4 Secret Solutions To Stop Bloating From Food & Solve Your Painful Stomach
Bloating from food is a huge concern for many people, especially women. It can leave you feeling frustrated and even interfere with your social life.
Bloating used to be the bane of my existence. I stopped wearing my favorite jeans and started living in baggy yoga pants. I picked at my food when we went out to dinner because I was self-conscious of how my stomach would look and feel afterward.
I have since learned that a little bloating is totally expected for most people. But frequent bloating, especially painful bloating after dinner or bloating from bread, is not normal.
Whether you’ve noticed you always have bloating from food or maybe only certain foods like bread, there are solutions.
Let’s take a look at four bloating solutions and how to banish bloating for good. We’ll cover the basics, like chewing and stress relief, as well as bloating from foods and even from keto and low-carb diets.
1. Improper chewing is often behind bloating from food
I’m jumping right in with the most straightforward bloating fix of all—how much you chew your food.
Lack of chewing is one of the top reasons clients struggle with bloating. And it’s a really quick fix.
If you notice that you’re always a little bloated after eating, pay attention (start today!) to how many times you chew each bite of food. If you are like the old me, I bet you’re chewing just a few times before swallowing. This was a legit game changer for dealing with my bloat.
When you don’t chew enough, you swallow air and large chunks of food that aren’t fully broken down. This passes to your stomach, where strong acid and muscles work to break it down further. The less you chew, the harder your stomach has to work. Once everything moves to your small intestine and colon, it is supposed to be more like a liquid than food. But if you didn’t chew well, some bigger chunks are likely sticking around. This is very irritating to the lower gut and can lead to bloating.
Additionally, chewing is needed to trigger the release of digestive enzymes throughout the digestive tract. (Sidenote: chewing is also needed for GLP-1 production, a hormone produced in the small intestine that helps you feel fuller. Yep, you make your own GLP-1!)
These enzymes are mandatory for good digestion and help prevent bloating.
Starting today, I want you to begin chewing each bite 10 to 30 times. Don’t discount this step, even though it seems wildly simple…it’s changed lives. And hopefully, it will help you feel less bloated.
If you need extra help, click here to learn more about my 5-part cooking class that addresses belly problems like bloating, acid reflux, constipation, and more.
(Plus, you’ll have a chance to practice your chewing on some of the yummiest gut healing recipes around!)
2. Bloating from bread? You might want to try an elimination-reintroduction trial
Notice I didn’t say “elimination diet.” I said, “elimination-reintroduction trial.” There’s a difference!
If you’ve noticed a pattern of bloating after eating bread, pasta, or pastries, take note.
Gluten sensitivity is a top cause of bloating. This uncomfortable symptom is experienced by 87% of people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity, according to a 2017 prospective study (1).
Of course, other foods can lead to bloating as well. For example, dairy and eggs are also common trigger foods that I see in my practice.
An excellent (and free!) tool is to keep a food log, ideally for a week. But really, it’s ideal to keep track of what you eat for as long as you need to pinpoint your trigger foods.
A food log can be simple—jot down what you eat and drink all day and also record your symptoms. Once you identify a possible bloating culprit, the next step is doing an elimination-reintroduction trial.
This is a trial period of removing the offending food(s) for a minimum of three weeks and then adding them back in slowly, one by one, while monitoring how you feel.
If you notice that you’re reacting to a seemingly random array of foods, you may want to look into FODMAP sensitivity.
FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. FODMAPs are types of carbohydrates that are not well absorbed in the small intestine and can cause digestive symptoms in some people. This includes bloating, as well as gas, stomach cramping, and loose stools.
Because wheat is a high-FODMAP food, FODMAP sensitivity shouldn’t be ruled out if you are experiencing bloating from bread.
This is especially the case if you notice you’re also sensitive to foods like dairy, beans, garlic, and fruits. Monash University has an extensive list of high and low FODMAP foods. People with FODMAP sensitivity often feel much better after removing high-FODMAP foods from their diet.
Be aware that FODMAP sensitivity doesn’t mean that your gut is broken, and that you must exclude those foods forever!
Instead, look at it as a sign that your gut needs extra healing, support, and patience.
I always recommend that folks get guidance from a nutrition professional whenever taking on an elimination-reintroduction trial or a low-FODMAP diet. A professional will help you not only navigate the diet but also ensure that you don’t over-restrict yourself.
This brings us to the next point—restrictive, trendy diets can also cause bloating.
3. Bloating from the keto diet, low-carb diet, or carnivore diet
Something these diets all have in common is a lack of dietary fiber. Because carbohydrates contain fiber, eating fewer carbs means you’re eating much less fiber.
Fiber plays a vital role in keeping your gut healthy and keeping you regular. If you’re eating low-carb or recently stopped a low-carb diet, it's possible that it is causing bloating for you.
In addition to affecting motility, cutting carbs and upping fat and protein has a profound effect on your gut microbiota, which also influences bloating and discomfort.
Just one week of a fiberless, high-protein, high-fat diet alters healthy gut bacteria (2).
More specifically, research shows that a fiberless, low-carb diet dramatically increases a bacteria called Bilophila wadsworthia, which has been linked to gut sensitivity (3).
Could this be one reason why bloating from the keto diet is so common? It’s possible, although we don’t know for sure.
If you’re struggling with keto diet bloating or bloating after a low-carb diet, your gut likely needs some healing support through the slow introduction of fiber-rich foods and targeted probiotics to help your natural gut bacteria get back into balance.
Gut health is my thing, and I love helping clients restore vibrant digestive health. Schedule a free discovery call to learn more.
4. Stress can wreck your gut and make you bloated!
Stress always seems to be at the root of everything, doesn’t it?
Bloating and digestive struggles are no exception—stress has a profound effect on your gut health.
If you notice that you aren’t necessarily experiencing bloating that’s directly related to food, but your symptoms seem to wax and wane, pay attention to your emotions and stress level preceding feeling bloated.
Psychological stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, aka fight or flight. When you’re in sympathetic mode, your body is not prioritizing digestion because it’s only focused on survival.
Blood flow is diverted away from your digestive system to prioritize providing the muscles and heart plenty of oxygen. Combine this with increased cortisol (the stress hormone) and adrenaline, and bloating is to be expected.
Being stressed can increase visceral sensitivity (general stomach pain), which increases feelings of bloating and stomach distention (4).
Stress also increases the likelihood of constipation, which can lead to bloating and just feeling crappy in general (no pun intended).
But, as we know, stress is nearly unavoidable.
This is where stress management enters the chat. Learning how to manage stress will create stress resilience, and this will ensure stress leaves your digestive health alone.
Below are some of my favorite ways to increase resilience and lower the burden of stress. The more often you can practice one or more of these, the better!
Deep breathing (also called slow breathing, box breathing, or diaphragmatic breathing)
Going barefoot in the garden
Spending at least 20 minutes a day outdoors, getting a little sun on your skin, and exposing your eyes to natural light (this helps support your circadian rhythm, which benefits digestive health and stress)
Spending time with friends or loved ones
Exercise or physical activity
Avoiding using social media around meal times and before bed
Avoiding watching scary or violent shows
Practicing mindfulness or mindfulness meditation
Above all, if stress is causing bloating for you, a foundational fix is to take a few deep breaths to relax before eating.
Like forgetting to chew, eating while stressed can contribute to gas, bloating, and stomach discomfort. Because sympathetic mode is a survival mode, it interferes with the production of digestive enzymes that you need to fully digest your food. And poor digestion causes bloating.
Simply sitting down and taking four deep breaths, fully inhaling and exhaling, can help shift your body out of sympathetic stress mode into parasympathetic mode (aka, rest and digest).
While in parasympathetic mode, your body prioritizes digestion, and bloating is less likely to occur.
Bloating can have many root causes; it might take time to identify yours!
Bloating may be caused by:
food sensitivities, including FODMAP sensitivity
not chewing well
stress
low-carb diets like the keto diet
or you may have an underlying cause we didn’t cover here that can be found by speaking with an experienced nutritionist or with a stool test
Many times, putting an end to uncomfortable bloating is as simple as chewing at least 10-30 times per bite and reducing stress before meals.
However, if this doesn’t help, you may need to try an elimination-reintroduction trial or a low-FODMAP diet.
Adding in targeted digestive support supplements like probiotics and digestive enzymes may also be helpful to prevent your bloating.
If you’d like more specific support, including supplement recommendations, I’m happy to help.
