We’ve all experienced bloating before, and it’s never pleasant. Bloating can last for hours, sometimes even days, and can produce pain and discomfort that’s difficult to get rid of. Not even anti-bloat medications do the trick in some cases.
Bloating is caused when the gastrointestinal tract fills with air, and is associated with symptoms such as stomach ache, gas, and even vomiting. A bloated stomach may look inflated in size, and may result in a prolonged feeling of fullness, regardless of foods eaten. You may also feel an increased urge to burp or break wind when you’re bloated, as trapped gas attempts to escape.
While bloating is a relatively common issue, there isn’t always a definitive cause, or there may be multiple causes in conjunction. Typically, bloating is caused by eating too quickly, eating foods that may affect your digestion and foods that may trigger digestive issues such as IBS, intolerance to certain foods, and a gut bacterial imbalance.
Luckily, knowing the exact cause of your bloating isn’t necessary when it comes to treating the issue. You can get rid of bloating by simply improving your eating habits and taking remedial action if you do end up with gas. If you’re keen to reduce and cure bloating naturally, without the need for over-the-counter medication, stay tuned to learn what to do.
It’s tempting to scoff down your food when you’ve had a busy day and you’re starving. But the issue with eating too quickly is that you’re more likely to swallow air along with your good, which will build up in your GI tract, eventually leading to bloating.
Practicing mindful eating and slowing down your eating pace will help you to swallow less air – and enjoy your meal more, with greater physical and mental awareness.
There are certain foods out there that are known to cause gas, and if you’re particularly prone to bloating, it’s likely that your body doesn’t respond to them well. These foods, which usually contain alpha-galactosides, belong to a group of carbohydrates known as FODMAPS.
These foods, when fermented in the colon, release gas as a by-product. If you’re susceptible to bloating, you may wish to avoid these foods altogether to reduce your instances of gas.
High-FODMAP foods include apples, beans and legumes, wheat, lentils, fizzy drinks, and some types of alcohol.
According to numerous studies, eating a large, heavy meal once or twice a day is more likely to result in bloating than easting a diet of small, regular meals throughout the day. When you eat smaller meals more often, you’ll keep your digestive system working, preventing it from bombarding it with an excess of foods all at once.
You probably don’t pay too much attention to how you drink, but it turns out our drinking habits may affect our levels of bloating. If you drink through a straw, you’re likely to breathe in air through your nose, which may build up in your GI tract and cause a bad case of bloating. Try to avoid straws and sip your drinks carefully, making sure to limit how much air you’re swallowing.
Constipation is one of the most common causes of bloating. When you can’t eliminate waste from your bowels, the bacteria in your colon will ferment foods over a longer period of time, which results in a bigger by-production of gas.
If you’re regularly constipated, that’s probably the main reason why you’re so bloated. Though getting rid of constipation is easier said than done, it’s important that you seek help if you need it, for the sake of your own health and wellbeing. There are plenty of natural constipation cures to try if you need them.
Many of us have sedentary jobs that require sitting down all day – and on our days off, we’re too exhausted to do anything other than sit in front of the TV. It goes without saying that all that sitting down isn’t good for us – and the lack of movement can also reduce the speed of the GI tract.
When you move your body, on the other hand, your digestive system’s organs will work more quickly, helping food to bypass the colon and preventing a build-up of gas.
Water affects almost every single bodily function, so it’s really important that we drink enough on a daily basis. Digestion becomes a lot more difficult when there isn’t enough water in our cells, and it works the opposite way, too – when our cells have enough water, our digestion can work more quickly.
If you don’t currently keep track of how much water you drink a day, buy yourself a two-litre water bottle and fill it up first-thing in the morning. Drink from the bottle throughout the day and make sure it’s empty by night-time.
This will help keep things moving in your digestive system, restoring your body’s sodium balance and preventing bloating.
There are so many benefits of herbal tea, including preventing bloating. Humans have used peppermint for centuries to relieve digestive upset, including conditions like IBS, which affects the large intestine. If you get into the habit of regularly drinking a cup of peppermint tea in the morning, you’ll benefit from reduced abdominal pain and bloating.
You can make your own peppermint tea by adding a drop of peppermint essential oil to hot water – add honey, milk and other sweeteners for taste.
One of the habits that’s almost a guaranteed bloating cause is chewing gum. It’s easy to get into a gum-chewing habit, but when you chew gum, your saliva production goes into overdrive – which means you need to gulp frequently to get rid of it.
That results in more air ending up in your GI tract, which we know by now is a bloating cause. Many chewing gum brands also use an ingredient called sugar alcohol, which can’t be completely absorbed by the body. It’s better to swap chewing gum for peppermint tea (see above!) or a healthy fruit snack instead.
There’s a reason why ginger is such a popular remedy for digestive issues: it really does work. We can all remember being given ginger biscuits by our parents when we felt sick, and many pregnant women also rely on ginger as a nausea cure. Ginger is a known cure for an upset stomach, and has some pretty amazing health benefits – it can protect the gut, speed up the digestive process, and reduce wind and bloating.
Try adding ginger to your meals to benefit from its anti-inflammatory properties, or add a piece of fresh ginger to boiling water for a simple ginger tea.
If you’ve ever tried your hand at yoga and ended up a little windy, you’ll understand why yoga is touted as one of the best forms of exercise for reducing bloating. We can see this with babies – when they’re rocked by their mothers, the movement encourages them to release wind.
Yoga is pretty similar to being rocked as a baby, as the different poses stimulate the digestive organs and get things working in no time. The forward bend, a simple yoga pose that anyone can do, is particularly effective in relieving bloating.
Whether you love them or loathe them, bananas are a great food to add to your diet id you’re suffering from bloating. In particular, ripe bananas can help promote bowl movements and support healthy digestion, preventing a good build-up from leading to an excess production of gas.
Bananas are known for their ability to promote a healthy gut environment, and we all know that a healthy gut is the key to a healthy body.
Even if you’re not fully allergic to dairy, you might find that foods that are high in lactose, such as milk and cheese, don’t react well in your body. It’s worth going dairy-free for a week to see if it makes a difference to your digestion.
Many dairy products are offered in lactose-free versions nowadays, or you could simply choose a plant-based alternative from the versatile range of products available in most supermarkets.
Turmeric, the bright orange Indian spice often used in curries and other Indian dishes, is incredibly effective when it comes to relieving digestive discomfort. It’s so popular as a digestive remedy that it’s known as the “gut healer”, and can prevent gas, bloating, abdominal pain and nausea.
It’s also a fantastic remedy for acid reflux, which can cause a burning sensation in the throat and may be linked to bloating. To add more turmeric to your diet, simply include it in your home-cooked dishes whenever you want to add a little subtle flavour.
Activated charcoal is a relatively new phenomenon that boasts an impressive range of health properties, especially when it comes to digestive health. It’s made by heating common charcoal to make it porous.
The pores in activated charcoal can trap gas molecules, helping to reduce the gas that causes bloating. Some studies have found that activated charcoal is even more effective than some medicines when treating bloating.
You can buy activated charcoal online and in the majority of health stores nowadays.
Bloating is nobody’s idea of fun, and the sooner you can figure out a go-to anti-bloating solution for when gas strikes, the better. To start with, if you want to prevent bloating in the first place, you’ll benefit from cutting out problem foods in your diets. But when bloating occurs for seemingly no reason, that’s where you can try out some of these popular bloating cures.
The best way to follow these remedies is to try one or two at a time, which will help you to determine which work best. If your bloating won’t go away, even after trying these remedies, it might be worth visiting your doctor, who can help you to get to the root of the problem and prescribe medications if needed.
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