What To Eat When Stomach Is Gassy

Best: Peppermint And Chamomile Tea

If you’re feeling puffy after dinner, you can sip on a hot cup of peppermint or chamomile tea. Both kinds relax GI muscles to help dissipate the gas that causes your stomach to bloat. Aside from improving digestion, chamomile can also soothe and relax, which can help ease any sort of stomach discomfort.

Joy Bauer Shares Tips To Beat The Bloat This Summer

Similar to bloating is water retention. This lovely feeling is usually caused by consuming too much salt . High levels of sodium cause your body to hold on to extra unwanted fluid. Not only can bloating and water retention be uncomfortable and less than attractive, it can be downright painful. Here is a guideline to beat the bloat.

How To Reduce Gas In Stomach

If you find that you regularly suffer from gas, its important to examine what youre eating.

However, there can be other causes, such as gastrointestinal infection, dysbiosis and even psychological influences such as stress. In other cases, it may simply be that you havent been active enough for the gas to move through your body as it normally would. This can occur with long-distance travel or sitting at a desk all day.

Fortunately, there are lots of ways to reduce that gas naturally.

Herere 7 home remedies to help you get rid of gas in stomach:

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Lifestyle Changes To Reduce Gas

Some lifestyle adjustments can help reduce gas, gas pains, and bloating.

• Eat smaller portions Many healthy foods can also cause gas. Eating smaller portions may help reduce excess gas.
• Chew completely and slow down If you eat too fast, it could cause gas. Tip: put down your fork between each bite.
• Avoid
• chewing gum
• sucking on hard candies

How Is Intestinal Gas Managed Or Treated

• Alpha-galactosidase , an enzyme to break down hard-to-digest foods.
• Bismuth subsalicylate for adults with upset stomach and diarrhea.
• Lactase enzymes for lactose intolerance .
• Probiotics to get rid of bad gut bacteria.
• Simethicone to reduce intestinal gas buildup that causes bloating.

Prescription medications may help if you have a motility problem like IBS. Antibiotics can treat bacterial overgrowth in the intestines that cause excess gas and bloating.

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You’re So Gassy At Night Thanks To Your Diet

Of course, the foods you’re putting into your body at night and throughout the day also play a major role in why you’re so gassy all of a sudden. There are tons of foods that can make your gas worse, especially foods high in fiber. There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. While the insoluble kind stays close to its original form throughout digestion, it’s the soluble kind that’s more fermentable, and thus more likely to cause gas.

“Sources of soluble fiber include beans, lentils, and legumes, as well as fruits especially apples and blueberries, and grains such as oats and barley,” says Mills. And include whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, nuts, and vegetables like cauliflower, green beans, and potatoes.

“Since the human body does not break down fiber, we rely on the bacteria in our gut to do the job. The amount of gas produced from fermentation will depend on how developed a colony of bacteria is, based on how often we eat fibery foods to feed them,” says Mills. So the more often you’re eating those foods high in fiber, the healthier your gut microbiome is and the easier it will be able to digest.

You can also improve the bacteria in your gut by eating more probiotics regularly. Probiotics promote regularity in the gut when it comes to digestion and should leave you feeling less gassy, says Dr. Lee.

Diagnosing Gas Gas Pains And Bloating

Even though gas and bloating are common, a medical evaluation may sometimes be necessary. If you experience blood in the stool, diarrhea, fevers, anemia, or weight loss, you should talk to a doctor.

Medical History & Physical Exam

First, your doctor will review your medical history and ask questions about your symptoms and dietary habits.

The doctor may also examine your abdomen for tenderness or anything that feels abnormal. A stethoscope may be used to help the doctor determine how well the digestive tract is working.

The results of these preliminary tests will help determine the next level of diagnosis if necessary.

Additional Tests for Gas, Gas Pains, and Bloating

• Breath tests Breath tests can help determine problems of malabsorption or intestinal bacteria overgrowth.
• Colonoscopy In patients 50 or older, or who have a family history of colorectal cancer, the possibility of colon cancer may be considered.
• Imaging If chronic belching is a problem, x-rays may be used to inspect the small intestine, stomach, and esophagus. This is known as an upper GI series

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Natural And Other Remedies For Gas

Two products on the market can help with food-related gas and bloating. Both products are packaged forms of the enzymes needed to break down the problematic carbohydrates. Lactase, found in products such as Dairy Ease and Lactaid, can be taken with dairy foods to help break down lactose and lessen gas. Beano helps digest the indigestible carbohydrate in beans and other gas-producing vegetables.

Natural remedies for gas include:

• Peppermint tea

Lean Meats Eggs And Fish

Because meats, eggs and fish are naturally devoid of carbohydrates, your body does not produce gas during digestion. To avoid gas-related symptoms, such as heartburn and bloating, avoid fatty meats, such as steak and bacon, and use low-fat cooking methods, such as baking, broiling and poaching. Fatty foods delay stomach emptying, according to the Mayo Clinic, which makes you feel stuffed and uncomfortable. Lean meats, fish and eggs also provide protein-rich alternatives to dairy products, which cause gassiness if you’re intolerant to lactose — a naturally occurring sugar in cow’s milk.

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Small Intestinal Bowel Overgrowth

Symptoms

• Diarrhea
• Abdominal pain

Small intestinal bowel overgrowth is when theres an abnormal increase in the bacteria that live in your small intestine, such as E. coli or Klebsiella.

Several things can lead to SIBO. Surgery of the intestines that changes your anatomy can cause it. Decreased motility of the small intestine caused by IBS, diabetes, or opioid drugs can also cause SIBO. And people who have a weakened immune system have a higher risk of SIBO.

SIBO can interfere with your bodys ability to absorb nutrients from your food, which can lead to vitamin deficiencies.

SIBO can be diagnosed using a non-invasive carbohydrate breath test. Your doctor may also recommend an endoscopy and colonoscopy to rule out other diseases.

Treatment may include dietary changes, nutritional supplements, and antibiotics to control bacterial overgrowth.

How Certain Foods Can Relieve Bloating

Whats fueling all of this bloating? Most likely, its linked to internal gas thats building up in your innards due to constipation. Everything is at a standstill, says Czerwony. Poop is just sitting there, fermenting, and making its presence known.

Moving things along can be accomplished by adjusting what you eat and drink. The two big keys? Make sure your plate includes fiber-rich foods and that youre consuming enough water.

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More Benefits Of Soluble Fiber

Soluble fiber can help lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and regulate blood sugar in diabetes.

It’s also possible to add too much fiber to your diet too quickly, which can be hard on the system. So go slow and make sure you’re choosing the right type. Foods high in non-fermentable soluble fiber include:

• Vegetables: Carrot, eggplant, green beans, okra, potato , summer squash, sweet potato, zucchini
• Fruit: Banana, blueberries, kiwi, orange, raspberry, strawberry
• Protein: Peanuts, sunflower seeds, walnuts
• Grains: Oatmeal

Dietary soluble fiber is considered better than fiber supplements, but if you do take a fiber supplement, choose psyllium fiber.

Health Conditions That Can Cause Gas

Certain health conditions may cause a person to produce more gas or experience gas pain. Examples

typically involve belching, flatulence, and bloating. These symptoms are common, especially during or after a meal.

Gas symptoms do not usually cause distress. However, excessive intestinal gas that is unable to escape may cause a person to experience an intense sharp stabbing pain or a general feeling of abdominal discomfort.

When gas accumulates in the intestines, people may mistake the pain for a different condition. For example, gas that collects on the left side of the colon may present as chest pain, whereas gas that collects on the right side of the colon may feel similar to gallbladder pain.

In some cases, people may also experience additional symptoms such as constipation and diarrhea.

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Foods To Enjoy That Get Rid Of Bloating And Gas

If youre wondering how to get rid of gas and bloating, heres the first thing you need to know: bloating and gas are often caused by the foods you eat. For many people, simple dietary changes that incorporate foods that prevent gas are enough to reduce or even get rid of their uncomfortable digestive issues. Eliminating fermentable carbs such as wheat, dairy, and fructose can go a long way to reduce your digestive issues, however, simply eliminating foods from your diet might not be enough. So, what do you eat when you have gas? For extra support banishing bloating and gas, try incorporating some of these foods.

What Is The Cause Of Your Excessive Gassy Stomach

These feelings of discomfort from an excessively gassy stomach are completely normal, and can be caused by different things such as foods or eating habits. Although a buildup of gas is rarely a medical concern, some gas buildup may be caused by an underlying health condition. Lets break down what can cause gas to build up in your stomach.

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Your Body Is Going Through The Natural Digestion Process

First, you should understand how your body’s digestive system works to break down and use food. “The healthy bacteria that live along your intestinal tract create gas all day and throughout the night, even during your sleep,” says Christine Lee, M.D., a gastroenterologist at the Cleveland Clinic. Unsurprisingly, the largest volumes of gas are produced after meals. So if dinner is your largest meal of your day, it could also be the reason you’re so gassy at night.

But even if you eat a super-light dinner, there’s another reason why you’re so gassy. “At night, the bacteria in the gut has had all day to ferment what you’ve eaten,” says Libby Mills, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. From ingestion to gas formation, the digestion process may take approximately six hours in a normal gut. Thus, you’re likely to experience more gas later in the day because your lunch is finishing being digested.

So, it’s not that you’re so gassy all of a sudden. “It has more to do with the accumulation of gas rather than the actual rate of gas production,” says Dr. Lee.

Does The Smell Mean Anything

The smell is a result of the gasses made in your small intestine and colon during digestion. This mainly depends on the food you eat.

Some food items may cause your gas to smell worse than others. For example, animal proteins, like eggs and meat, can cause foul-smelling gas. Soluble fiber, like that found in fruits and vegetables, can cause gas too, but it wont smell as bad.

A foul smell doesnt mean anything by itself, but it can be quite embarrassing when it happens around other people.

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Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is an increase in the number of bacteria or a change in the type of bacteria in your small intestine. These bacteria can produce extra gas and may also cause diarrhea and weight loss. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is most often a complication of other health conditions.

How Can I Prevent Stomach Bloating

If your stomach bloating is caused by diet or alcohol, you can help prevent it by making some lifestyle changes. Some good general guidelines include:

If the cause of your bloated stomach is something more specific, such as specific food intolerance, perimenopause or a medical condition, you might need a little help with diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Some options include:

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What To Do If Everything I Eat Gives Me Gas

If you have issues with gas after eating, here are a few tips to help keep things calmer:

1. Increase Fluid Intake

Prior to meals, drink extra fluids. Try not to drink during your meal, because this dilutes the acids in your stomach and keeps food from breaking down properly. If you need to drink during a meal, take small sips only.

2. Avoid Swallowing Air

If you eat too fast, you will take in too much air and this will cause excess gas. Eat slowly and take your time. This will prevent too much air in your digestive system.

Try to stay away from things that cause you to swallow air prior to meals. Dont smoke, drink from straws, or chew gum at least 30 minutes before eating. Some of the gas you experience may actually begin to build up before you eat.

3. Use Digestive Enzymes

Take a digestive enzyme that helps break down gas bubbles in your stomach. You can use the ones designed for eating beans, or a natural supplement containing papaya. Take them at least 30 minutes prior to eating. You may need at least one tablet per one-cup of food that you plan on eating.

4. Activated Charcoal

Activated charcoal has been known to help relieve gas. Medical grade activated charcoal is safe for humans to take and completely different than the type you use for cooking. Just use caution, activated charcoal can cause constipation in some people.

5. Stay Away from Sorbitol

Tips To Avoid Bloating

Its not just what you eat that can cause bloating. How you eat and how much you eat also plays a role. To keep your belly from feeling swollen, Czerwony offers this advice:

• Chew more. Smaller bits of food are easier to digest than large chunks, making it less likely that dinner will hang around too long in your gut.
• Stay hydrated. Drinking more fluids helps keep things moving along in your GI tract. Think of it like adding water to a Slip N Slide®.
• Dont go back for seconds. Eating too much overloads your digestive system. Just think of how you sometimes feel after Thanksgiving dinner, advises Czerwony.
• Be mindful of dietary changes. Your body adjusts to what you eat to a certain extent. But if suddenly start eating different foods, your digestive system may struggle to handle the change.

If youve already made some choices that left you bloated, dont worry: The feeling will pass. It might be a good idea to go for a walk, though, recommends Czerwony. If you start moving, that food will start moving, too.

You also might want to consider changing your shopping list to include some of these foods that can help reduce bloating.

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What Are The Best Over

There are a plethora of over-the-counter products you can choose to relieve excessive gas buildup in your stomach.

• Phazyme® or Gas-X® helps break up gas bubbles in the stomach and can be combined with antacids such as Mylanta II®, or Maalox®. These medicines come in different strengths of 125 mg, 180 mg, and 250 mg.
• Some studies have shown activated charcoal tablets as an option, but it is unclear if there is a true correlation to gas reduction. Speak to a healthcare provider to determine if activated charcoal is the best option for you.
• Lactaid® or lactose intolerant products can aid in lactose digestion for those with a lactose intolerance. This can help reduce gas buildup from dairy products.
• If you are experiencing excess farting, Pepto-Bismol® can reduce the odor of the farts, and may reduce some gas. However, if you have an aspirin allergy, this treatment option should not be used.
• Beano® is a digestive aid that can help break up the sugar in beans and vegetables that can cause excessive gas. Therefore, if you know the gas is not due to beans or vegetables, this treatment option may not be the best for you.
• Your stomach has good and bad bacteria. The bad bacteria may contribute to excessive gas, therefore, a probiotic either in supplement or yogurt form may be helpful to restore the normal flora.

Eat Slowly So You Dont Gulp Air

When you finally get home after a long day, youre totally famishedwe get it. But that doesnt mean you should scarf down your dinner in a hurry. Eating too quickly causes you to swallow excess air, which can lead to uncomfortable gas and bloating. Slowing down the chewing with your mouth closed, on the other hand, can have the opposite effect. Fight off the urge to engorge your entire meal by snacking on something like a small piece of fruit or an ounce of nuts before dinner is ready.

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