FEELING BLOATED?

We’ve all experienced that tight, stuffed, extended feeling in our lower abdomen that makes it feel like we’ve swallowed a balloon…. Otherwise known as “bloating”!

But what causes bloating and how can we eat to alleviate it or avoid it altogether? There are foods that help fight bloat and others that contribute to it. Here’s what science tells us about bloating and its relationship to diet.

Technically bloating happens when air or gas gets into our gastrointestinal tract (the entirety of our digestive system from our mouth all the way down to our rectum), and it can create a feeling of fullness that is uncomfortable and may actually cause our stomach to expand.

While some of us may be more prone to bloating than others, there is a reason behind it and useful tips to get rid of it, beyond just pulling on our stretchy pants and waiting it out.

What causes bloating?

One of the main causes of bloating is an accumulation of gas, typically after we eat. This gas occurs due to swallowing excess air. According to the International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders, swallowed air can occur for many reasons including:

• Postnasal drip
• Smoking
• Eating too quickly
• Coffee
• Stress
• Chewing gum or sucking on hard candy
• Lack of HCL (hydrochloric acid) to break down proteins
  

  Can stress cause bloating?

  There are many reasons why you may be getting bloated in the afternoon; one of the first to explore is stress. The production of stress hormones causes blood to be diverted away from digestion to your periphery so that your arms and legs are powered with a good blood supply to help you get out of danger.

  However, too many people are stressed regularly due to their pace of life or perception of pressure and urgency. When we eat in this state digestion may be compromised so if you’ve had a hectic morning or you’re feeling far from calm, this could be why you’re experiencing bloating as the day wears on.

  Is coffee your culprit?

  You might want to block your ears for this part 🙉. Coffee can be the sole reason someone experiences bloating. Biochemically, coffee triggers the adrenals to secrete adrenaline, a stress hormone, which communicates danger to the body, diverting blood away from digestion.  This mechanism alone can be the driver. With a milk-based coffee, it may be the cow’s milk or, less often, the soy (soya) milk, but even black coffee will cause some people to bloat. Try switching to herbal tea or green tea and give coffee a rest for four weeks to see if this makes a difference for you.

  Menstrual cycle-related bloat

  If your tummy only bloats in the lead-up to your period, it is likely to be caused by estrogen dominance – too much estrogen or not enough progesterone, or both.

WHICH FOODS CAUSE GAS?

There are also certain foods that can produce more gas than others when they are eaten. Most of the time it’s carbohydrate-rich foods since protein and fat are less gas-forming. Complex carbohydrates are harder for your body to break down due to the type of sugars and other compounds they contain. These include:

• Raffinose, lactose, fructose, and sorbitol (all naturally occurring sugars)
• Starches (except rice)
• Fiber, which is actually healthy and not to be avoided

The reason behind these gas-forming compounds is that we are either lacking the enzyme to break them down or in the case of insoluble fibers, we can’t break them down at all. For example, lactose (found in dairy products) requires an enzyme called lactase to fully digest. Individuals who are lactose intolerant don’t create enough of this enzyme, leading to gastrointestinal discomfort whenever they eat foods that contain lactose, such as milk, cheese, ice cream, or foods that contain dairy. In another example, high fiber foods such as celery or cruciferous vegetables go through our digestive system intact, which is normal, and healthy, but in the gut, our bacteria try to break it down, which leads to it fermenting and forming gas – since our body’s healthy gut bacteria like to feed on this type of fiber.

The following foods are the most likely to cause gas:

• Beans (including chickpeas and all legumes)
• Veggies that include artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and onion
• Fruits such as apples, pears, peaches, bananas, prune, and apricots
• Whole grains and bran
• Carbonated beverages
• Milk and dairy products
• Foods that contain sorbitol (a type of sugar alcohol)
• Fatty foods (avocados, nuts, nut butters, seeds, all oils, chips, pastries, etc.)

So how do you avoid bloat? Completely avoiding all gas-forming foods is not the way to go, since these foods also contain important nutrients including vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that are beneficial for immunity, gut health, and disease prevention. Instead, it’s best to pinpoint a specific food (or group) that may be causing your bloat and eliminate those items one at a time to see if it helps.

Other causes of bloating

According to John Hopkins Medicine, you could have a condition that makes you more susceptible to bloating, and if your bloating is frequent, painful, or disruptive to your everyday activities you’ll want to see a doctor who can figure out if you might have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or a food allergy or auto-immune condition. Bloating is also caused by:

• Constipation
• Gluten intolerance or Celiac’s Disease
• Gastroparesis (delayed emptying of the stomach)
• Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)

Prevent bloating with the FODMAP diet

The good news: you don’t have to cope with constant bloating, but it will take some effort on your end to prevent it. We know that bloating can be prevented by changing your diet and reducing the amount of air swallowed.

When it comes to diet change, one good way to pinpoint what foods are making you bloat is to try the FODMAP diet. FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols. John Hopkins Medicine states that these are all short-chain sugars that our small intestine often can’t absorb properly, leading to digestive distress such as gas and bloating.

A low FODMAP diet works is by following 3 steps. They include:

• Stop eating high FODMAP foods for approximately 2 to 6 weeks
• Slowly reintroduce them one by one, to see which bothers you the most
• Once you figure out which are problematic, you can avoid them while still being able to enjoy the other foods that don’t cause you bloating

High FODMAP foods include the ones listed above, and low FODMAP foods are:

• Almond milk
• Grains such as rice, quinoa, and oats
• Vegetables that include eggplant, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchini
• Fruits that include grapes, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple

You’re bloating could also be coming from the fact that you went from eating a low-fiber diet to adding too many high-fiber foods into your diet at once. (Such as when you swear off your usual junk food diet and start eating salads and grain bowls all of a sudden.) While fiber is a beneficial nutrient, it should be gradually increased so that your gut microbiome can shift over to healthy bacteria, when you can comfortably tolerate the 21 to 25 grams of fiber per day that is recommended for women and 30 to 38 grams per day recommended for men.

In order to limit the amount of air you swallow, make sure that you’re eating your meals slowly and avoid gulping down food, chewing gum or making a habit of sucking on hard candies.

In order to prevent bloating, you will likely need to adjust your diet, cut out dairy and try going on the low-FODMAP diet. Getting onto quality enzymes (our custom HYDROACTION ) and proper probiotics might be called for. And DEFINETLY getting any food allergies and food sensitivities checked out asap. Just give us a call to help you get those done! 337-989-0572

Then add back in fiber foods one at a time to see if anything you’re eating is causing bloating or sensitivity in your gut.

Let us know if this helps…

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Legal: The information provided is not intended as a means of diagnosis or treating illness or as a replacement for any medicine or advice from a competent physician. Individuals having serious health problems should consult a competent licensed physician specializing in their condition. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. We assume no responsibility for anyone choosing to self-administer any suggestions in this publication; they do so on their own determinism. The information in this publication is for educational purposes only.

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