I’m sitting here at my home with a big bloated stomach and started thinking – why does that my stomach bloats? And, wondering if you too are facing the same.
What is the worst thing than having an uneasy feeling filling you up? So, I did a little research (honestly, I’m researching it for the past few years whenever I get bloated). But today, I have faced this issue after a long gap.
Bloating is when your abdomen gets filled with gas or air, which makes you feel full and tight. It isn’t a fatal issue, but the feeling it gives is so uneasy and as if you have eaten a drum filled with food and has no space to drink water too. It can stop you from fitting into the clothes that were loose for you a while ago.
Social fitness influencers like chloe Ting and Anna Victoria have brought up this health concern and flaunted their bloated stomach through their grams.
What Causes Bloating?
Bloating is caused by many reasons, but the major being the food you eat and how you eat?
Consumption of foods and drinks, that produce gas in the stomach, like carbonated beverages, sweeteners, and chewing gums. While drinking these beverages or chewing gums, we let a lot of air to get in our bodies.
The way we eat, i.e., if we eat too fast, we tend to not chew the food properly that subsequently leads to poor digestion and thereby makes us feel full and tight. Apart from this, when we eat too fast, our brain doesn’t get appropriate signals of our food intake.
Eating foods, that are hard to chew like beans, onions, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli. These foods contain sugar and high fiber content that creates complexity in breaking down the food.
Menstruation in women can cause bloating as while menstrual bleeding, the progesterone, and estrogen levels change, the cells of the body swell, and it increases the water retention in the body.
Over-eating, a sudden increase in weight and over-weight can even lead to this issue.
Gut issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Thyroid, hormonal imbalance, and Gastro-related diseases.
Too oily food like deep-fried snacks, refined wheat food, and processed food.
Drinking too little water
Fasting can be a cause for bloating because when we don’t fill our stomach with food, it finds a way of filling itself with gas.
Exercising may lead to swallowing of air but not all the exercises and for everyone.
What are its symptoms?
- Stomach gets a big bump
- Feeling uncomfortable, uneasy, and too filled
- Constipation or diarrhea
- Stomach Cramping and pain
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Indigestion
- Blood in stools
- Uneasy to breathe
My story of Bloating
I got introduced to bloating a few years back, like in 2016. I used to think my feeling of over-filled is because of over-eating (you know the first thought that strikes a foodie), but I used to get bloat almost every single day.
The first mistake, I started skipping meals to avoid over-filling, but you know this has worsened the situation.
I consulted the doc and notified that I have irritable bowel syndrome. And, prescribed me to avoid all kinds of food that cause gas that is hard to digest. And, gave a few pills to cure gastric. I followed the diet, drank a lot of water, exercised, and broke down 3 meals to 6 smaller portions of meals.
Honestly, it did reduce my bloating issues until 2019, when I again started feeding on unhealthy food and had no proper schedule for eating, and skipped meals. And, I had developed thyroid disorders, which were one of the cause
After that again, for a few months, it reduced as I took up the charge of food and health but, I get bloated whenever I deviate from the schedule.
Hehe, Today’s reason is a plate of deep-fried ‘Pakoras’.
How to cure Bloating?
Well, if you read till now, you would have got an idea of how to cure it? And what to avoid. But if you have skipped, this is the clear picture on how to cure Bloating:
- Drink plenty of water
- Reduce lactose contents like dairy products.
- Avoid carbonated beverages and sweeteners
- Avoid foods like brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, and lentils. I know Indians love lentils. So, I would say you can soak in the lentils for 20-30 minutes before cooking.
- If you consume alcohol or smoke, sorry you have to quit smoking and drinking alcohol.
- Include fibers in your diet
- For instant relief, I prefer drinking green tea and eating a spoon of carom seeds (Ajwain).
- Peppermint leaves or pills
- Instead of green tea, you can opt for a home-made hot medicinal drink. It can be made, with a pinch of turmeric, tulsi (basil) leaves, carom seeds (ajwain) or fennel seeds (Jeera), and ginger.
- Eat at regular intervals, and break down your bigger meals into smaller portions.
Massage/workout that helps from bloating?
Massaging, and any kind of physical activity keeps the bowels moving and thereby reduce bloating and bloating symptoms.
Go for a walk, run or jog.
Try abdominal massages, massaging help in focusing on the pressure points that provide relief from tightness, over-filled feeling, and menstrual cramps can also be reduced.
Exercising or yoga can again lead to the bowel movement, but here we have to ensure the proper core management, i.e., Inhaling and exhaling of breath should be followed effectively.
Video Courtesy: @Shape Singapore from YouTube
Is it curable completely?
I feel bloating doesn’t have a permanent or complete solution, as you can refer to my story, I could eliminate bloating for a long time, only when I have followed a healthy diet and lifestyle and avoided a lot of other foods.
But whenever I retake those foods and drinks in excess amount or continuously, my stomach gets bloated again.
And, my doctor also has suggested the same in the past, that the best solution to avoid this is to control diet and other activities.
Note: I have written this on my personal experience for the past few years and research I did online and what I was prescribed from the doctor.
