What Causes Abdominal Bloating And How To Get Rid Of Bloating

What Causes Abdominal Bloating And How To Get Rid Of Bloating

The main cause of abdominal bloating is when your gas or air is filled in the gastrointestinal tract.

In most of the cases, people reported bloating as tightness, swollen, or feeling of fullness in the stomach. 

You might also experience swallowing, pain, and hardness in your abdomen. This bloating can be described as a feeling of:

  • Pain 
  • Gurgles or abdominal rumbling 
  • Excessive Gas
  • Frequent belching or burping

This regular abdominal bloating causes interruptions in your daily work, the problem in performing recreational activities, and makes it difficult to be a part of social groups.

Bloating is not only an issue among adults, but it is also common with children. There are various causes of bloating. 

In this article, we will talk all about bloating, its causes, treatment, and how you can get rid of bloating by avoiding some kind of food. 

What Causes Bloating In Stomach

There are several causes of bloating in your stomach, like gas, air, medicines, and other serious stomach conditions. 

Let’s learn what causes bloating in the stomach and what are the reasons that might cause bloating in your stomach. 

Air and Gas In Gastrointestinal Tract

One of the major and most common reasons for bloating is due to gas that usually causes after eating food. 

Gas-filled in your digestive tract if undigested food breaks down or if you swallow air while eating. 

Most people swallow air during eating and drinking food, but others swallow more air than other people. Especially when they are drinking, eating, chewing gum, wearing loose dentures, and smoking. 

Flatulence and burping are the two different ways by which swallowed air goes out of your body. Sometimes eating food late or keeping your stomach empty for a long time is also the reason for abdominal bloating and distension. 

Medical Conditions as the Cause of Bloating

Many medical conditions are also the reason for bloating in your stomach like: 

  • Weight gain 
  • Heartburn
  • IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome
  • Functional Gastrointestinal Disorder
  • Eating disorders like bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa
  • Hormonal flux
  • Food intolerance
  • Inflammatory Bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
  • Giardiasis
  • Some medicines
  • Mental disorders like anxiety, stress, depression, and other mental disorders

These are the medical condition that is responsible for causing gas as well as bloating in your stomach like:

  • Altered Gut-Motility
  • Carbohydrate and food malabsorption 
  • Constipation
  • Impair Gas Transmit
  • Deficiency or overgrowth of bacteria inside your gastrointestinal tract
  • Gas accumulation
  • Abnormal reflexes in the abdominal 
  • Visceral hypersensitivity

Some Other Serious Causes of Bloating

Bloating in the stomach is due to some serious health conditions, and these include: 

  • People with gluten intolerance or celiac disease
  • Accumulation of Pathology fluid inside the abdominal cavity due to the result of ovarian cancer, kidney failure, liver problems, or heart failure. 
  • Perforation in the gastrointestinal tract with GI bacteria, gas escape from GI, and other content inside the abdominal cavity
  • Insufficiency of the pancreas which causes impair digestion as pancreas do not produce appropriate digestive enzymes

How To Get Rid Of Bloating

The little use of medicines and changes in lifestyle can be helpful in preventing as well as relieving bloating problems in your stomach. 

Here below, I mentioned some lifestyle changes as well as medicines that are very helpful in lowering bloating problems. 

Different Lifestyle Changes

In many cases, the causes of bloating can be lowered if some lifestyle changes can be adopted as a weight loss program in case you are overweight. 

You can adopt these changes so that you do not swallow much air while drinking and eating:

  • Do not chew gum too much. When you chew gum, too much air is swallowed into your stomach that can cause bloating. 
  • Try to eat food slowly and drink fluid by touching your mouth to the glass.
  • Do not eat food causing gas, vegetables like dried beans, lentils, and cabbage families. 
  • You can limit the consumption of carbonated beverages.
  • Try to consume lactose-free dairy items in case you are intolerant to lactose.

You can consume probiotics that promote the growth of gut-healthy bacterias and repopulating them inside your gut. 

There are so many researches conducted on the effectiveness and benefits of probiotics on your gut health. One study shows that probiotics can improve digestion without causing any bloating in your stomach. It is found that probiotics can lower 70% chances of bloating and improve the digestion function. You can consume greek yogurt, simple curd, or kefir to get enough probiotics. 

Massage

If you feel bloated a lot even after not eating such food, you can massage to reduce the abdominal bloating. Study shows that about 80 people get relief in bloating after the 15 minutes of abdominal bloating in two to three days. 

There are results that show that abdominal massage helps in improving anxiety, depression, well-being as well as symptoms of abdominal bloating. 

Medicines

In case changes in lifestyle, interventions in diet, and abdominal massaging do not have much or any relief on your stomach bloating, and then this is the time for medicines. 

You should take an appointment with your doctor and talk to him or her about bloating issues as well as about the changes you have adopted. 

If your doctor finds that your stomach is having bloating issues due to any medical condition, then it is for sure that you have to take medical treatment. You may be prescribed with antibiotics, antidepressants, or antispasmodics. However, all these medical treatments are dependent upon the condition you are facing. 

When You Go To Ask From Doctor

Most of the time, changing lifestyles, avoiding some foods, changing the way of eating and drinking, massaging, and exercise will do a great and prevent bloating. 

However, when you do not get any relief from any, then you have to see and ask doctor advice. Here below are the reasons when you have to ask a piece of advice from your doctor:

  • Diarrhea
  • Vomiting
  • Sudden weight loss
  • Severe heartburn
  • High fever 
  • Dark or tarry looking stool
  • Blood in stool
  • Prolonged or severe pain in the abdominal area

How You Can Avoid Bloating After Eating

After having a meal, everyone likes to relax, but our bodies start feeling irritated, and pants become tight. 

This is when bloating starts in your stomach, and your stomach will become twice in size than normal. 

Sometimes bloating even turns into cramps, belching, and gas in your stomach. All this is caused due to the way of eating or drinking food as well as the type of food you are eating has a major impact on your stomach. There are some types of vegetables which are the cause of bloating in your stomach. 

You can improve this condition just by avoiding some type of food. Not consuming some types of food have a lot more effect on your stomach as well as prevent you from bloating episodes. 

Here below are the tips that will help you in improving stomach condition as well as prevent you from any digestion issues. 

Tip 1: Figure Out Which Food Trigger Bloating

Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are the common cause and trigger bloating in most of the people. However, there are certain foods that worsen your stomach condition than other food types, as well as digestive issues that vary from individual to individual. 

  • Lettuce
  • Beans
  • Apples
  • Onions
  • Dairy Products
  • Pears
  • Peaches
  • Cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli

It is not necessary that you start avoiding these vegetables and fruits right away and altogether. But you can try them one at a time and check whether these foods are causing bloating or your stomach is still. 

If you do something uncomfortable, make sure to limit the amount of consumption as well as change the time of consuming them. 

This test will give you a better idea about how these types of food react in your stomach and how much time they are taking to properly digest in your body without any signs of bloating. 

Not only these above-mentioned foods, but you can also check the other food in a similar way and try to find out which foods are causing high bloating. 

It is also found that some people experience bloating and constipation caused by bananas, but it is not clear yet. 

Tip 2: Check How Much Fiber You Eat

Sometimes fiber foods like beans, legumes, and whole grains are the common food items that trigger bloating. Although these foods are considered as a healthier food option than other types of food products, the fiber content in these foods sometimes causes bloating in other people. 

Fiber is very crucial for eating a heart-healthy diet and then gradually increasing the intake of such food.

Instead of replacing all refined food altogether, you can gradually increase the intake of whole grains.  There are several types of fiber that benefit your digestion in a different way.

Try to replace the food products that your body feels comfortable with, and your stomach stays calm. 

Tip 3: Do Not Add More Salt From Shaker

If you are suffering from bloating issues, you may have already started to understand that eating salt in too much quantity triggers bloating and causes an uncomfortable stomach. 

Not only it causes problems with your stomach, but it also increases blood pressure and damages your bone’s health. 

In other words, consuming extra salt causes water retention that also triggers bloating. You can lower the intake of salt by adding more flavored herbs in your food instead of salt. Also, avoid eating packaged and processed food and try to consume fresh fruits and vegetables.

Tip 4: Limit Consumption Of Carbonated Drinks

One of the major causes of bloating is carbonated drinks like soda. When you consume such drinks, your stomach starts to build gas inside the body. This triggers bloating if you drink quickly and make you feel uncomfortable. 

Instead of carbonated drink, you can drink plain water that works best for your stomach. If you don’t like drinking water, you can add a lemon slice into your water, and it is also helpful in relieving bloating. 

Tip 5: Avoid Consuming Fatty Foods

Fatty food increases cholesterol in not only your body but also the cause of improper digestion as well as trigger bloating. 

These foods take a long time in digestion and also trigger bloating. Just after eating high fat-containing foods, you will start to feel bursting out from your clothes, tight shirt and pants, and feeling uncomfortable. 

It is a better option to lower the intake of fatty foods, especially junk and processed food. However, not all types of fats are bad for your stomach and do not trigger bloating as the digestion of unsaturated, saturated, and trans fat is different. 

You have to pay great attention to which type of food causes bloating issues and start consuming healthier options like avocado, seeds, and nuts. 

Tip 6: Make Sure To Eat Food Slowly

Most of the people like to eat their food fast and quickly intake your favorite dishes. When you consume food quickly, you also intake so much air inside you that it leads to bloating and other stomach issues. 

You can easily beat feeling bloated if you slowly and take some time to consume your food. Consuming your food slowly also helps in reducing the intake overall and reduces digestion related problems. 

If you follow this tip will help you in loosening your belt instead of making it tight. 

Tip 7: Try To Eat Digestive Enzymes or Gas Busting Supplements

Consuming gas busting supplements and digestive enzymes help in breaking down of the food as well as absorption of nutrients. One of the examples of digestive enzymes is anti-gas supplement galactosidase; it helps in the building of gas in the stomach and breaks down the food easily. 

As these digestive enzymes are mostly used for preventing flatulence and belching, these digestive pills help in relieving bloating.

Consuming these supplements is highly dependent on the brand. You can take these digestive enzymes or supplements regularly or as per the prescription by your doctor. 

There are several types of digestive enzymes like protease, amylase, and lipase, and you can consume it without the prescription of a doctor.  

These enzymes help in breaking down the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates and can be present in the combination or separately to counter these food elements. 

Tip 8: Walk Just After Having Meal

If you want to become fit and keep your overall body healthy, then there is no other better solution than regular exercising. 

There are a plethora of benefits of regular exercising as it not only aligns your body and brain, but it also improves the functioning of the stomach. 

Moreover, regular exercise reduces the build-up of gas, which is the major reason for bloating.

Taking a walk after a meal for a few minutes helps in alleviating bloating as well as keeping your body fit. 

Remember: It is better to walk slowly after the meal as walking quickly may cause pain in your stomach. Make sure to maintain a normal speed and walk for at least 10 minutes after a meal. 

Final Words

Bloating is a common stomach issue that is directly related to digestion malfunction, and food remains undigested. 

It is not serious, but it causes many problems in your daily life. You will not be comfortable, and it will become hard to complete tasks easily. 

It becomes highly impossible to stay concentrated, especially when you have a long hour job and remain in a sitting position for a long time.

In such a case, you have to keep taking care of the food you eat as well as you need to take time in between to walk so that you get away from the same sitting position.

Manglam

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