5 Reasons You Feel Bloated + An Easy Plan To Identify Your Trigger

Does your stomach look normal in the morning and as the day passes it looks tight, swollen and full of gas? And this could be happening even when you're eating healthy. The first thing that you need to understand is that bloating and gas are related but they are not the same thing. Gas is a normal part of digestion. It could enter your digestive tract when you swallow air or it could also be produced by bacteria when they ferment certain carbohydrates. It is absolutely normal to pass some amount of gas during the day. Bloating, on the other hand, is that uncomfortable feeling of fullness, pressure or tightness in the abdomen. Sometimes the abdomen also looks visibly distended. The thing that you need to understand is that bloating does not always mean that you have too much gas. There could be several other reasons why you could be bloated after your meals. I am Nirupama, a PhD in food science and a nutrition coach. And today I'm going to help you understand the five common reasons of why you could be bloated after meals. And towards the end of the At the end of the video, I'm also going to leave you with a 7-day plan which will help you identify your personal triggers. The first and the commonest reason that you could be overlooking is that you're probably eating your food too quickly and you're eating too much. When you eat too quickly, you may swallow more air which can contribute to pressure and discomfort in the abdomen. Eating too quickly also makes it easier for you to eat beyond the point of comfortable fullness. Why? Because it takes time for the brain to register fullness. And before you know it, you have overeaten. And when you overeat, your stomach naturally extends to accommodate the meal. And this leads to a feeling of fullness, tightness and bloating. The solution is to give yourself at least 15 to 20 minutes for a meal, take smaller bites, chew thoroughly and minimize distractions. Sometimes this small change can bring a lot of relief to your bloating. But what if this is not the reason for your bloating? Then the next possibility worth exploring is number two, certain carbohydrates might not be agreeing with you. Certain carbohydrates are not digested in the small intestine. A part of them reaches the large intestine where the gut bacteria ferment them and produce gas. A group of these carbohydrates are called FODMAPs. Examples of these FODMAPs are dals or legumes like rajma, Chola, onions and garlic, certain fruits like apples and pear, the lactose in dairy as well as wheat products Please understand that FODMAPs are not inherently unhealthy foods. In fact, they do provide valuable nutrition and fiber. It's just that different people tolerate them differently and the amount you eat matters as well. For example, you might be perfectly comfortable eating a small serving of chole, but a large bowl might end up making you uncomfortable and bloated. Sometimes FODMAPs might affect you if your gut is inflamed due to poor diet, excessive stress, lifestyle or certain infections or medications. Or at times there could also be a natural decline in the body's ability to produce digestive enzymes and therefore digesting certain meals like legumes and high-fat foods becomes difficult. So what can you do? Start looking for repeatable patterns. Does bloating happen after one particular food or a combination of foods? Does it depend on the On the portion, try to experiment Let's move on to the third Commonly overlooked cause. Constipation. Sometimes we are so focused on what we are eating that we forget to look at how well we are emptying our bowels. When stool moves slowly through the colon or evacuation is incomplete, it can lead to abdominal discomfort and bloating. And constipation isn't just about how many times a day you pass stools. You could be passing stools every day, but if your stools are hard, you have to strain a lot or if you feel that you haven't emptied completely, you could I could still be constipated in this situation. Removing certain foods from the diet might not help. You might have to address gut motility. Make sure that you're adequately hydrated. Increase your fiber intake gradually if you're not getting enough. Stay physically active and give yourself time to use the toilet without repeatedly ignoring the urge. Most importantly, if you are severely constipated, do not hesitate to seek medical advice. So, so far we have spoken about how bloating can be caused by how you eat, what you eat and how your bowels move. But sometimes bloating can happen even when you're eating supposedly healthy. The fourth reason for feeling bloated is making drastic changes to your diet. I see this happen a lot in my coaching practice. Have you recently thought of improving your health and started I started consuming a lot of protein, either in the form of protein powder, Or have you started doing large bowls of raw salads, high fiber vegetables or high fiber cereals in your diet? Or have you started consuming seed waters or spice waters like turmeric water, cinnamon water? I am not saying that these are unhealthy additions, but changing too many things too quickly can make you feel uncomfortable. Protein is hard for the body to digest and too much fiber means too much fermentable material leading to excessive gas. Your digestive system may adapt over time, but this adjustment can be uncomfortable for some people. So increase your intake gradually, whether it is protein or fiber. Make one change at a time and allow your digestive system to adapt to it. This brings me to the fifth important point. If you experience persistent bloating after your meals, even when you have taken care of your portions, the foods that you eat and your bowel movements, then it is worth looking beyond. Persistent bloating could be happening due to underlying reasons like irritable bowel syndrome, lactose intolerance, For example, in irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease the gut is unusually sensitive even to normal amounts of gas and stretching. or functional dyspepsia. So even if you're not producing too much gas, you might still have significant discomfort. The important thing to remember is do not self-diagnose yourself based on a YouTube video. Seek professional advice if needed, especially if your bloating is associated with unexplained weight loss, blood in the stool or significant pain and discomfort. Now, how do you figure out which of these causes is applicable? Let me give you a plan and let's call this the 7-day bloating observation plan. For the next 7 days, track these 4 things. 1. Your meals. What you ate, when you ate, your approximate portions and how quickly you ate. You are looking for patterns here. 2. Your symptoms. Note down when the bloating starts. How uncomfortable do you feel? Is your bloating associated with belching, gas or abdominal distension? Is it happening after a particular meal? The timing will provide you important clues. Number three, your bowel movements. How frequently are you passing stools? Are they hard? Do you have to strain a lot? Do you feel completely emptied after passing a stool? Number four, other factors. Pay attention to stress. Changes in routine, changes in diet, going through a cycle of medication or supplements, these could also provide clues as to why you might be feeling bloated. At the end of seven days review your notes. Hopefully you will have some idea of what could be bloating you and what to investigate later. If you do not see an obvious pattern, do not worry. It is not like you're doing something wrong. You probably need a little more detailed assessment and a health expert can help you do that. Remember that some bloating after meals is normal to some extent, but it might not be caused by the same reason at all times. Sometimes the solution could be as simple as slowing down Chewing your food thoroughly and addressing constipation. The goal is to not keep removing foods from your diet. It is to understand what is causing your symptoms. That's all from me today. I hope you found this video useful and that it gave you some insights on how you can go about looking for your own triggers for bloating. If you like today's video, do give it a thumbs up and let me know in the comments if you feel regularly bloated and does it happen right after a meal or does it develop a few hours later? I will try getting back to your queries in the comment section. I'll see you guys in my next video. Take care until then. Bye.