Bloating is one of the most common symptoms of IBS. And the most maddening. It can cause strong emotions and make you feel uncomfortable in your own body.
The worst thing about it is feeling like there’s nothing you can do to solve it. It endlessly persists, eating away at your sanity.
While I believe in functional gut testing to find the root cause of bloating and fix it, that is a longer term project. When you are in the throws of a bloating episode, all you want is relief. So I’m going to provide a few solutions below to ease the discomfort of IBS bloat.
What causes bloating?
There can be many causes of IBS related bloating. The most common ones are spasming of the intestinal wall, water retention, recirculating toxins/inflammation from constipation, or off-gassing by bacterial or yeast overgrowth after they feed on carbs or fiber.
Bloating can also be a die-off symptom of a gut healing protocol, when dying yeast or bacteria release endotoxins on their way out. You can be doing all the right things in terms of healing your gut and still randomly experience die-off bloat.
The key to tackling bloat is moving the trapped gas, calming intestinal tissue and calming the mind!
The emotional stress caused by bloating can make the sensation and experience much worse.
You can bloat from intense emotion alone. So it’s very important to keep from going down the emotional rabbit hole of self pity, fear, anxiety and despair. When you’re bloated it’s probably not the best time to do online research. That usually leads to more stress and thus intensifies bloating.
Do your online research another time. When you have an episode of bloat, it would better serve you to do one of the things below.
The advice below will help ease bloat to help you feel more comfortable in your body and/or prevent bloating before it happens (a better solution that bandaid fixes).
Carmative or antispasmodic teas/herbs
Herbs like fennel, coriander and cumin have been used for centuries to aid in digestion. Each herb has it’s own unique properties that help with digestion and bloating. Fennel is one of the best herbs for digestion and for dispelling gas and flatulence.
Cumin and coriander helps draw energy downward, increase digestive fire and move stuck gas. It improves sluggish digestion and helps with nutrient absorption.
It is customary to make tea out of these spice. Here’s how:
Use ground spices or grind whole spices in a coffee grinder.
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/2 tsp whole fennel seeds (increase to 1 tsp if you like your tea sweeter)
1/2 tsp whole coriander seeds
Combine the spice mix above with 4-5 cups of water. Bring water to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes. Then strain.
Drink to ease or prevent gas, hyperacidity and fire up slow digestion. It is always a good idea to drink liquids a half an hour before meals or 1.5 hours afterwards to keep from diluting stomach acid. And obviously don’t use this (or any) remedy in excess as even helpful herbs can have side effects if used in high amounts.
Peppermint oil
Peppermint is another common remedy for bloating. It increases gastric emptying by stimulating the secretion of gastric juices and bile. This is how it can preemptively reduce incidence of bloat.
When bloating is already in full effect, it helps by acting as an antispasmodic, calming the walls of the intestine and relaxing intestinal spasms.
There are different ways to use peppermint oil. You can dilute peppermint essential oil in a carrier oil and rub it on your belly.
You can also ingest peppermint oil. IB Guard is a commonly used supplement that contains peppermint oil that’s safe for ingestion. Peppermint tea can be a milder option.
Belly Massage
Because our basic strategy for minimizing bloat revolves around moving the gas while relaxing the intestines and the mind, belly massage is a great way to implement all three.
Digestzen is a popular essential oil blend that uses some of the herbs mentioned above (plus a few more) to both stimulate and relax the intestines. Dilute a few drops in carrier oil (coconut, jojoba or nut oil) and rub on your belly in circular downward motions from your solar plexus towards your feet. You can do this laying down or standing up, whatever feels better.
If your belly feels too sensitive to touch, you can rub the oil on your feet, using the principles of reflexology. Look up the stomach, intestine and liver points on your feet and apply gentle pressure there.
Chi gong digestion exercise
Here is a chi gong exercise specifically for digestion.
Stand with your feet hip width apart and move your hands from your belly outward and back as if you were pulling strings out of your belly. Just keep repeating until you begin to feel your belly deflating and relief.
As you move your hands outward to gently pull the invisible strings, move your fingers apart, creating space between each finger. As you return your hands back to your belly, close your fingers so they are touching.
This is a very powerful exercise but takes practice to get the full effects. This is just one of many options so if it’s not for you, keep reading.
Gentle movement
Movement is the enemy of bloat. One of the best things to do when you are bloated and gassy is to take a walk. The movement of walking, jostles your internal organs in a way that moves trapped gas through and out of your system. If going outside is not a possibility, another option is gentle yoga poses.
If you don’t know these poses, Google them to learn how they’re done. Cat Cow pose, Child’s pose, forward bending (while standing up or sitting down) and laying on your back and drawing your knees to your chest are some of the best poses to move gas through your system.
Deep breathing
Never underestimate the power of deep breathing. It can help greatly in relaxing body and mind and moving trapped gas. Chances are that your breathing is short and shallow when you’re bloated, because you’re upset.
Deep breathing creates downward movement in your diaphragm which pushes on the liver, stomach and intestines creating an internal massage.
Calm your nervous system
All the suggestions above, tea, yoga, walking, self massage, deep breathing and chi gong will help calm your nervous system and put your body in a healing mode instead of a reactive, stress mode.
If these things are not enough to switch your nervous system off, lay down and elevate your feet above your heart. This will slow down your system and move you into rest and digest mode, the nervous system state that optimizes healing and digestion.
Distraction
Googling your symptoms is one of the worst thing you can do when you feel bad. This common compulsive reaction to feeling anxious and out of control will only deepen your experience of pain.
The best thing to do is distract yourself. Listen to calming music or a fun podcast, cuddle with an animal or partner, watch a funny movie, talk to a friend or day dream about your favorite beach, hike, view.
Do something positive to distract from the pain and anxiety that bloating brings up. You can Google and research later, when you feel better.
CBD oil
CBD oil does triple duty of reducing pain, calming inflammation and lifting mood. So it can be a good addition to your bloat-reducing strategy by relaxing body and mind, easing pain and discomfort and calming down a flare.
Ginger
Ginger is another magic herb for banishing bloat. It’s a traditional remedy for alleviating gas, bloating and stomach pains. It naturally stimulates the body’s digestive enzymes and stomach acid. It also promotes motility and fights inflammation by killing bacteria.
Ginger tea provides a mild dose of ginger, but for those who can handle it, chewing or sucking on a tiny slice of ginger or juicing ginger can have strong and stimulating yet soothing effects.
Also, lemon is a diuretic, which can help release water retention that contributes to bloating. This is especially useful around the hormonal/PMS time of the month when bloating increases for some women.
A cold unsweetened ginger lemonade or hot ginger lemon tea is a good beverage for this time of the month.
Hot bath, hot water bottle or heating pad
Heat applied from a hot water bottle or heating pad across your stomach can help move gas along, while relaxing your muscles and your mind.
The heat can help relieve the abdominal pressure of gas and bloating and the weight of a water bottle can urge the gas out of your body while helping the pain or pressure subside.
Intermittent fasting
When you feel bloated you may not feel like eating. It’s not a bad idea to give your body a break from digesting to sort itself out.
Motility improves with fasting as the body has a chance to self clean. Inflammation also improves as beneficial bacteria get a boost.
Intermittent fasting means carving a window each day when your body is unburdened by digesting food. A standard fasting window is 16 hours, with an eating window of 8 hours.
Intermittent fasting helps support liver detox as well. This in turn will improve digestion by improving bile quality, regulating hormone balance and lightening the toxic load. A sluggish liver can lead to more bloat, mood issues, constipation, PMS and difficult periods.
If bloating mostly happens around the hormonal cycle, detox and supporting the liver could make a big difference. When I had IBS, a year -long liver cleanse brought me back to health and balance.
If want like guidance supporting your liver, get information about working with me here.
While fasting may not improve bloating in the moment, it could be a good long term strategy for bloat reduction in the future.
If you’re bloated AND hungry having a “predigested” meal that’s both low carb and well cooked (stewed for a long time and blended or pureed) can help your body digest.
Bone broth with spices like ginger, cumin, Tumeric and fennel, is a great option for filling you up (protein and fat) when you’re hungry yet afraid to eat.
Bacteria, yeast and parasites typically turn carbohydrates into bloat. Blend your protein of choice with bone broth and some herbs for some extra calories. Or use bone broth as a base liquid in smoothies, covering up the taste with bananas, coconut oil/butter, pumpkin seeds and berries. While these are carbs, they are typically well tolerated and could provide “safe carbs” if you’re really craving some.
Test for SIBO
One of the most common causes of bloat is SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). If the bloating is severe, constant or triggered by eating high FODMAP foods (high in fermentable carbs) it’s a good idea to get a breath test. Breath tests can be done at home and sent back in the mail. I order theses tests for my clients here.
If you don’t have SIBO, candida, parasites and h pylori are other pathogens that can cause bloat.
Keep a food journal
Sometime food sensitivities can trigger bloating by causing inflammation
Keeping a food journal can help you see what foods trigger bloating. Doing an elimination diet, then reintroducing possible food triggers one by one will confirm your suspicions about what foods irritate you.
Common food allergens are corn, soy, peanuts eggs, gluten and dairy. Sugar is also problematic.
Your immune system can get confused and tag any food as an allergen. This usual happens if leaky gut is present. These sensitivities can be reversed once the gut is sealed and inflammation is back under control.
These handful of strategies look at both long and short term strategies for preventing and alleviating bloat.
The goal is to calm the system and create movement for trapped gas. Ideally getting to the source of the gas will solve this problem for goof.
Hope this information helps you deal with the maddening experience of bloating going forward!
Angela Privin is proof that IBS is NOT an incurable disease or a disease at all. IBS is a body out of balance. It’s an invitation for change. After solving her own IBS mystery more than a decade ago Angela trained as a health coach to help others.
Angela uses both science and intuition to help people figure out what’s out of balance in their body. She works with lab tests, dietary changes, supplementation and nervous system rebalancing. Get help rebalancing your digestive system and solving your IBS mystery here.
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