Bloated? Here’s What You Can Do

Having a bloated stomach is pretty miserable. It’s uncomfortable and you can feel as though your stomach is absolutely enormous. You may find that your waistband is digging in, and generally, it just makes you feel rubbish!

If you struggle with bloating, read on to find out the possible causes and what you can do about it.

Causes

It’s important to note that if your bloating is accompanied by pain or has been ongoing for a long period of time, it’s advisable to contact a medical professional to rule out any medical condition that might be causing it.

If there’s no obvious medical issue, then there are a few everyday things that make bloating more likely.

• Periods. Periods and bloating often go hand in hand, unfortunately. For some women, this may be due to the desire to eat fatty comfort foods around the time of their period, which can cause bloating, but for some, it seems to be related simply to the fact that they are having a period.
• Stress. Our brains and guts are much more connected than you might realize. If we are feeling stressed that tension can often manifest itself in digestive symptoms such as bloating. Addressing the cause of stress will in turn help with bloating.
• Eating Too Much Or Too Quickly. If we overload our stomachs with too much food to digest, or eat too quickly, bloating is likely to occur as our stomachs go into overdrive trying to digest everything. To avoid this be mindful about portion size, and be sure that you take your time to eat and chew every mouthful thoroughly.
• Rich or Fatty Foods. Rich and fatty foods are hard work to digest, which can cause bloating. Try to ensure that your diet is mostly made up of vegetables, fruits and seeds with plenty of fiber and this will help to ensure a healthy digestive process.
• Intolerances. Bloating can be a symptom of a food intolerance, with common culprits being dairy and gluten. If you think you might have a food intolerance you can get an intolerance test online at intolerancelab.co.uk, which will tell you what foods you need to avoid. Doing this should help to reduce your symptoms.
• Dehydration. Being dehydrated causes your digestive system not to work as well as it should. Be sure to drink plenty of water each day, and avoid caffeinated or fizzy drinks.

Bloating relief

If your stomach is already bloated there are a few things you can do to relieve the discomfort. Yoga is an excellent way not only to find relief from bloating, but to improve your general wellbeing too. The right yoga exercises will relieve your bloating by calming your nervous system, and allowing everything to get going again as it should.

YouTube is filled with videos for yoga routines to reduce bloating. In general, you’ll want to concentrate on squats, which encourage healthy digestion, twists, which help to release trapped gas, and inversions, which assist lymphatic flow around the colon and abdomen as well as calming the nervous system.

Peppermint tea may also be an effective way to reduce bloating, as it contains peppermint oil, which is widely recognized for soothing digestive issues.