Bloating Remedies

Do you suffer any time from a bloated stomach? I have for pretty much my entire adult life.

Do you find that it can strike at any time, when you least expect it? It sometimes gets me when I've eaten certain things, yet other times I can go for weeks without any problems and then it suddenly strikes without warning.

If you suffer from a bloated stomach you'll know how painful it can be and how miserable it can make you feel.

I hope with my first ever hub (please be gentle!) to provide a one-stop source of information for my fellow sufferers. You'll discover the common causes of bloating, how to prevent it happening in the first place and how to get bloating relief when you find yourself bang in the middle of a fully-fledged bloat attack.

It should be pretty obvious what the symptoms of stomach bloating are. If you've never suffered from it, let me tell you it feels pretty awful.

Before you know it, your stomach area suddenly seems pumped up with wind—wind that isn't going anywhere fast.

Not only does your middle look 2 or 3 times the normal size, you also generally feel lethargic, lacking in energy and lacking in any kind of social confidence. After all, who wants to look and feel like a freshly pumped balloon?!

Then there's the embarrassing, erm... odours that we bloaters tend to emit. It's not our fault... the gases inside us have to go somewhere! It's pretty unpleasant—for everyone—let me tell you.

I don't know about you, but one of the main problems I have with bloating is the effect it has on my social life.

Having a belly like a balloon can make you feel very miserable and depressed indeed, which makes you feel like partying about as much as... well, let's just say you don't feel much like partying!

I guess I'm not the only one who's had to cancel parties or planned get togethers with friends, due to the embarrassment of being a big bag of unpleasant wind?

Like many body problems, it's always better to understand the underlying causes. Understanding what causes the stomach bloating in the first place helps you to at least know what's happening inside you.

More importantly though, it might also help you stop the bloating in its tracks.

There are, of course, many different reasons, but the primary one (and the cause of my own bloating problems, I'm sure) is undigested food sitting in your gut. Urgh!

It's true: food doesn't get digested properly on its way down (for reasons we'll discover next...) so it refuses to move, rotting, fermenting and fizzing in your stomach, producing lots of nasty gases which threaten to fill you up till you pop!

Preventing bloating in the first place is most definitely preferable to trying to make it go away once it's with you.

Here are loads of really useful bloating remedies that have helped me at one time or another. I don't suggest you try them all at once! Some might not apply to you, just give one or two a try at a time and keep a note of the effect it has on your bloating.

1. Eat slowly.

One of the main reasons food isn't digested properly is because you don't give it enough of a chance right at the start of the process—when you put the food in your mouth.

Bolting down food in large chunks without chewing it first is one surefire way to end up with bloating! By chewing food properly, you're giving it a head-start in breaking it down. Plus, your mouth releases saliva, which contains enzymes which start the process of digestion.

Remember to take your time at mealtimes, chew your food properly and enjoy it.

2. Stop gulping air

Lots of people swallow way too much air. It might be because they talk too much when eating (guilty!) or it might be down to poor breathing technique, among other things.

Gulping lots of air, quite obviously, results in too much air in your digestive system. It has to go somewhere, it goes into your stomach, can't escape so it blows you up like a balloon.

Watch it—you might go pop!

3. Knock off the fluids

Until I knew about this, I used to guzzle down maybe a whole pint of water or juice while sat at the table eating.

Bad move. Drinking lots of fluids while eating flushes your food down far too fast. This doesn't give your digestive system a proper chance to work its magic (or do anything much, in fact), resulting in all that undigested food just sitting there. Rotting. Yuk!

Either just sip a drink during a meal or, ideally, don't drink anything a half hour before or after eating.

4. Bump up the fiber intake

Eating plenty of fiber is always a good thing. It keeps your digestive system healthy and in good shape. It keeps your food moving along inside as it should, avoiding problems with constipation and the like.

Eating plenty of fiber, surprise surprise, works wonders with eliminating bloating too. It keeps your internal system nice and regular, avoiding the problem of undigested food stubbornly making its home in your gut.

5. Don't eat gas-inducing food.

My children often sing a little rhyme they picked up at school, which rings very true here:

Beans, beans, they're good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you...

I'm sure you can fill in the blank there!

Serious point though: some food just loves to produce gas inside you, mainly because they contain indigestible sugars which cause us bloating problems.

Try to avoid beans, cabbage, sprouts, broccoli and onions especially, and see if that has an effect on your bloating.

"Pete, I've tried all those ideas and none of them helped!"

As I said earlier, different people bloat for different reasons, so what may be a cure for one person might be completely ineffective for another. Some daysno bloating remedies seem to work!

Need more tips? Try these:

1. Chewing gum is evil.

Ok, ok. Of course chewing gum isn't really evil (unless it's stuck on your seat on the bus...). But if you're a regular gum chewer you might find yourself suffering from bloating more often than you'd like.

Chewing gum causes you to swallow too much air, which in itself can puff you up like a balloon.

But also, the constant chewing stimulates your digestive system way too much, releasing lots of digestive enzymes you don't need. Sooner than you think, it's large stomach time again.

Advice: try giving the gum a rest for a few days and see if it helps.

2. Watch out for some fruits.

Not fruit as well?! Is nothing sacred?!!

Well, it's a fact that certain fruits can cause gas more than others, especially for those of us with a sensitive digestive system.

Particular culprits? Apples, peaches, pears... Try other fruit for a day or two and see how it goes.

3. Are you intolerant?

No, I'm not asking a rude question! I just wonder if maybe the cause of your bloating might be a food intolerance?

Many people are intolerant to the gluten in wheat, especially it seems people who eat a lot of it. If your body struggles to digest gluten it could be causing you major gut ache you don't need.

Dairy products are another particular baddie in this regard. The lactose in milk doesn't agree with a great many of us. Try milk alternatives such as soya milk for a while and note if it helps.

4. Try eating probiotic food or supplements.

Often, our bodies have a hard time digesting food because there's an imbalance in the kind of bacteria in our stomachs.

Yes folks, like an old Cowboys and Indians film, there are goodies and baddies living in your stomach, doing battle to preserve their territory and see off the invaders...

Actually, maybe not that last bit.

But yes, your stomach needs the 'good' bacteria (often called 'flora') to digest properly. It can be diminished by many things (antibiotics are good at killing them off, for example).

However, taking probiotic supplements can help put the good bacteria back in. Probiotics are specially grown cultures (often in live yoghurt form) which contain the good bacteria your stomach needs.

Try a probiotic yoghurt, or see if you can get probiotic capsules or supplements from your local health food store.