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What Causes Bloating?
by Adam Whitby
We have already said in 'What is bloating' that it is an uncomfortable and tight feeling of fullness in the stomach or abdomen, which may also be accompanied by abdominal pain and flatulence. The abdomen becomes larger than normal (distension) and bloating may also cause a very noticeable increase in various noises from the gut, such as loud rumblings and gurglings.
The main causes of such symptoms may be excess liquid in the intestine, or more likely excess gas produced by the digestive process. We are all very aware of our own wind, which we release by burping or breaking wind. The mixture of gases such as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane and others formed in the gut during the digestive process can become a very unpleasant problem.
If you feel bloated, you could try a probiotic supplement.
Diet
Whilst the causes of abdominal bloating and swelling are often down to simple over-eating, bloating can also be caused by the frequent consumption of too much processed or rich and fatty foods, dairy products, constant over-indulgence in alcohol or fizzy drinks, too much salt in the diet or too little protein. But there are certain foods which are particularly involved in bloating. Bread can be a common cause, or any foods containing gluten such as wheat, rye and barley. Other causes include a sudden change of diet, or taking in too much air when chewing and swallowing, or eating lots of beans, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, cabbage and onions. In some people high fibre foods such as baked beans and brown rice can cause bloating. If you use sweeteners instead of sugar in your tea or coffee, they could act as a mild laxative and also cause wind. Try to cut out the sweet altogether!
Food intolerance
Bloating can also be caused by intolerance to a certain food type in your diet, such as gluten already mentioned. If you think that might be the cause, you could give up a certain type of food such as bread or dairy produce for two or three weeks to see if there is any improvement in your bloating. If not, then eliminate another type of food for the same period. If you feel much better after not eating dairy produce, then you may have lactose intolerance. You would need to have this confirmed by a medical professional. To read more about lactose intolerance click here.
Hormones
Women often suffer from bloating more than men. This could be because of gastrointestinal problems or gynaecological conditions, or a combination of the two. Bloating can be associated with menstruation and the hormonal activity that it entails; for more information on this read this fantastic article on menstrual bloating by nutritionist Lorna Driver-Davies. Alternatively, perhaps women are just more aware of their bodies and speak up about symptoms like bloating more than men do!
Bacteria
Gas in the intestine is produced by bacteria attempting to break down some difficult to digest food. The balance of good and bad bacteria in our intestines is essential, and even the slightest imbalance (known as 'dysbiosis') can lead to discomfort at best, or illness at worst. A lack of probiotics in the gut can be the reason for that imbalance, and the cause of bloating in the first place; therefore in these cases taking a high quality probiotic supplement could help.
Next Steps
Whatever the cause, bloating is a sign that you should take notice of, particularly if it is prolonged and uncomfortable, because the body is trying to tell you that all is not well in the food processing department, and it is having some trouble digesting food properly. For more information take a look at natural remedies for bloating.
What causes you to bloat? Please add your comments below.
About Adam Whitby
Adam has been involved in health and medicine for over thirty years, mostly reviewing clinical studies for general practitioners, writing patient information leaflets and producing medical video programmes.Make a Comment
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Comments — 11
Yasmin 31st January 2012 at 06:08
Sugar and cow's milk made my bloating much worse, even eating naturals sugars. After just eating an apple my waistline would expand by almost 2 inches! For some reason, the bloating would be worse towards the end of the day, I would start the day with a flat belly.
Dr Anthony Hobson 7th February 2013 at 15:47
Hi Yasmin, your symptoms are common and most likely caused by excessive fermentation in the first part of the colon. There are some simple and non-invasive tests such as hydrogen breath tests which use different sugars to see how the bacteria in your gut ferment these sometimes hard to digest carbohydrates. Importantly you can see if these sugars reproduce the feelings and bloating you normally get giving you confidence in the diagnosis. Treatment depends on the characteristics of the graphs that you produce from the test but could include a short course of anti-biotics followed by pro-biotics and a re-planning of your diet to reduce highly fermentable foods. The treatment often needs to be somewhat tailored to your own characteristics but once you understand these characteristics you can maintain a healthy diet and just avoid the things that just don't suit you, good luck, Anthony
lucy vassallo 16th February 2012 at 18:58
I would feel sick a lot when I was a teenager because I would eat a lot of fatty foods, which would cause pains in my tummy.You need to make sure that if you are eating a lot of fatty foods like I did to cut down on them because not only does it give you pains but also it has a terrible affect on your liver
Emma 21st February 2012 at 11:49
I am a 22 year old female and have been suffering from bad bloating and constipation for over two years now. I have tried everything and the only thing that seems to help (not eliminate) it is to exercise VERY regularly... in fact so much that I feel I am beginning to wear myself out. I also have issues trying to shed a few pounds.... even though i exercise so much and have a really healthy diet now. It really bothers me but nobody seems to be able to help. I am having cameras into my digestive system tomorrow to see if they can spot any problems but I assume that they will just tell me that I have IBS and need to learn to live with it.
Elaine 23rd February 2012 at 20:30
Why don't you try colonic hydrotherapy? Simple, quick,safe...Look online at ARCH's (Association of Registered Colonic Hydrotherapists) website for your local, qualified therapist.
There are actually two main colonic hydrotherapy associations in the UK. You've already mentioned ARCH, but there's also RICTAT. Incidentally, we're looking for an esteemed colonic hydrotherapist to write an article for us on how it can help bloating.
Adam
Yasmin 13th March 2012 at 16:40
My mother has had digestive bloating most of her life and so have I, are you more likely to suffer from bloating if your mother has had the same health problem?
Sarah 13th March 2012 at 16:44
Hey Yasmin. If you've got consistent bloating, you may want to visit your doctor for a check up.
Linda Booth Vice Chair - UK Colonics 9th August 2012 at 15:07
Hello,
Recently introduced to this Blog and it contains some excellent, practical suggestions for dealing with the issue of abdominal bloating. I am the Vice Chair of UK Colonics (The Association of Registered Colon Hydrotherapists, and our members carry out approximately 220,000 colon hydrotherapy treatments every year, on people with bowel dysfunction associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. One of the main symptoms being bloating.
The Association of Registered Colon Hydrotherapists have recently gone into 'partnership' with the UK's IBS Charity, The IBS Network, www.ibsnetwork.org, in an attempt to raise awareness and education about the benefits of modern, naturopathic colon hydrotherapy, and self-management of IBS symptoms.
Please visit our website and social media sites for more information www.colonic-association.org
Ruth Bowlt 24th April 2013 at 20:31
My stomach bloating has increased over the last around 4/5 months. It never used to bother me as it was such a one off occurrence but it is now affecting me daily. It seems that every time I eat (mainly evening meal) my stomach bloats within 10 mins and I can actually feel it happening. I am currently on citalopram and have started having night sweats but have not hit menopause yet (blood tests done about 2 weeks ago). I don't know if any of these could have anything to do with the bloating or not. It's really getting me down now as I'm so uncomfortable. I think I'm intolerant to something but I have no idea what. Anyone any ideas?
Ihasha 1st May 2013 at 13:07
Please help me. I am 32 years of age and have a four year old after my daughters birth I have battled with bloating it has become so bad and most of all embarrassing as more and more people ask me how far pregnant I am. I have been on cipralex 10mg one a day but have changed to serdep 50mg and take that in the evening for depression, unfortunately I also take about 8 sometimes more napicod tablets for headaches a day. I am constipated most the days and it seems that bread does aggravate the problem. is this problem mainly due to the medication I take or should I just look at the food I eat? I really don't know what to do. Kind Regards, Ihasha
Sarah 2nd May 2013 at 10:14
Dear Ihasha,
I'm sorry to hear that you're having such problems. I would certainly say that its worth taking a holistic approach and looking at factors such as diet, stress, gut microflora and so on - there are lots of articles and blogposts on this site, if you take a good look through. If you notice that you're more bloated when you eat bread, you may be gluten intolerant. We do have a blog post on food intolerances here: http://www.bloatingtips.co.uk/blog/2012/10/food-allergy-and-intolerance.html. If you're suffering from constipation, you could try this product, and this site on constipation is good too.
If you're concerned that your medication is making you bloated, I'd always recommend visiting your doctor.
Kind Regards,
Sarah