Ever feel like you have a balloon in your stomach that won’t stop expanding?
Yeah it sucks.
It’s totally common and about 16% to 30% of people have it.
However, it is possible to get rid of that feeling and finally be done with it once and for all.
I know so many people that had a similar issue previously and got past it.
For example, I’ve had awful digestive issues for years now. Bloating that caused me to feel lethargic, agitated and have brain fog but the worst part of all of it is the feeling of my stomach ripping open from the inside, can you relate?
However, I’ve figured out ways to combat the bloating. Thankfully I’ve been helped by others and gone through numerous trials and errors to come out the other end knowing exactly how to get rid of bloating and have found remedies that I’d like to share with you.
In this article I’ll go over what’s worked for me and others to get rid of bloating.
This article is loaded with information and ways to help stop the bloating. I don’t expect you to start doing all of it at once, that would be extremely overwhelming.
I’ll explain everything that’s worked for me and then at the end I’ll point you in the right direction to get started that will be more manageable for you, sound good?
What Is Bloating?
What happens when we get bloated? Let’s first understand what’s happening in our guts, when we bloat, so we can then find out how to fix it.
I’m not referring to the feeling of being a little too full. The kind of bloating I’m talking about here is the kind that’s debilitating, wrecks any chance of productivity, physically expands the stomach out and is wreaking havoc on your psyche because of the uselessness you feel during an episode; if you can relate to that then we’re on the same page.
This type of gut issue can be called distension.
There was an article written in the World Journal of Gastroenterology that analyzed where bloating is now and what the future for it is like. In that article they say that bloating is ambiguous with no concrete definition.
They attempt to describe bloating as the following:
“Patients refer bloating when they feel a full and tight abdomen, or a sensation of a swollen/distended abdomen, or an abdominal pressure or wall tension, or even the sensation of excessive gas in the abdomen.” – Article in the World Journal of Gastroenterology
They continue on to explain a difference of bloating and distension. Bloating is subjective, it’s that feeling of increased pressure, and distension can be measured by an increase in the abdominal area.
For ease and readability, I’m going to refer to distension and bloating as just bloating for the rest of the article.
What Causes Bloating?
Now that we’ve defined what bloating is the next logical question is then “what causes bloating?”
There is no single cause. There could be one that’s specific to you or there could be 20 different things going on that are causing you to bloat.
If it’s just one thing that you manage to change and you feel better then that’s great! However, chances are there’s multiple things going on that you’ll need to identify and change individually to know for certain.
My doctor explained it to me like this: Imagine your foot hurts and the reason why is because you have 20 nails stuck in there. You can’t just pull out one and feel 100% better. You’ll have to pull each one out and as you extract them you’ll feel better with every one removed. Then after they’re all out your foot will have to heal before your foot feels normal again.
That’s similar to what may be happening with your gut. You might have a lot going on that you’ll need to find one by one to then make it feel better.
Let’s look at the first cause that may be happening.
The Gut Microbiome
I’m sure you know you have microorganisms in your gut. How many do you think are in there? A million little guys? 100 million? 1 billion?!
You have trillions of microorganisms that are in your intestinal tract that help with not only digesting food but also with metabolic support, body weight management, immune regulation and so much more.
The gut is the control room that regulates intricate functions throughout our entire system and is made up of bacteria, viruses and fungi.
All of those organisms are essential to having a healthy digestive system which in turn means a healthy you.
For example, I have done testing for my gut microbiome through Viome and I know that I have don’t have the best microbiome make-up. Having a weak microbiome effects my metabolic fitness, my digestive efficiency and poor gut lining health.
There are more weaknesses I have to improve on – that’s my focus now is to find foods, probiotics, supplements and more to enhance my gut microbiome.
If you’re having digestive problems this may be a great place to start. Specifically, if you’re dealing with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), evidence shows, that this could be a leading factor.
For people with IBS, studies show that the microorganisms in our gut produce a lot of gas and other chemicals that can bloat us up.
Also, we may not be digesting the food right because we don’t have the diversity of gut organisms needed to break down nutrients.
For example, if you’re out at dinner and you and a friend eat the exact same meal that has bread, beans, onions, garlic and other known foods to cause bloating your friend may not bloat at all while you suffer as you slowly feel the distension coming on.
This is due to the differences in gut microbiome.
Food Intolerance, Sensitivities and Allergies
Do you know exactly what foods might cause irritations for you?
If not, that’s okay – I’ll share something later in this article that will hopefully help with that.
It’s common to have what the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical immunology (EAACI) has defined as a food hypersensitivity.
More than 20% of people suffer from food allergies or food intolerance, in industrialized countries.
The EAACI defines food hypersensitivity as divided into food allergy and non-allergic food hypersensitivity.
A food allergy is defined as:
“Food allergy is an adverse reaction to food which can be mediated by IgE or other immune mechanisms.” – Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, author manuscript
IgE is immunoglobulin E; when your body overreacts to substances it makes IgE antibodies.
The EAACI goes on to explain that the non-allergic food hypersensitivity is when you eat food you do not tolerate, the symptoms are not there when you don’t eat those foods and the symptoms come back up when you reintroduce those foods.
Some examples of immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated food allergies are:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Peanuts
- Wheat
- Soybeans
- Fish
Examples of non-IgE mediated food allergies are:
- Gluten intolerance (Celiac Disease)
Examples of non-allergic food hypersensitivities are:
- Lactose, milk intolerance
- Hypersensitivity towards sulfates
- Other reactions of unknown mechanisms
Here’s a chart to summarize all of this:
So, what does ALL of this mean to you??!
It means that you could have real food sensitivities that are effecting your gut health. It’s now your goal to find out what they are and get rid of them to your best ability, or at least minimize them.
For example, I know that gluten is an issue for me – therefore I haven’t had bread in 1.5 years. You may not have to go to that extreme but I did and I feel much better now.
If you have a serious food allergy you probably know what it is by now, if not please talk to your doctor.
Too Much Sodium (Salt)
How much sodium is too much?
Let’s first break down the difference of sodium and salt.
Salt is 60% chloride and 40% sodium. It’s used as a binder, stabilizer and food preservative as well as flavoring.
Sodium is a mineral and nutrient that occurs naturally.
The recommendation, by The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, of sodium intake is 2,300 mg.
The CDC shows that people consume 3,400 mg of sodium daily.
There’s obviously too much sodium in an average American’s diet.
Why is this a problem and why does this matter for bloating?
Our bodies need sodium to function properly. However, when you have too much there are issues that can come up such as high blood pressure, increased risk for heart disease and increase risk for kidney disease.
Another problem that comes up with too much salt/sodium consumption is water retention that leads to bloating!
This is where our balloon example in the beginning comes into play. Imagine now the balloon in your gut is being filled with water and not just air.
A lot of suggestions out there say to just drink more water and it’ll flush it out. Yeah maybe over time…But I want relief NOW! I’m sure you do too.
If that’s the case what I’ve seen works well is taking Cream of Tartar (it’s a byproduct of wine making) because it has a lot of potassium and counteracts the sodium water retention.
A few problems you’ll find when implementing a low sodium lifestyle is that most packaged foods are loaded with it. Making it hard to avoid unless you eat more natural food.
Which is why I advocate living a Paleo and primal lifestyle.
Overeating
Back in college before all of the gut issues came on, when I could eat whatever and still feel great, I would have massive “cheat meals” when following a diet to help adhere to it!
I remember one afternoon on my cheat meal I downed wings, chocolate and as I was finishing off a bag of chips it started to feel as if my stomach was ripping in half from the inside out.
I never had that feeling before and that was the first time I ever felt the symptoms of this horrific bloating that I’m sure you’re familiar with as well.
Not saying it was 100% due to overeating but that doesn’t help.
When you have the right portion control on your meals your body has a more effective digestive system – which is how to stop the bloating and gas.
Think about it like a fire. How do you get a fire started and sustain it?
You start with some small sized twigs, moss and leaves.
As those get lit up, you then can add bigger sticks.
As that all continues to burn then you can add the bigger logs.
If you make a good fire while continuing to burn sticks and stumps eventually it all burns out and is flat a few hours later.
However, if you just throw a giant log on the fire at the wrong time you’ll end up with a massive log sitting there burnt hours later instead of incinerated.
Our digestive systems are similar because they can handle a lot and constant input but need time to actually burn it down to it’s base nutrients, make sense?
Stress
Do you have any stress in your life?
Just kidding, yes of course you might. Unless maybe you’re living the Buddhist lifestyle in the mountains; if that’s the case then I’m grateful you’ve chosen to read my article for your limited technology time.
But for the rest of us, stress is everywhere in our lives. We can definitely do things to reduce it (such as exercise, meditation and the biggest one SLEEP) but stress is going to be in our lives. The good thing is you CAN get control over it.
Too much stress can cause
- Headaches
- Memory problems
- Fatigue
- Stomach problems
- Anxiety
- Depression
It may lead to unwanted behavior such as:
- Overeating
- Over-consuming alcohol
- Social withdrawal
Several years ago I was living such a stressed life that I ended up creating disease in my body because of it. I take the responsibility for that because I wasn’t taking care of myself and managing my stress.
However, I now set up my life to get control over the stress I have. My day is organized to the best of my ability to mitigate stress in every possible way because I learned all those years ago that stress and not taking care of oneself can cause some serious health issues.
Today I get great sleep, I’m happier, productive, and have more energy for developing amazing relationships.
I know that most of these digestive symptoms have come on due to a compromise in my immune system and an overburden on my digestion during those several years of superb stress I went through.
There was an article published by The Journal of Experimental and Clinical Sciences that confirms my belief stress causes numerous digestive issues, it read:
“Studies have shown that stress affects the absorption process, intestinal permeability, mucus and stomach acid secretion, function of ion channels, and GI inflammation” – EXCLI Journal Article
Now it’s about getting back to a properly functioning digestive system. That is going to take a ton of work, spending money on products and health services and a dedication to get healed once and for all.
I know it’s possible for me, I’ve seen others come out the other end and I know you’ll be able to get therre as well.
Disorders and Diseases
I won’t go into any detail with this because I’m not a doctor and I haven’t worked with patients on treating disease or other serious health conditions.
If you think you may have more going on I suggest you to talk to your doctor.
Remedies For Bloating
Most of these that will be shared I use or follow nearly every day. I have tried a TON of products and diets over the years and discovered these most effective. However, each person is different so what worked for me may not work for you or it could be just the breakthrough you’ve been looking for.
Either way I know you’ll get a lot out of seeing these remedies for bloating.
Find The Diet That Works For You
Nothing else discussed below will be nearly as effective or useful if you’re not eating right.
If you don’t eat right then using these remedies will be like trying to use a band-aid on knife wound.
Paleo, Keto, Atkins, Whole30…It doesn’t matter specifically which diet you choose just make sure it works for you and you’re eating whole, natural, foods that either grow from the Earth or was walking/swimming on it at one point. Get it as close to it’s natural form as possible.
I’m an advocate of primal eating and the Paleo diet. The reason is because it cuts out a lot of foods that are bad for our guts and digestive health. I’ve been following Paleo for a while now and it seems to be working for me.
Find what works for you and get started in the right direction.
Viome
This is the secret sauce. It takes the guess work out of finding a diet that works, that’s why I mentioned earlier to find what foods work for YOU.
As much as I adhere to the Paleo diet I get my specific food choices on a day to day basis by following Viome’s recommendation.
So, what is it??
Viome is a company that takes your specific gut microbiome and analyzes it for what you should eat and what you should avoid eating.
What I explained earlier about your gut and how certain foods can irritate it – this takes the guesswork out of trying to discover it for yourself.
After getting my results back I found out that most of what I was eating, which were good foods like asparagus, broccoli, cashews and others, wasn’t good for my gut.
STW 5 – Iberogast
It’s how you relieve bloating fast!
There was an article published by Wien Med Wochenschr group that shows Iberogast is a good way to help with gastrointestinal disorders.
They reviewed different clinical studies involving STW 5 – Iberogast and in one of their articles they say:
“The clinical efficacy of the therapeutics STW 5/Iberogast in these diseases has been proven in a number of randomized prospective clinical studies.”
I stand by this product as a happy customer who’s experienced a soothed stomach within about 5 to 15 minutes of using this.
When I’ve lost all hope I turn to this for a quick relief from different bloating symptoms.
L-Glutamine
However, if too many destructive particles get into your intestines they can create microscopic holes in your gut lining which is referred to as “leaky gut.”
Leaky gut is horrible because when your gut has holes in the lining other bad particles enter your bloodstream and then your body starts to overreact to everything. That’s why we have new food sensitivities develop.
If thinking about this keeps you up at night trust me it does for me too. Literally, because leaky gut leads to bloating which holds me back from sleeping.
That’s where L-Glutamine powder comes into play. L-Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid and is the bandage that’s going to help patch up those gut lining holes.
There’s a review written by the Department of Physiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center that suggests L-Glutamine can help with intestinal permeability (leaky gut):
“A significant body of evidence indicates that glutamine preserves the gut barrier function and prevents permeability to toxins and pathogens under various conditions of gastrointestinal mucosal injury. Glutamine is considered the most important nutrient for healing of ‘leaky gut syndrome”
The raw powder form is better then the pill form because you typically get 10x more from one serving of the powder versus one serving of the pill.
L-Glutamine also has a soothing effect that I find helps calm everything.
Bone Broth
You can drink it straight up or cook with it.
This is great for leaky gut as well because it helps strengthen the intestines from the tiny holes we discussed earlier.
Digestive Enzymes
It’s because every single ingredient in that burrito is broken down to it’s basic elements of either proteins, carbohydrates or fats; as well as other micronutrients.
Then it’s metabolized down even more to single elements that your body can use for energy, repair or a plethora of other purposes.
For a quick thought experiment on this I’d like you to imagine a pillow that you’d sleep with.
In order to break that pillow down to it’s most basic elements you’ll first have to take the pillow case off. Then you’ll have to open it up and get all the feathers out. To go even one step further you can pick each strand off the feather.
That’s similar to what your body is doing with food and in order to do that you need different substances to break all the food down, make sense?
Sometimes if our digestive systems and bodies aren’t functioning properly, due to some of the reasons discussed above, then we may not have all the functionality needed to break down that food.
If the food isn’t fully broken down that can cause bloating and other intestinal distress.
In order to help with this you can take digestive enzymes before meals.
Digestive enzymes help break down your food to basic elements so you can derive the most amount of energy and micro-nutrients as possible from them.
Sleep
Yes, I know you know you need to get more sleep.
However, what you don’t know is the importance of getting great sleep and how much it has an impact on everything in your life.
If you don’t get enough sleep you can experience:
- Moodiness, depression, anxiety
- Memory issues
- Release of stress hormones
- High blood pressure
- Risk of hear disease
- Weight gain
- Gut health problems
That last one is particularly relevant to what this article is discussing.
If you’re trying to lose weight but not get enough sleep that may be your key to shedding those pounds.
Getting Started
There’s a ton of information in this article and I made it this big so you could save it and use it as a guide.
But now what do you do?
Your goal is to find what foods you can eat that are okay with you and what foods mess you up.
How do you do that?
A great starting place for this is to get tested with Viome. I fully stand by what they’re doing and they gave me the answers that I’d been seeking for years. Which foods mess me up versus which foods I THINK mess me up. There were foods on there that surprised me.
Start with the diet and then just choose one remedy to try out first that is most appealing to you.
It’s definitely a complex process but it doesn’t have to be by just taking it one step at a time.
If you have any questions or would like further help from me on this let me know!
Leave a comment below if you found some of these remedies work really well or if you have others you like too.
Sincerely,
Chaz
Disclaimers
I am not a doctor and do not recommend anything on this site, or blog post, for anyone without consulting with their doctor first. Please read the privacy policy for more information.
There are affiliate links in this post where I’ll get a paid fee if you purchase something from that link – it won’t cost any more to you and in some cases may even save you money.
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