What’s causing your bloating?

Feeling bloated?

Feeling bloated is a really common experience for many of the women who walk into our clinic. Sometimes it can be hard to differentiate whether the bloating you’re experiencing is due to your gut health or something to do with your period and your menstrual cycle.

The surprising importance of gut health

Gut health impacts a heck of a lot. Yes – there are the common symptoms of an unhappy gut:

• Bloating
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Lack of appetite
• Digestive discomfort
• Urgency to get to the toilet

But our gut health actually affects so much more than this. You might be surprised by how intricate and important our gut health is.

When a client walks into our clinic with period pain, heavy periods, insulin resistance, trouble losing weight, depression, anxiety, high stress or even if they are getting sick often – I am going to ask about their gut health.

The four main types of bloating

When asking my clients about their bloating, I am asking various questions to help me to identify which of the following types of bloating they are experiencing:

• A normal level of ‘bloating’ that happens throughout the day in response to eating food and needing to go to the bathroom
• Bloating in the lead up to your period
• Bloating directly after eating a meal
• Bloating at the end of the day

Let’s break each of these down further.

What is normal bloating?

When we wake up in the morning and pass a bowel motion (or stool) before breakfast, we will often notice that our tummy looks its absolute flattest. We might look in the mirror and think this is what our body ‘should’ look like. But the reality is that as we eat and drink throughout the day, our tummy shape changes. It is normal for our bellies to look a bit full and softer as the day progresses.

It is also normal to experience mild bloating in the luteal phase of your menstrual cycle. There are two reasons for this:

• As your progesterone rises after ovulation, your body holds onto more water weight
• Your progesterone also slows down your transit, which is why people often notice that they get constipated in the lead up to their period – this can also add to the bloated look. This is also something we can help with in the clinic.

Learn more about your menstrual cycle and the luteal phase here.

Signs your bloating isn’t normal

Often the characteristics of the bloating that you’re experiencing tell me a lot about why the bloating is happening. Here are some common symptoms that tell me we need to explore what’s happening with your gut health. Your bloating is:

• Extreme – ie. Clients often show me photos of their bellies after food looking almost pregnant
• Uncomfortable – your tummy feels heavy, you may even feel pain
• Considerable bloating immediately after food
• Accompanied by other symptoms –
  • Blood in the stool
  • Mucus in the stool
  • Undigested food in the stool
  • Digestive pain
  • Urgency to pass a bowel motion

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, I highly recommend working with us to get to the bottom of what’s going on.

Why am I getting bloated?

Bloating is often the result of food fermenting in the gut producing gasses which build up in the gut, causing your belly to bloat and you to feel uncomfortable. Sometimes you may notice relief from passing wind, but this isn’t the case for everyone. If this is the cause of bloating for you, it might mean that your body isn’t producing enough digestive secretions – this can be due to:

• feeling stressed
• not being present when eating
• certain nutritional deficiencies

Low digestive secretions, fermentation and progesterone aren’t the only causes of bloating. Bloating can also be caused by leaky gut, coeliac disease, intolerance reactions to food, SIBO, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) & sometimes serious gastrointestinal issues such as colon or rectal cancer.

It is always worth further investigating why you’re experiencing gut symptoms, to ensure the best treatment. This is something that we do in our Women’s Health Clinic in Croydon & Online. When clients come in with gut symptoms we are able to guide them to the best forms of testing indicated for that individual client.

What can I do about my bloating in the meantime?

As a Clinical Naturopath, I almost never recommend that people self prescribe supplements – and the same goes for clients who are struggling with gut health. It’s really important that we can identify and treat the cause of why you’re actually experiencing these gut symptoms. In the meantime, there are still some practical tips to reduce your bloating that you can do at home:

• Eat mindfully – turn off all distractions (no phone, no computer, no TV) and be present with your food – enjoy all of the different flavours, chew your food well & stop when you’re 80% full (most of the time)
• Eat wholefoods – following a lifestyle where you choose to include as many wholefoods as possible – vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, good quality meat, fish & eggs, and include organic grains that sit well for you (ie. Quinoa, oats, rice, buckwheat)
• Do three deep belly breaths before each meal to stimulate your ‘rest and digest’ phase, helping stimulate your digestive secretions
• Manage your stress levels
• And perhaps my personal favourite – sing in the car!

More than just one on one:

We know that one on one consultations simply aren’t right for everyone, and that’s why we are in the process of putting together some really great resources for those of you who would prefer to learn from webinars, do self-paced online courses or join a monthly membership. Please keep an eye on our Health Hub to see what we have available. By joining the mailing list we will also let you know when new resources are uploaded.