The Bloat That Won't Go Away

Your Presenter

Paula Fortin

APRN, Family Nurse Practitioner

Direct Primary Care Lead

Paula is known for identifying root causes that other practitioners miss. Her functional medicine approach and genuine listening have earned her consistently…

About This Workshop

In this Secoya Health workshop, family nurse practitioner Paula explores bloating and SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), explaining what bloating is, why it happens, and how a functional-medicine approach seeks the root cause rather than just labeling symptoms. She covers common symptoms, causes, the gut-brain connection, breath testing, conventional versus functional treatment approaches, and practical habits like mindful eating and nervous-system regulation. The session closes with a guided nervous-system reset exercise and an extended audience Q&A.

What's Inside

1. 1Welcome and Introduction
2. 2The 'Button Betrayal': What Bloating Feels Like
3. 3What This Workshop Covers
4. 4Common Bloating Symptoms and Patterns
5. 5Is All Bloating Caused by SIBO?
6. 6Not All Bloating Is the Same (Personal Example)
7. 7IBS Versus SIBO
8. 8What Is SIBO?
9. 9Common SIBO Symptoms and Nutrient Absorption
10. 10What Causes SIBO
11. 11Can You Have SIBO Even If You Eat Healthy?
12. 12Guided Gut Nervous-System Reset Exercise
13. 13The Gut-Brain Loop
14. 14SIBO Breath Testing
15. 15Conventional vs. Functional Treatment Approaches
16. 16No One-Size-Fits-All Cure
17. 17Food's Role in SIBO and Retraining the System
18. 18Mindful Eating Tools
19. 19Overnight Fasting and Walking After Meals
20. 20SIBO Treatment Roadmap and Individualized Support
21. 21Q&A: Abdominal Surgery, Foods, and Everyday Questions
22. 22Q&A: Mouth Health, Parasite Cleanses, and Fasting
23. 23Q&A: Fermented Foods, Probiotics, and Testing Details

What You'll Take Away

• The presenter describes bloating as end-of-day abdominal distension that can occur even without dietary changes or weight gain, and says it rarely happens in isolation.
• According to the speaker, SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) is an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine that causes fermentation to start too early in digestion; she frames it as a possible root cause behind symptoms often labeled IBS.
• The speaker emphasizes that SIBO is driven more by gut function—motility, stomach acid, nerve signaling, and stress—than by diet alone, and that food changes are a short-term therapeutic tool rather than a cure.
• She presents SIBO as part of a two-way gut-brain loop, stressing that unaddressed stress and nervous-system dysregulation are often the missing link in treatment.
• Paula teaches a nervous-system reset (grounding, diaphragmatic breathing with a four-second inhale and six-second exhale, and tongue-to-palate for vagal stimulation) to help the body enter a state she describes as supportive of digestion.
• According to the speaker, SIBO is diagnosed with an at-home breath test measuring hydrogen and methane (and sometimes hydrogen sulfide)—not via blood or stool.
• She contrasts a conventional 'kill the bacteria' approach with a functional-medicine approach focused on identifying why the overgrowth occurred, and notes relapse is common when the root cause isn't addressed.
• Practical habits she recommends include mindful eating, chewing well, spacing meals, overnight fasting of 10-12 hours, walking after meals, and taking unhurried bathroom time.
• The speaker stresses that support should be individualized, since each person's triggers, symptoms, and story differ.

Materials Included

• Workshop Slides — The Bloat That Won’t Go Away (February 2026)
• Workshop Handout — The Bloat That Won’t Go Away (February 2026)

Downloadable after purchase, alongside the workshop.