Bloating is a very common problem these days. If you’re experiencing bloating along with digestive discomfort, it’s important to follow a specific diet. Poor dietary habits, high stress levels, the need for daily medication, and exposure to various pollutants can all contribute to bloating.
While bloating can be uncomfortable and even embarrassing, it could be a bigger problem than you think. Let’s take a look at the causes of bloating and its treatment.
Signs of Bloating
What are the signs of bloating, and does it indicate a health problem? Luckily, in many cases, there’s no need to worry; bloating can often be treated with simple changes to your diet and daily routine. However, this isn’t always the case.
For some people, excess gas in the intestines can be caused by:
- Insufficient protein digestion: This can lead to the fermentation of some foods.
- Inability to fully break down sugar and carbohydrates: Certain complex sugars require enzymes to be fully digested, but some people lack these enzymes.
- Imbalance in gut bacteria: There are trillions of healthy and unhealthy bacteria that compete within the digestive system. When “bad bacteria” outnumber the good bacteria for any reason, this imbalance can lead to bloating and excessive gas.
However, bloating can sometimes indicate serious underlying health issues. For instance, it’s one of the most common symptoms of candida overgrowth, and it can also develop due to other conditions, including allergies, hormonal imbalances, thyroid dysfunction, gut problems, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Other possible causes of bloating include:
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), especially if you experience constipation.
- Digestive disorders, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
- Fluid retention.
- Dehydration.
- Constipation.
- Food sensitivities or intolerances, including celiac disease or lactose intolerance.
- Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).
- Intestinal infections.
- Intestinal obstruction.
- Hormonal changes.
- Certain types of cancer.
Gut Health
Several things can affect gut health, including the ability to properly metabolize food and how the body naturally eliminates waste. Some factors may contribute to bloating, including seemingly unrelated ones like sleep or stress. You may experience bloating at any time of day or month.
Contrary to what many people believe, bloating is not the same as carrying extra fat mass or even “water weight.” In reality, fluids cannot build up in your stomach. While you may feel bloated and retain water in other parts of your body (such as your ankles, face, and feet), you can also experience stomach bloating if you have a condition that causes both.
How to Get Rid of Bloating
Wondering how to get rid of bloating? Fortunately, there are natural remedies that can help, such as:
- Incorporate probiotics into your diet: “Good bacteria” called probiotics, like the beneficial gut bacteria in your digestive system, help kill harmful bacteria that cause problems and digestive reactions. You can take probiotic supplements or obtain them from natural foods that contain them, such as kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, and kombucha. Edible seaweed – also called kombu – contains digestive enzymes that naturally help reduce gas.
- Eat more fiber: One of the most effective treatments for bloating is improving your diet. Food plays a significant role in regulating the amount of air and stool trapped inside the digestive system. To keep things moving smoothly, make sure to eat a high-fiber diet, aiming for about 25-30 grams every day or even more.
- Consume fruits and vegetables rich in water: Fruits and vegetables that provide essential water, electrolytes, and beneficial enzymes are your best friends when it comes to naturally relieving bloating. Eat more raw or cooked leafy greens, cucumbers, celery, anise, artichokes, watermelon, berries, steamed vegetables, and cultivated/fermented vegetables.
- Consume herbs, spices, and teas: Soothing digestive herbs like ginger, dandelion, aloe vera, and anise have been used for thousands of years to calm an uncomfortable belly. Some herbs act as diuretics, eliminating excess fluids. Ginger, for example, helps the digestive system expel its contents and relax its muscles, relieving constipation. Consume fresh ground herbs like parsley, thyme, rosemary, fresh peeled ginger root, aloe vera juice, herbal teas, as well as bone broth and green tea, which are anti-inflammatory and great for gut health.
- Drink enough water: Drinking water is a fast way to reduce bloating, especially if you’re dehydrated. Fluids also help ensure fiber can do its job properly. There’s no magic number for how much is right for you, but start by drinking at least 6 to 8 glasses of water per day to stay hydrated. Choose your drinks wisely, with plain water being the best option, or water infused with fresh fruit slices or herbs like lemon, grapefruit, basil, or herbal tea.
- Avoid bloating-inducing foods and drinks: Certain foods can worsen bloating:
- Sugar and sweetened snacks: Sugar ferments easily in the gut and can contribute to candida overgrowth and inflammation.
- Most dairy products: This includes sugar-sweetened yogurt and products with artificial ingredients. Modern processing methods often remove essential enzymes from dairy products.
- Refined grains and grain products: Gluten is difficult to digest for many people, and the same applies to corn, oats, and other grains in some cases.
- Some vegetables: Certain vegetables are harder to digest, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, and even garlic. They contain sulfur and certain types of FODMAP carbohydrates.
- Beans and legumes: They can increase gas production.
- Carbonated drinks, including soda.
- Some fruits: Some fermentable fruits, including apples, plums/other stone fruits, and avocados, can cause bloating.
- Artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols: These include aspartame, sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol.
- Exercise: Physical activity helps your digestive system work optimally. It can combat constipation, maintain blood circulation, and move lymphatic fluid throughout your body. It also helps you essentially “detoxify.” Aim to get the most out of exercise by engaging in activity most days of the week for at least 30 to 60 minutes, and avoid sugary sports drinks afterwards! Overtraining puts your body into a stressed state, leading your adrenal glands to release more of the stress hormone cortisol. Make sure your exercise routine supports your overall health and makes you feel better, not worse, which can disrupt fluid levels, cause indigestion, and lead to additional stress.
- Reduce stress: Have you ever noticed that when you feel stressed, tired, sad, or overwhelmed, your digestion becomes completely chaotic? Stress and anxiety significantly affect digestion because your gut and brain communicate very closely through the vagus nerve, or what is called the “gut-brain connection.” Inside the lining of the digestive system is a network of circular tissues that communicate through hormonal and chemical messages with the central nervous system, called the enteric nervous system. Your brain stimulates the enteric nervous system to produce enzymes, saliva, and secretions to aid in digestion, as well as controlling the hormones responsible for your appetite.
Anxiety and sadness can cause changes in this line of communication. Your brain shifts its attention away from proper digestion to preserve energy and use it elsewhere. Advanced stress states increase cortisol levels, which can alter blood sugar levels and change how other hormones are secreted, potentially causing you to feel intensely hungry, experience constipation, and retain fluids.
Stress can also make it difficult to eat a healthy diet, causing you to resort to comfort foods that cause bloating. If you combine a slow metabolism and digestive system with too many heavy foods, you’ll have a recipe for disaster.
To avoid this, practice mindful eating and reduce stress as much as possible. Exercise, meditate, pray, and maintain your spiritual practices.
Other Treatment Options
Other potential ways to relieve bloating include:
- Going for a walk.
- Practicing yoga, including the best poses for gut health.
- Taking peppermint oil or capsules.
- Massaging your abdomen.
- Using calming essential oils.
- Relaxing in a warm bath.
- Eating meals at regular intervals, including snacks.
- Reducing your salt intake.
- Keeping a food diary.
- Eating smaller meals.
