Your Ultimate Guide to Bloating
If I asked you if there was one thing you could improve about your gut health, what would it be??
One of the most common symptoms people ask me about and want help with is bloating….and for good reason. Bloating is super uncomfortable, it can crush your self-confidence and body image (especially in the summer time!) and can trigger a downward spiral of negative emotions and anxiety about why your body isn’t working the way it should.
Sound familiar??
I know these emotions were something I dealt with pretty much every day when I had SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth)!
A bit of gas is normal as it’s part of the digestion process. However, when you start experiencing large amounts of gas or feeling bloated all the time, your body is trying to get your attention! If you’re noticing it happening multiple times a week or after every meal that’s an indicator or warning signal that something may be off in your digestive tract and you don’t want to just fluff it off.
What’s Really Going on When Your Bloated
As I mentioned early, gas creation during digestion is a normal part of the process. There are trillions of bacteria in your intestinal tract (primarily in your colon) who’s main job is to ferment polysaccharides (long chains of carbohydrate molecules) and fiber from the carbohydrates that you eat.
Humans have a symbiotic relationship with these bacteria. They inhabit your gut and you feed them with the foods you consume and in return they ferment the carbohydrates producing beneficial nutrients that you need in order to thrive, stay healthy and have a strong immune system. The bacteria produce things like:
B complex vitamins: needed for energy production, brain function, cell metabolism and proper nerve function
Vitamin K: needed for your body to make proteins for building bones and blood clotting
Short chain fatty acids (SCFA): support and sustain healthy intestinal cells that line your gut. When you become low in SCFA, you can become more susceptible to developing a leaky gut and reduced immune function!
This is why it’s important to eat a wide range of fiber and carbohydrates so that these bacteria flourish!
When an abnormal amount of gas is produced from the bacteria, you start to experience bloating.
Bloating is a result of bacteria fermenting the foods you eat, resulting in gas
Causes of Bloating & How to Reduce It
Now I know you’re probably wondering “well why would I be experiencing an abnormal amount of gas?”
There are many different underlying causes of bloating and you could be experiencing one or many of them.
10 common underlying causes of bloating:
Eating too quickly: when you eat too quickly, food comes in at a faster rate than your stomach can handle and you may be swallowing more air. It also causes the body to generate more stress hormones, inhibiting the production of stomach acid.
Tip for Implementation: Slow down your eating and chew food properly. Aim for 50 chews of animal protein and 30-40 chews of plant food.
Low Stomach Acid: Stomach acid is needed to break down protein. It also triggers the stomach to empty correctly into the small intestine and kills bacteria and yeast that may be ingested in your meal.
If you have low stomach acid, the digestive process downstream stops functioning properly and the bacteria and yeast can sneak through, contributing to higher levels of unwanted bacteria or yeast that can make bloating worse. To read more about stomach acid click here.
Tip for Implementation: Try drinking 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar in a small cup of water 10-15 minutes before meals to help stimulate stomach acid. For more severe cases, additional support may be needed with stronger herbs or supplements. I recommend working with a knowledgeable practitioner for this.
Overeating: Your stomach can only handle so much food per meal. If you consume more food than your stomach can handle, some food will sneak through undigested, leading to greater fermentation. This can be made worse if you have low stomach acid as well!
Tip for Implementation: Focus on slowing down your eating, chewing properly and avoiding distractions while eating. It takes time for the stomach to relay to the brain that it’s getting full. The slower you eat, the easier it will be to notice these signals. If you’re distracted, you have less chance of being able to pay attention to these signals. You can also try portioning out your meals to avoid taking seconds.
Stress or Anxiety: In order for your digestive system to work properly, it needs to be in a parasympathetic state (aka relaxed). When you’re chronically stressed, your body is focused on trying to “save” you (it thinks your in fight or flight mode), which also reduces your ability to produce stomach acid and digestive enzymes needed to break down your food.
Tip for Implementation: Try taking 5-10 deep breaths before eating every meal, especially if you’re at work and stressed! Deep breathing is the best way to shift your body from a stressed state to relaxed state.
Consuming Carbonated Beverages: carbonated drinks contain high amounts of carbon dioxide, which is a gas. You end up consuming large amounts of gas which get trapped in your stomach.
Tip for Implementation: focus on drinking non-carbonated beverages. Water and herbal tea is best for hydration!
Eating Foods You’re Sensitive or Allergic to: This is a big one that many people aren’t aware they even have. Eating foods your sensitive to causes additional stress to the body, increasing inflammation and reducing your stomach acid. The most common food intolerances include: dairy, gluten, eggs, corn, soy and peanuts.
Tip for Implementation: Try avoiding any of the foods above for 2 weeks. When you eat them again, check in with your body on how it feels every day for up to 5 days after you’ve eaten it. Take note of any symptoms you have. Reflect on if you think you’d feel better long term not eating that food. This can be difficult to do on your own. I go through this process with most of my clients and would be happy to help!
Food sensitivities can lead to bloating
7. Underlying Bacterial Overgrowth: this is the case with SIBO or IBS. An overgrowth of bacteria occurs in the small intestine (where it’s not supposed to be!), increasing the freequency and severity of bloating when you consume foods high in fermentable carbohydrates (FODMAP foods).
Tip for Implementation: Try eating a low fodmap diet 2 weeks. Re-introduce foods high in FODMAPS and when you eat them again, check in with your body on how it feels every hour after a meal. If you noticeably feel better on a low FODMAP diet, I suggest speaking to a knowledgeable practitioner trained in SIBO or IBS about next steps.
If this sounds like you, you can book a free discovery call below where we can talk about what next steps would look like for you.
8. Poor Food Combining: certain foods don’t digest well with other food groups. This is because different foods need different enzymes to break them down and different food groups take different lengths of time to digest.
For example, beef vs an orange. Beef may take up to 4-5 hours to digest whereas an orange may only take 30 minutes. Eating the orange after a steak dinner will slow down the digestion of the orange, leading to more fermentation and gas.
Tip for Implementation: follow proper food combining guidelines:
Don’t eat animal protein (chicken, fish, beef, lamb, eggs etc.) & carbohydrates (grains, beans, starchy vegetables) together
Eat fruit on its own (away from protein, grains, vegetables)
Eat melon alone (don’t combine with other fruit)
Eat foods that will digest the quickest first
9. Constipation: This isn’t really a cause but many people may feel bloated and not know they’re actually constipated. A back of up stool will leave you feeling heavy and extended similar to feeling bloated. Bowel movements should occur 1-3 times/day.
Tip for Implementation: Increase water intake, increases fiber intake, reduce processed foods in diet, implement regular exercise, reduce stress and determine if you have a magnesium deficiency.
10. Digestive disorders or infections: bloating can also be a symptom of a deeper underlying illness or pathogen. Infections like yeast overgrowth, bacterial imbalances (think food poisoning!) and parasites can all result in bloating or underlying illnesses like autoimmune disease like Celiac, Cronh’s or Colitis, thyroid conditions etc.
Tip for Implementation: If you’ve tried implementing all the tips mentioned above and still are struggling, I suggest reaching out to a knowledgably practitioner to get help as you want to address this as soon as possible.
Tools To Minimize Bloating…Right Now!
The Implementation Tips noted above are a great place to start to reduce bloating in the future.
However, I know what it’s like to be bloated and just want it gone like right now!
Here are some practical, easy to implement, at home solutions to help minimize your bloating:
Drinking or chewing carminative herbs: these herbs include fennel, caraway, anise or chamomile You can make a tea with 1 tsp of herb and 1 cup of boiling water. They are soothing and help to push out and reduce formation of gas in the intestinal tract. Click here for one of my favourite tummy soothing tea’s!
However, when your super bloated sometimes more liquid is the last thing you want. I like to chew on fennel or caraway. The volatile oils are carried into your digestive system, having the same effect.
Essential Oil rollers: Saje Digestion Essential Oil Roller: This roller contains the essential oils of carminative herbs which can help relieve bloating and stomach pain form the outside. Click here to shop this product.
Bloating Probiotic: Living Alchemy Comfort- This probiotic helps to improve good bacteria in the intestinal tract as well as supplying prebiotics and digestive enzymes to help with digestion. It also has carminative herbs (fennel and chamomile) to reduce your bloating right away. Click here to shop this product.
Deep breathing: deep breathing activates the parasympathetic system (relaxed state). This relaxes the body as well as stimulated a gently massaging action of your internal organs, including the intestines and stomach. This massaging can help to reduce bloating, pain and constipation.
Castor oil or heat pads: these can help relax the stomach muscles and ease the pain and discomfort of bloating.
Try them all out and see what one works best for you!
But remember these tools are band aid solutions. If you’re having to use these daily, that could be a sign that something else is going on.
I offer free 20 minute discovery call’s to help you determine if your bloating is something you should be worried about and need to take action on.
By Krista Znebel, R.H.N.©
October 11, 2023