This is what is Causing your Bloating

Bloating is a common experience that most of us will experience from time to time. But, when it becomes so common that we feel bloated more often than not, it might be time to get to the root of it.

Bloating could occur for a number of reasons but almost always comes after eating or drinking. Typically, bloating is when you feel inflammation or a balloon sensation around the belly button. Bloating can occur to anyone and isn’t necessarily linked to our health, but, rather, depends on the kinds of food we are eating. All bodies are unique so eating the right foods for you is essential to our overall health and vitality.

Let’s look at the most common reasons we experience bloating

1. Food Intolerances

We don’t need to be allergic to something for it to be a food we should avoid. Some people, for example, can drink milk but find that it might occasionally trigger an immune response like eczema. 

When our gut lining isn’t strong, the particles of some foods can enter the bloodstream instead of staying in the digestive tract (this is called leaky gut). Because that food isn’t meant to be there, our immune system targets it as an invader which can cause an immune response. 

The good news is that depending on how severe our food intolerance is, if we can reverse your leaky gut (by strengthening it) we may be able to reintroduce the foods that are currently causing an immune response.

This makes healing the gut lining incredibly important but the epithelial cells - the cells that make up the gut lining - are the fastest regenerating cells in the body, taking just four days.

So, if we can identify which foods were causing an inflammatory response for us and remove them, we could see dramatic improvements quickly.

2. Gluten and processed foods

For a lot of us, processed foods and gluten often lead to gut dysfunction. At the BePure Clinic, we have yet to see a person with an autoimmune disorder whose symptoms have not drastically improved on a gluten free diet.

Foods that are high in trans fats, refined grains, sugar, preservatives and emulsifiers are also associated with digestion issues, poor memory, foggy thinking, chronic aches pains and poor sleep.

Eating a nutrient rich, wholefood diet can help to reduce inflammation within your body caused by processed foods. Bone broth is a great way for us to nurture our gut lining as it is rich in amino acids and trace minerals that promote reversing leaky gut. Try making this homemade bone broth recipe here.

3. Lack of Digestive Enzymes

The amount and quality of digestive enzymes - which live throughout the entire digestive tract including the mouth - depends on our diet choices, nutritional deficiencies such as zinc, and the process of ageing.

Digestive enzymes play a crucial role in gut health. Essentially, they enable the breakdown of food so that nutrients can be absorbed into the bloodstream. If we don’t have enough, our body can struggle to digest our food efficiently. 

Bloating is a sign your body isn’t making enough digestive enzymes and contributes to leaky gut, food allergies, food sensitivities, and ultimately creating havoc to the digestive system. To improve your digestive health, add in digestive enzymes by eating prebiotic foods and taking a high strength digestive enzyme, daily.

 

4. Imbalanced Bacteria, Parasites and Yeasts

Not having enough good bacteria, or having parasites and yeast overgrowth can lead to tissue damage in the gut which can result in inflammation.

These nasty non-beneficial bacteria feed on processed foods, refined grains, sugars, preservatives and emulsifiers, which allows them to multiply and dominate the gut. These non-beneficial bacteria emit toxins, slow down digestion and cause food to ferment in the small intestine, which can lead to stomach pain and bloating after meals.

Many people experience bloating as just one of a couple of digestive symptoms that fall under the umbrella of IBS, or irritable bowel syndrome.

There’s one particular dietary protocol that seems to help a lot of people with IBS and that’s the FODMAPS diet. The reason being, it basically stops feeding the bacteria in the gut by taking away the foods (prebiotics) that feed the bacteria. Once all unbeneficial bacteria have been eliminated, you can slowly start reintroducing prebiotics back into your diet. FODMAPS is a wonderful thing and it helps a lot of people with IBS, but it’s very difficult to maintain long-term.

In the BePure Clinics, our clients begin with FODMAP to monitor symptoms but we’ll test their microbiome to see what strains of beneficial and pathogenic bacteria, parasites and yeasts are inside the gut. We then work to support rebalancing the gut, modifying the microbiome and allowing our clients to include a broader diet.

We need great gut health for our overall health and vitality. If we experience bloating, reducing processed foods and gluten from our diets is a good place to start. Adding in a daily digestive enzyme will help nurture great upper digestion and taking a high strength probiotic daily will help support a healthy gut by promoting a good balance of beneficial bacteria.

The BePure Everyday Wellness Pack includes BePure Two, a high strength probiotic that helps establish a healthy gut and, therefore, be healthy enough to absord the vitamins and minerals from BePure One and BePure Three. Together, they work to support a healthy gut, reduce inflammation, and get our daily dose of goodness, day after day. 

 

Disclaimer: This blog post is for educational purposes only. It is not designed to diagnose, treat or cure. We are all unique, for your individual health concerns it is important to discuss these with a BePure Holistic Health Consultant or relevant health professional.