Bloating – it’s something many of us experience but that doesn’t make it anymore pleasant. Within my nutrition clinic, I regularly have patients coming to me with complaints of bloating and that they’re at their wits ends trying to figure out how to manage it. The chances are by the time someone visits me, they’ve tried all sorts – including some very wild suggestions from their hours of scrolling through Google – yet nothing seems to work.
How do you manage bloating?
In order to tackle your bloating, you need to discover the root cause. By doing this, you’ll be able to directly target what’s causing your bloating, and ultimately start your journey to being bloat free.
Is bloating always a cause for concern?
Before exploring the causes of bloating, it’s important to remember that bloating can sometimes be a normal bodily response. For example, you might feel bloated after eating a very large meal.
However, bloating becomes a cause for concern when it’s happening regularly and it’s causing disruption to your day-to-day life.
What are the causes of bloating?
There are lots of reasons why you might be feeling bloated, but below are some of the most common causes I see in my nutrition clinic.
Stress
Did you know that the brain and gut are connected through a pathway called the gut-brain axis? This pathway is the reason that you feel ‘butterflies’ in your stomach before a job interview or important work presentation.
Stress can trigger the fight or flight response, and when this happens the body thinks it’s in a life or death situation. As a result, digestion is deprioritised and can affect the speed at which things move through your gut. This can lead to bloating and one of the following two situations: either the gut grinds to a halt (constipation) or it speeds up to remove everything from your body quickly (diarrhoea).
Changes to your gut bacteria
Your gut is home to trillions of microbes (known as the gut microbiota), most of which are bacteria. Before you panic, these gut bacteria are friendly and we need them. Your gut bacteria help you to break down fibre and from this produce short chain fatty acids, which have heaps of benefits to your health.
The composition of your gut microbiota is important. Having the correct balance of different strains of bacteria is essential to a happy and healthy gut. However, antibiotics, food poisoning and a diet low in fibre are just a few of the factors that can disrupt this delicate balance, which can lead to troublesome bloating.
Food intolerances
You may find that when you eat particular foods you feel bloated afterwards. For some, bloating is almost immediate whilst for others this may take a few hours.
Food intolerances are caused by your body not being able to digest a particular food, due to lacking an enzyme, or due to a particular ingredient or chemical that’s present in a food.
Many of my patients have suspected they are lactose intolerant, which occurs when the body is unable to break down the sugar lactose. This is because the body doesn’t have enough of the enzyme lactase which is needed to digest lactose.
If you suspect you have a food intolerance, it’s important to seek support from a Registered (Associate) Nutritionist or Registered Dietitian.
To conclude
There are many reasons why you might be feeling bloated, and it’s important that you understand the root cause in order to live a bloat free life. Stress, changes to your gut bacteria and food intolerances are just three of the potential causes. Do any of these sound familiar to you?