nervous system (poor focus, irritability, anxiety). Pick the meat, leave the aromatics.
Noodle soups (ramen, udon)
Boiled right before eating, these are safer than they look (not as safe as plain white rice). Skip the vegetable/flake sachet, keep it mild, and don't pair it with kimchi or unpasteurized side dishes. Low-acid pickles are fine. When nothing better is available, a mild noodle soup can be the safer choice.
Pasta
Garlic drives VSC-producing bacteria, so skip heavily-garlicked pasta; if a few slices are present, eat mostly the noodles. Tomato (pomodoro) pasta is reasonably safe despite trace garlic/onion in the paste — but heavy-bloaters should be cautious. Aglio e olio is essentially garlic-soaked and unsuitable.
Meat dishes
Garlic, onion, and pepper in marinades bring on gas — eat only the meat and leave the seasoned vegetables. For soups, take only a little broth and skip onion pieces; avoid heavily-garlicked broths entirely. Choose the mildest option, and eat salted meat together with white rice.
Burgers & sandwiches
Remove the onion and raw lettuce; cooked tomato and pickles are fine. Choose plainer builds, and for made-to-order, ask for the patty salted only. A sandwich warmed before eating is better than cold.
Seafood
Raw oyster, sashimi, sushi, seaweed can cause contamination and overgrowth. Oily fish digests poorly — prefer well-cooked white fish; cook other seafood thoroughly at high heat.
Signs, and what to do.
Signs of trapped gas: post-meal flatulence and belching, a lump-in-throat feeling with a cracking/hoarse voice, dull skin tone (often mistaken for dehydration), back/shoulder pain, and evening abdominal pain that disrupts sleep.
When gas and bloating flare, raise blood sugar with simple carbohydrate — white rice, rice porridge, sugar water, juice — to restart gut motility and move gas out. But above all, don't eat outside the safe list in the first place. And since long fasting increases gas, avoid intermittent fasting on this protocol.
Follow the full essay series.
The English-language writing on SIBO, VSC-producing bacteria, and the diet that starves them lives on Substack.
Subscribe on Substack