I used to constantly struggle with a bloated belly, where I often felt like I was 3 months pregnant. It was terrible, but nothing I did seemed to make it go away, so it became normal for me. I tried many diets, and maybe a 3 day juice cleanse would help temporarily, but of course, a few days back to my normal eating and the bloating would come back.
It took me a long time - essentially one year of nutrition courses and lots of additional personal research and experimentation - to finally realize that the bloating was not normal, yet thankfully, was totally curable (with some food and lifestyle modifications).
If you’re in the same camp as I was, struggling with constant bloating and occasional gasiness, it’s important for you to know that THERE IS A CURE to get rid of this for good. Like most things, it all starts with identifying the root cause behind your bloating. So let’s take a look at what I have found to be the key triggers of bloating, gas and constipation:
Imbalance in your gut bacteria (“disbiosis”) and potentially even leaky gut
Gut infections (including parasites), SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), and/or Food sensitivities
Lack of digestive enzymes / low stomach acid (often from long-term use of medications, stress, and/or just an imbalanced diet)
Lack of stress management, eating too quickly (and not properly chewing your food), and not cooking your foods properly
Improper food combinations (which is mostly a trigger when you already have some underlying gut issues)
Once you understand the reasons for your bloating, it’s much easier to address.
In my experience, it’s usually a combination of causes 1 and 2 (imbalances in your gut bacteria, along with some infection such as constant parasites, for example), which often leads to cause 3 (insufficient enzymes and stomach acid), and then “causes” 4 and 5 (not chewing properly and heavy food combinations) simply worsen the gas and bloating symptoms that stem from the underlying problems (1, 2, and 3).
So how do you fix your gas and bloating? Here are the 5 steps to cure your gut issues!
STEP ONE: Basic NUTRITION principles that support gut health. I’ll break this down into 3 points. Eating a fiber rich diet, food combining and properly hydrating.
1) Eat lots of prebiotic fiber-rich foods. In order to sustain a healthy, diverse gut microflora, it’s essential to eat a wide variety of plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, legumes, herbs, etc). Usually the more fiber-rich veggies and plant foods we eat, the healthier our gut (as long as we tolerate them, sometimes you have to add them in gradually). You’ll want every single meal to have some protein, health fats, and TONS of fiber.
At the same time, you want to MINIMIZE processed foods, fried foods and added sugars. For many people, it also helps to eliminate dairy and gluten, and reduce consumption of nightshade vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers) and even cut back on nuts - for a while, as these are often inflammatory for the gut. For this I highly recommend trying my detox.
2) Introduce basic Food Combining principles. To sum it up briefly, you want to avoid: a) combining more than one protein per meal, b) combining starchy carbs and protein in one meal, and c) eating fruits with your meals. Eat fruit alone (with some nuts/seeds is ok) and in between meals - the small exceptions being fruit blended with greens in a smoothie, or cooking small amounts of pre-soaked fruit with your oatmeal. Start by giving these basic rules a shot - I promise it’s easier than it seems. Have your protiens (meat/chicken/fish/eggs) with mostly veggies, or if you’re having a a starchy food such as rice/pasta/quinoa etc, again, have it with veggies. Avoid having pasta or rice with meat/fish, and avoid combining proteins (such as surf & turf) in one sitting. The good news is, everything goes with low-carb veggies, and the more veggies you eat, the better! One more helpful food combining tip is to avoid cold things with or right after your meal, so no ice-cream nor ice-cold drinks with nor right after your meal (especially while expericiencing bloating).
*NOTE: I find food combining to be helpful while solving your gut issues and bloating, however, once your gut health improves, you won’t need to do food-combining forever. For me personally it was a very helpful toold for about a year or so, but now that I have a healthy gut, I love to mix beans with my eggs for example, to increase my protein, and I digest it perfectly (no more bloating)! So food combining is only a temporary tool.
3) Hydrate. Make sure to drink lots of water (in between meals), herbal teas (especially peppermint, ginger and fennel teas!) and eat foods with a high water content, such as celery, cucumber and watermelon. On the same note, you want to avoid foods that cause water retention, namely foods high in sodium (almost all processed foods like chips, deli meats, as well as soy sauce). And sorry to say this, but limiting your caffeine and booze tends to help as well!
Remember, it’s what you eat and drink 90% of the time that matters. So its worth it to take a deeper look into your daily diet and ask yourself if there is something you could tweak based on these suggestions.
STEP TWO: Basic LIFESTYLE principes to support Gut Health. I’ll break this down into 3 key steps: stress management, chewing properly, and preping foods for optimal digestion.
1) Manage your stress. Digestion requires us to be in the “parasympathetic nervous system”- the rest and digest, but so many of us are stuck in the “sympathetic nervous system”- fight or flight or freeze. Building a daily morning routine with some element of meditation, breath work, a walk outside, and/or taking time for yourself (when possible) is essential for your nervous system and gut health.
2) CHEW, CHEW,AND CHEW some more! Digestions begins in the mouth with your saliva, and for optimal digestion (and no bloating!), you want to be chewing your food at least 20-30 times before swallowing. Ideally you want your food to be almost liquid before you swallow. So start paying closer attention to this, and start eating slower.
TIP: Take a deep breath before each meal, and appreciating the meal. Then focus on savoring each bite, and putting your fork down in between bites. I PROMISE you that this can be game changing for your digestion, your bloating, and your overall health. It also leads to WEIGHT LOSS because as you’re chewing and eating slower, you’re allowing the time for your body to give you the signal that it's full, which keeps you from overeating.
3) Prep and cook your foods properly for optimal digestion. Be mindful about how you cook your cruciferous vegetables, your grains and mostly your beans. Beans are a huge cause of gas and bloating for most people, but this can be fixed by soaking them and cooking them properly. One easy tip is to pre-soak your grains and beans overnight, rinse well, and then cook with a piece of seaweed. (I soak my grians with apple cider vinegar, my beans/legumes with a pinch of baking soda, and then I cook them all with a piece of Kombu seaweed).
STEP THREE is improving your gut microflora by adding in probiotics.
The state of your gut bacteria is linked to all digestive issues, as well as other health issues, and is VITAL to correct. I usually suggest to start by taking a good probiotic supplement every morning, as well as adding probiotic-rich foods into our diet, such as raw fermented vegetables like sauerkraut and kimchi (just make sure they are raw, require refrigeration and not made with vinegar) or if you can tolerate dairy, add in cultured milk products, such as kefir or greek yogurt (but go for plain flavor to avoid unnecessary added sugars). For non-dairy options, look for coconut-milk yogurt/kefir (again, no-sugar-added) which are my personal favorite options.
Note: Equally as important as adding in these probiotics is being careful with constant use of medications and antibiotics. And if you do have to take antibiotics, make sure to really increase your probiotics at that time!
STEP FOUR is testing to see if adding a digestive enzyme, or Betaine HCL with pepsin, helps to significantly improve your gas/bloating problems.
Our body’s digestive enzymes can be lowered by environmental factors, including excess intake of medications, and mostly STRESS. So it’s key is to work on lowering the stress in your life, and optimizing your adrenal health. But in the meantime, start by adding a tbsp of apple cider viengar in your water before meals. Also, taking a digestive enzyme with your food (and supplementing with Betaine HCL if you have low stomach acid) can help you to properly break down the proteins, fats and carbohydrates to reduce any bloating, and will also aid in nutrient absorption. *For more on the how/when to use ACV, enzymes or betaine hcl, contact me.
STEP FIVE (if steps 1-4 aren’t enough) is determining what’s the primary cause of your gut issues (by testing) and making sure you address this.
If all the previous steps weren’t enough, then its time to get tested, ideally with a functional medicine practitioner. I recommend doing a comprehensive stool test to see if you have any infection or parasites, as getting rid of these is necessary to re-establish a healthy gut flora, together with the probiotics. A SIBO breath test might also be necessary. Another source of gut imbalances can be unknown food sensitivities, which you can determine by both a food sensitivity test, and an elimination diet. (For the comprehensive stool, SIBO and food sensitivity tests, I recommend working with a functional medicine practitioner. And for more on the elimination diet, contact me!)
*Note: If your bloating is chronic and pretty bad, I actually recommend you START with this step, and get tested ASAP. Otherwise, often all the previous steps are enough to see a hugeimprovement, together with just a simple 10 day elimination-diet based detox, For many people that may be enough, so you can skip this step of Functional Medicine testing.
If you suffer from a bloated belly after meals, start looking into this - don’t get complacent with your constant bloating because it can lead to bigger issues down the road!
Start paying closer attention to the foods you eat, chew them properly, cook them properly, and see which ones are causing the most issues for you. Try doing an elimination diet to see if you have food sensitivities, and start investigating whether you might have lower levels of enzymes due to stress and/or low levels of stomach acid. These questions are worth asking. And if you’d like my support, reply to this blog and/or CONTACT ME HERE.
Note: I will be doing a 7 day detox in April and a 10 day detox in June where we'll be implementing an elimination diet, so if you think you may have some sensitivities (particularly to dairy which often causes bloating) join me!
Love and flat bellies,
Mariana