Bloating – the top 10 causes

women_stomach_ache_compressedBloating is one of the most common complaints that I get from my patients. For many people being bloated and uncomfortable is part of everyday life. This is not normal. Bloating is a sign that something is wrong and that your digestive system is not coping well.

There is usually 2 different forms of bloating that can be experienced.

1) Painful bloating that leaves you feeling full, sluggish, tender and swollen in the abdomen.

2) Painless bloating. Often described as an abdomen that is sticking out like being pregnant.

IBS, or irritable bowel syndrome is the most common diagnosis given for people with bloating. This diagnosis is usually given once other more obvious health concerns such as celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease or colitis are ruled out. Unfortunately the diagnosis does not give you any insight it the cause or how to treat it.

Here are my top 10 causes of bloating

1- Dysbiosis

Dysbiosis refers to an imbalance between the good and bad strains of bacteria in the digestive tract. A healthy digestive system will contain between 2.5-5kg of bacteria and this should be made up of around 75% of the ‘good’ guys with 25% of the ‘bad’ strains. These bacteria have many important functions such as balancing our immune system, extracting nutrients and helping us to breakdown our food. Too many of the bad bugs can lead to bloating and discomfort.

 

2- Food intolerances

Food intolerances are incredibly common, largely due to our modern western diet. Immune imbalance, food manufacturing and processing and excessive consumption of foods that we are not designed to eat in large quantities (such as dairy and wheat) are the main reasons that food intolerances are so common. The most common intolerances include wheat, gluten, yeast, soy and dairy. Food intolerance testing is the best way to determine if there are foods affecting your health.

 

3- Poor stomach acid secretions

Our stomach acid secretions are vitally important to our whole digestive function. Food once swallowed is sent to our stomach and mixes with our acids and enzymes to break it into smaller particles and primarily digest proteins. Poor protein digestion can occur if stomach acids are not up to scratch. It is our stomach acids that are used to ‘kick start’ the whole digestive process further along the digestive tract therefore this can lead to a whole host of symptoms. Stress is one of the leading causes of poor stomach acid secretion and stress management can often form a vital part of a wholistic approach to bloating.

 

4- Poor bile flow

Our bodies secrete bile from the gall bladder during our meal to aid fat digestion. Bile is also used as a natural laxative to promote regular bowel movements. A sluggish bile flow can lead to feeling nauseas, bloated and sluggish after fatty foods or alcohol.

 

5- Irregular bowel movements or constipation

In an ideal world we would have a bowel movement every morning on waking. This is often not the case, and in part is due to our rushed lifestyle. We literally do not give ourselves time in the mornings to get the urge to go! Irregular bowel movements will lead to a lot of discomfort, gas and bloating. Again stress is a major culprit here.

 

6- High sugar intake

A high sugar diet causes acidity and an inflammatory reaction in the digestive tract. Sugar also feed bacteria and yeast, so dysbiosis can be made a lot worse in people with a high sugar diet. Our bodies are not designed to cope with the excessive levels of sugar found in the modern western diet and it will take its toll after a while. Bloating is a common effect.

 

7- High grain intake

Grains are another common cause of bloating, particularly wheat. Wheat is the primary grain eaten in the western world and we could quite easily consume wheat with every meal and snack of the day. The problem is that genetically we are not designed to eat such a high grain intake- we should be consuming about 5-10% of our food as grain. We simply do not have the enzymatic capacity to get through grains all day long and this can easily lead to bloating.

 

8- Overeating

Simply eating too much can lead to bloating and discomfort. Our stomachs are only as big as a closed fist when empty but standard portion sizes are often much bigger than this. Overeating places a huge strain on our digestive system and is bound to lead to bloating, gas and sluggishness.

 

9- Inadequate movement/activity

Did you know that our digestive system needs physical activity and movement in order to work well? Moving our body literally helps digestive contents to move through the large and small intestines. With the sedentary lifestyle that so many people lead this could be playing a huge role. Exercises such as abdominal work, yoga and pilates are all a big help, but simply going for a walk for 20 minutes a day will do the trick.

 

10- Hormonal fluctuations

Hormonal fluctuations in women can lead to bloating, fluid retention and abdominal tenderness, particularly pre-menstrually. This is a huge factor and discomfort for many women. While some degree of bloating before the period is inevitable, if you are experiencing bloating for more than 3 days then this is a sign that your hormones need balancing.

If bloating is an issue for you and you want to treat the hidden cause please call the practice for a comprehensive naturopathic review and treatment plan.

Yours in good healthhayley

Hayley Stockbridge (Naturopath)