Bloating 101: What Is Bloating & What Causes It?

For some people, bloating is occasional and mild. For others, it's a more daily affair. It can make you feel gassy, "stuffed," or heavy, especially after meals. As a medical doctor who specializes in gut health, I can tell you bloating is a common complaint I hear. "I want to take off my pants, put on my sweatpants, and watch Netflix on my couch alone," one person recently told me.

Many times, helping people beat bloating requires a bit of digging to find what's creating the issue in the first place. It's also important to acknowledge that bloat can be a symptom of certain conditions like irritable bowel syndrome1 (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease, and other functional gastrointestinal disorders—for which you would want to seek the advice of a health care practitioner.

Many bloating problems come down to food. Overeating can certainly create bloating, along with consuming fried foods, too many carbs, and processed foods.

Overdoing fiber can also create bloating. While dietary fiber is great for your gut, increasing the amount too quickly can be a problem. If that's the case, slow down and add fiber gradually. 

Underlying many of these gut disorders is an imbalance of one's gut microbiota, between favorable and unfavorable microorganisms in the digestive tract. Your gut contains about 500 to 1,000 species of bacteria. And the tiniest shifts in the relative predominance of these bacteria can affect how your gut works2.

An overpopulation of bacteria in the small intestine can increase fermentation of sugar in the carbohydrates you eat, and bloating can occur from this gas production1. As a result, people with this issue should limit carbohydrates, including starches, sweets, and sugars. To address this unique need, I use a carefully designed nutrient plan and implement an elimination diet, which cuts out all sugars, including sneaky sweet sources.

Some individuals experience bloating within minutes after eating a meal that contains protein. They may also find they belch a lot. "After I eat, it feels like I've got a brick sitting in my stomach for an hour," one person told me. 

Low stomach acid–not too much—can cause issues after eating. When you don't have enough stomach acid to adequately break down protein, food sits undigested in the stomach longer.

Sometimes pinning down what creates bloating can require some trial and error. Carefully tracking what you eat, when you eat it, and any accompanying "gut feelings" in a journal can help better pinpoint the problem. This is an important step in developing food-gut intuition—your ability to tell which foods personally disagree with you and which ones lead to a happy gut.

Choosing the right foods can go a long way toward creating a healthy nutrition foundation for your gut health, to reduce bloating. But so can how you eat. I encourage patients to slow down while they eat. So many of us are conditioned to speed through meals, eat while working, and not give mealtime its due consideration. Instead, try to be mindful during meals—it might help to start off with deep breaths, prayer, gratitude, or whatever helps you be more present while you eat. 

At times, I also recommend incorporating a high-quality probiotic. Among probiotics' numerous health benefits, research shows4 the microorganisms provide beneficial bacteria and help improve bloating5, while promoting digestion and other GI functions. For example, one clinical trial in adults found that a combination of two genera of probiotics, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria, improved bloating5.