"The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition"

Thomas Edison
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Bloating

Bloating

What is bloating?

Bloating is a condition where the belly or abdomen feels swollen, tight or full.  Wanting to loosen a button of a trousers and feeling that your clothes are digging into you is not an uncommon feeling when you experience bloating.  Stomach bloating can be very uncomfortable and tiring because of the excess gas in your intestines.

So what causes bloating?

There can be a number of causes of bloating: swallowing too much air (nervous habit), Irritable Bowel Syndrome, lactose intolerance, weight gain, overeating, overgrowth of bacteria in the small bowel, premenstrual syndrome, stress, poor eating habits and last but not least food intolerance.

Bloating can be temporary or long term and it can be accompanied by other annoying symptoms like burping and flatulence.

A lot of things can be done to reduce the severity of bloating through diet and lifestyle management.

So what do you need to do?

  • If you take a lot of salt minimise your intake as salt can lead to fluid retention.
  • Exercise can help the movement of gas through the intestine.  30 minutes of exercise is recommended per day on most days of the week.
  • Keep a food diary to see if there are foods that seem to trigger bloating.  Food diaries are a great way of seeing if there is a pattern to your bloating based on the foods you are eating.
  • Chew slowly.  Don’t eat on the run, take time to savour your food and don’t make meal times a rush.
  • Avoid chewing gum as this has been shown to increase swallowing too much air.
  • Avoid overeating.
  • Fennel and peppermint tea are both natural remedies for bloating.

If bloating does not go down through diet and lifestyle changes, it is always wise to go to a doctor especially if you have weight loss, diarrhoea, vomiting or heartburn.

References

  1. MedlinePlus. Abdominal Bloating. 2012
  2. Livestrong. How to minimise bloating. 2011
  3. Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Gas: Beat the Boat. 2012
Posted on June 13, 2013 in Healthy Eating, News.

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