Summary Blog: 7 Non-Food Related Reasons You Feel Bloated All The Time

I GET IT.  Bloating is NOT fun.

Clients often come to me desperate to resolve their digestive bloating.  They have removed entire food groups and experience fear and hyper focus around every food choice they make. 

I see their diets whittled away to short foods lists that end up on repeat as “safe foods” that make eating in social environments nearly impossible and strain their relationships with loved ones as many choices start to revolve around symptoms and what foods they tolerate.    

 Not only is their bloating not fun, but it is straight up exhausting and darn right distracting from living a joyful life.

 I most often see food taking the blame for bloating…PSA. It is not the foods fault, I REPEAT, it is not the foods fault!    The way we engage in eating and the environment in which food enters the body is just as important if not more, than the food we actually eat. Diversity of food is actually magic for the gut, the immune system, and providing increased enjoyment at mealtimes!

Ready to get on top of your bloating and stop villainizing food?  Here is a summary of the top reasons why you are experiencing bloating outside of the food you are actually eating.  Try them for yourself and create space to give some of those historically offending foods a fair chance.  For the full article, Check out the A Sweat Life’s  blog:  https://asweatlife.com/2021/02/heres-why-you-feel-bloated/.

Top take away tips to beat the bloat: 

1. Slowww down while eating – your body won’t be ready to optimally digest when you are shoving food in at full speed and not paying attention to what you are eating!  When the body can’t adequately prepare, maldigestion, and bloat is much more likely! 
2. Chew your food, your stomach does NOT have teeth! 
3. Avoid grazing throughout the day, give your body 3-4 hours in between meals and snacks to allow for digestive rest and optimal digestion! 
4. Avoid eating when stressed, when your body is in fight or flight, it will have a hard time properly digesting your food!  PRO TIP: take 3 deep breaths before eating to center and stimulate the parasympathetic system. 
5. Give yourself permission to eat what your going to eat!  Entering a meal with guilt, fear, or disgust, you are already sending negative signals to your body — this can impact how well you tolerated the foods you are eating and how well you will digest them! 
6. Gut test don’t guess!  If you have mastered the lifestyle strategies, explored diet modifications, and you STILL feel bloated, it is important to get a better picture of what the balance of the microbiome looks like.  I like to use the GI MAP test and Vibrant Gut Zoomer to assess bacterial balance (the balance between opportunistic bacteria “the yuckies” and beneficial bacteria), bacterial diversity (is there enough and enough variety of the good guys?) markers of inflammation, markers of digestive function, and ensure there is not an accumulation other unwanted organisms like pathogenic yeast or parasites! 
7. Don’t forget hormones!  Hormone balance can be a part of your bloating story!  If you find that you cyclically bloat or you have already applied diet, lifestyle, and stool testing strategies, with minimal improvements, it is time to take a closer look.  I like the DUTCH test for getting the skinny on how your hormones are working together to further set the stage for optimization  necessary to optimize hormones. 

Are you ready for real solutions to get on top of your bloat? 

Book a Strategy Call where we can outline a plan for real progress and eliminate the barriers to finally tackling belly bloat!