Always have a bloated stomach? – Here’s why and how to avoid it!
Stomach bloating is so common these days it’s been called an “epidemic.” With most people’s poor diets, high levels of stress, need for daily medications and exposure to various pollutants, it’s no wonder they’re suffering some sort of bloating more days than not.
While a bloated stomach is certainly uncomfortable — even embarrassing when it comes along with gas or the need to run to the bathroom — it might be a bigger deal than you’d think. Stomach bloating can sometimes signify serious health problems lurking below the surface. It’s one of the most common candida symptoms.
Having a bloated stomach is different from gaining actual fat mass around your stomach, since bloating is temporary and mostly caused by air becoming stuck around your abdomen, making it distend outward. Simply put, being “bloated” is the feeling of having built-up gas in your digestive systemthat makes your stomach protrude uncomfortably.
Luckily, in some cases, stomach bloating isn’t anything to be alarmed about. It can usually be cleared up by making some simple changes to your diet and routine, although not always. Along with feeling full, gassy and having pain in your abdomen, you should check if your bloated stomach occurs simultaneously with other symptoms (fever, skin rashes, blood in urine etc) throughout the body. This can clue you in on what’s causing the problem and whether it might be serious enough to warrant a doctor’s visit.
So what causes our stomach to bloat? For many people, the cause of excessive gas in the intestines boils down to: inadequate protein digestion (causing some foods to ferment), inability to break down sugar and carbohydrates fully (certain complex sugar compounds need the presence of enzymes to be digested fully, yet people can be lacking these), and imbalances in gut bacteria. In the digestive tract, there are trillions of healthy and unhealthy bacteria that compete, and when “bad bacteria” outweigh the good for one reason or another, an imbalance can lead to abdominal bloating and excessive gas.
Here are 10 reasons you could be experiencing a bloated stomach:
1. Digestive Disorders
Most people dealing with various functional gastrointestinal disorders like IBS and celiac disease have bloating, gas, and other symptoms. Some reports show that stomach bloating is experienced by 23 percent to 96 percent of people with IBS, 50 percent with functional dyspepsia and56 percent with chronic constipation.
2. Fluid Retention (Called Edema or Ascites)
Sometimes bodily fluids can be stored around the body, including near the abdomen or pelvis area, which causes excess bloating and temporary weight gain. You might also notice jewellery and clothes becoming tighter, extra swelling, and pain around joints or tightness in the skin. Fluid retention in the abdomen is known as ascites and it can be a sign of a more serious health condition. Ascites can be due to an abdominal infection or liver disease.
3. Dehydration
Ever notice the day after you’ve been eating salty foods or drinking alcohol that you become dehydrated and bloated as a result? It might seem counterintuitive, but the more water you drink (or consume in water-heavy foods) and better you stay hydrated, the less bloating you’re likely to deal with. Dehydration and electrolyte imbalances both cease digestion.
When your body tries to recover from dehydration, it holds on to excess water to prevent the situation from happening again. Plus, you might find yourself becoming constipated. This means when you do finally drink more fluids, you’re likely to store them around your midsection and feel extra puffy.
4. Constipation
This might be the most obvious reason you have a bloated stomach — you need to go to the bathroom! The biggest reasons for constipation include eating too little fiber, not drinking enough water, avoiding physical activity and stress.
5. Food Allergies or Sensitivities
Food allergies, sensitivities or intolerances (like lactose intolerance) are common reasons for gas and bloating. The foods that cause include dairy products, gluten-containing foods (most bread, pasta, rolls, cereals, etc.) and certain kinds of carbohydrates called FODMAPs.
There are dozens of other possible food allergies (like shellfish, nuts and eggs), but you’re likely to know if this is what you’re reacting to since symptoms are usually more noticeable. FODMAPs can be tricky to rule out since there are so many different kinds and everyone is unique in terms of tolerability. An elimination diet can help you pinpoint which foods might cause bloating (like apples or avocados, for example) because they’re not being properly broken down and digested.
6. SIBO
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is caused by high levels of abnormal bacteria living in the digestive tract, where they can accumulate after taking antibiotics or due to inflammation and poor digestion. Normally, different strains of bacteria are in proper balance in the colon, which helps with absorption of essential nutrients. But when harmful bacteria invade and take over, damage of the stomach lining can occur along with numerous symptoms. Some foods are capable of causing bacterial overgrowth
7. Infection
You can become bloated and swollen, or develop ascites if you’re dealing with an infection because this triggers inflammation levels to rise, caused by an elevated white blood cell count around the pelvic, urinary and gastrointestinal organs. Check for signs of a fever, redness and pain which usually accompany a serious infection.
Your diet plays a huge role in regulating how much air and waste in trapped inside you digestive tract. To keep things flowing normally, you want to eat a high fiber diet, 25-30 grams or more daily. So what are the foods that can help the bloat? Here are some of the best and worst foods for bloating:
Foods to beat the bloat:
- Probiotics: “Good bacteria” called probiotics act like friendly gut bugs in your digestive tract, killing off bad bacteria that can trigger digestive issues and reactions. You can take probiotic supplements, but acquiring them from natural probiotic foods like kimchi, saurerkraut, yogurt, kefir and kombucha is also beneficial.
- Raw dairy: In the case of dairy, I always recommend consuming raw dairy as opposed to the conventional kind sold in supermarkets, which has been pasteurized/homogenized. Consume aged/raw cheeses instead of soft cheese, and kefir/yogurt instead of milk, which are lower in lactose.
- Water-rich fruits and veggies: Veggies and fruits that provide water, key electrolytes and beneficial enzymes are your best friend when it comes to relieving stomach bloating naturally. Try eating more raw or cooked leafy greens, cucumber, celery, fennel, artichoke, melon, berries, steamed veggies and cultured/fermented vegetables.
- Herbs, spices and teas: Natural digestion-soothing herbs like ginger, dandelion, aloe vera and fennel have been used for thousands of years to soothe an uncomfortable belly. Many herbs act like diuretics and help the body release extra fluid, while some, like ginger, can also help the stomach release its contents and relax the muscles in the digestive tract, which relieves constipation.
Now that you know what you should be eating, let’s look at some of the foods that might be making your bloating even worse.
- Sugar and sweetened snacks: Sugar easily ferments in the gut, can contribute to candida overgrowth and promotes inflammation.
- Most dairy products: These include flavored yogurts with sugar and artificial ingredients, but also other kinds since modern-day manufacturing processes can remove important enzymes in dairy.
- Refined grains and grain products: Gluten is difficult to digest for many people, and so are corn, oats and other grains in some cases.
- In some cases difficult-to-digest veggies like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, onion and even garlic: These contain sulfur and certain types of FODMAP carbohydrates.
- Beans and legumes, which can promote gas
- Carbonated drinks
- Chewing gum
- In some cases, certain types of fermentable fruit, including apples, peaches/other stone fruit and avocados can cause bloating.
- Artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols: These include aspartame, sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol.
It’s not too difficult when you eat plenty of whole foods, including veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds, legumes and ancient grains to help your bloating. It can certainly help you to track your symptoms after eating certain foods known to cause bloating, but remember that bloating is caused by your entire lifestyle, not just the food on your plate.
