What Causes Bloating? 10 Common Causes + Remedies
Feeling bloated can be an uncomfortable and distressing experience, leaving you feeling sluggish and heavy. Whether it’s a regular occurrence or after a large meal, bloating can take a toll on your digestive system and disrupt your daily routine. Aside from feelings of a swollen stomach, bloat can contribute to abdominal pain, cramping and flatulence.
It’s important that your body gets the extra care and attention it needs when bloat occurs. With the right approach, you can manage bloating and promote a healthier, happier gut.
We’ve put together this guide to help you better understand what causes bloating, what symptoms to look out for, and how you can support your digestion with simple, nourishing habits.
What Is Bloating?
Bloating is a condition that is characterized by an uncomfortable feeling of fullness and tightness in the abdomen, also known as abdominal distension. Most of the digestive system is found within the abdomen; when the stomach, small intestines, or bowel become filled, it can lead to a feeling of bloat.
Symptoms of Bloating
Bloat is incredibly common and can present in many different ways. Some common symptoms of abdominal bloating include excessive belching and burping, stomach pain, a sustained feeling of fullness, irregularities in bowel movements, excessive intestinal gas that leads to flatulence and a fuller appearance of the abdomen.
What Are the Causes of Bloating?
The condition of bloat tends to be caused by excessive gas but can ultimately be caused by many factors. Below is a closer look at some of the most common causes of bloat. Understanding the unique causes of bloat can help you avoid common triggers.
Gas Buildup
One of the most common causes of bloating is gas buildup in the GI tract. The gastrointestinal tract is great at providing motility for solid food to be pushed through the tract, but this doesn’t hold true when it comes to gas.
When gas builds up in the GI tract, it takes up space causing an appearance of fullness, physical discomfort and sometimes pain.
Gas can build up in the GI tract for various reasons. Sometimes it is as simple as swallowing too much air as you eat, while other times, gas may form as a byproduct of digesting particular foods.
Indigestion
Indigestion occurs when the body has a particularly difficult time digesting a particular substance. Indigestion can cause upper abdominal discomfort, known as dyspepsia, and can also contribute to bloating.
Indigestion can occur for many reasons, but one of the most common is when a person consumes a food that they have an intolerance to. When a person has a food intolerance, it is difficult for their body to break down the compounds within that specific food.
Some common food intolerances include dairy, caffeine, gluten, FODMAPs, certain carbohydrates, foods that contain sulfites like onions and lactose intolerance.
Imbalanced Microbiome
One integral component of your overall gastrointestinal health is the microbes within your digestive tract. These bacteria have a symbiotic relationship with the body in which they can help to break down molecules that the body may not be able to on its own. The gut is home to trillions of bacteria, many of which have beneficial impacts on health.
While many bacteria that inhabit the gut are beneficial, having an imbalance in the flora of the gut can cause problems, including bloat. Conditions such as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) are prime examples of what happens when the microbes in the intestinal tract become unruly.
Constipation
Constipation is a condition in which stool takes a longer time to pass through the digestive tract. The longer this stool remains, the harder it becomes and the more difficult it can be to pass. Some common symptoms associated with constipation include straining to pass stool, passing hard clumpy stool, abdominal pain and potentially bloat.
A number of factors, including your diet, gastroparesis and hydration level, can cause constipation. If you experience symptoms of constipation like bloat or abdominal discomfort, you may want to optimize your diet to include more sources of fiber and hydration.
Underlying Health Condition
Bloat can be difficult to deal with, but sometimes it can indicate an underlying health condition. Some conditions that can lead to bloat include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), celiac disease (which can also lead to diarrhea, gas and weight loss), Crohn’s disease and other gastrointestinal disorders.
There are also several conditions that can cause an enlargement of the abdomen, including liver disease, heart failure and kidney failure.
Experiencing the occasional bloat is typically nothing to be too concerned about. Still, if it is occurring frequently or causing enough of a disruption in your day, you should seek out a healthcare provider. A healthcare provider is best equipped to provide you with tests and a diagnosis to treat any underlying medical conditions contributing to excessive bloat.
How Can I Support Healthy Digestion?
Feeling bloated can be disruptive and may prevent you from working at your best. Simply lying down can be an uncomfortable and sometimes even painful task when bloat strikes. Luckily, there are a number of things you can do to support healthy digestion and reduce your chances of bloat.
Let’s look at four ways to support healthier digestion to help you beat the bloat.
Avoid Food Intolerances
One major cause of bloat, as discussed earlier, is consuming foods you are intolerant to. Many people have food intolerances and are simply unaware of them. Food that is difficult for your body to digest or easily fermentable in the GI tract can potentially increase your chances of experiencing bloat.
The fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols diet (low FODMAP diet for short) is an elimination-style diet that can be a great starting point for eliminating foods that may cause GI discomfort.
Cutting out common gas-producing foods like onions, apples, and other foods that contain these specific carbohydrates can reduce bloating. You can then slowly reintroduce them individually to help identify which foods are problematic for you.
You can also start a food journal where you write down everything you eat during each meal and write down how bloated you feel after each meal. Over time, this journal can help you understand which meals and types of food lead to bloat and which leave you feeling less bloated.
Consider a Supplement
Supplements can also be another great way to help air your digestive health. When it comes to bloat, the DETOX + DEBLOAT FORMULA could be just the supplement you need to help ease any symptoms of bloat.
The vegan formula features a blend of homeopathic ingredients that have long been used in traditional medicines to help soothe abdominal discomfort. The formula contains Turmeric, Fennel Seed, Milk Thistle, Dandelion and several other natural remedies to help calm the stomach and GI tract.
As with any supplement, over-the-counter or otherwise, it is always advisable to speak with a dietitian or doctor before implementing it into your diet.
Consider a Probiotic
One of the emerging fields of health and wellness is the balance of good microbes in your body. The human microbiome plays a large role in your overall health and wellness; maintaining a good balance of these bacteria inside and outside the body can profoundly affect your overall wellbeing.
Probiotics supplement your body with beneficial bacteria that help promote good overall health. To support a healthier gut, choose a probiotic with Lactobacillus rhamnosus and other beneficial Lactobacillus strains to help maintain a balanced intestinal flora.
Yoga for Digestion
Yoga is a centuries-old practice that can have a number of benefits. Yoga can act as a form of exercise, meditation and stretching, but one potential benefit many people might not be aware of lies in its potential to help support your digestive health.
One study, in particular, found that yoga was able to help soothe symptoms associated with constipation.
The Bottom Line
Bloating can put a damper on your daily routine, causing discomfort and slowing you down. This unpleasant sensation of fullness, tightness and abdominal pain can be triggered by different factors, from your dietary habits to underlying health conditions.
By taking a proactive approach to support your digestive health, you can reduce the frequency of bloating and return to feeling your best self every day. You can try taking supplements or probiotics to reintroduce beneficial bacteria and promote healthy intestinal flora, or try incorporating yoga into your routine to help alleviate symptoms of bloat and improve your digestion. Avoiding trigger foods can also help make a difference in your bloat-free journey.
Sources:
Bloating | National Health Service (NHS)