Feel Bloated?

Bloating is the single most common digestive complaint afflicting people today, with millions around the world suffering from it, yet it is also one of the least understood. We try to do all the right things — avoid common allergens and inflammatory foods like gluten, sugar, and dairy, limit processed foods, exercise regularly — and yet still find ourselves with uncomfortably swollen abdomens after virtually every meal.

It has certainly plagued my life for as long as I can remember, and I worry about it constantly. It’s stressful, it’s embarrassing, and it often leaves me feeling utterly defeated. I also worry about it constantly which, of course, only exacerbates the issue. I have tried everything to rid myself of this seeming curse, but unless I’m depriving myself and eating like a bird, very little seems to help.

Fortunately, gastroenterologist Robynne Chutkan has taken some of the guesswork out of this unwelcome visitor by compiling the most common bloating culprits into her latest book, The Bloat Cure. “I wanted to create a guide for women to be their own medical detectives,” says Dr. Chutkan. “Bloating is absolutely is the number one thing I see in my practice. It’s sort of that common, non-specific way for the GI tract to let you know it’s unhappy.”

Bonus: If you’re staying hydrated the way I described earlier, you’ll have to go to the bathroom more often, which means more opportunities to get up and stretch your legs!

8. Stress

The Problem: The only thing worse for our health (and bellies) and more endemic to modern society than sitting is stress.

As I mentioned previously when describing mindful eating, when our nervous system is fired up as a result of stress, our bodies enter the ‘fight-or-flight’ mode, halting digestion and releasing cortisol, the stress hormone linked to increased abdominal fat.

Evolutionarily speaking, says Dr. Chutkan, “when a T-Rex is upon us and we have to get away from it, it shunts blood flow away from the digestive tract to the big muscles in the legs and the heart so you can run.” These days we aren’t running from tigers or bears, but our lives are stressful in other ways, and unfortunately, our bodies can’t tell the difference. This means that for many of us, that stressed state is constant. This not only slows down gut movement but also affects the pH of our digestive tract and our enzyme and acid secretion.

The Solution: Aside from exercise, meditation is your complete well-being panacea, and it can alleviate anything from stress and anxiety to digestion and pain. I personally challenged myself to meditate every day for one month last year, and it changed my life. Within the first few days, I saw my IBS symptoms improve drastically, going from having a bowel movement once or twice a week to one every day. Meditation is now an essential part of my self-care routine, and it has helped me to become happier, healthier, and calmer.

Unsure of how to get started? Try this short guided meditation, or visit headspace.com and download their meditation app. The first 10 meditations are free and serve as a wonderful introduction to the practice. I use the app every day and cannot recommend it enough.

You can also check out some of these other natural anxiety fixes.

Source:

http://www.wellandgood.com/good-advice/bloating-causes-beyond-diet/

Reprinted with permission from Collective Evolution.

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