Understanding Bloating: Why Healthy Eating Can Still Leave You Feeling Uncomfortable

Understanding bloating isn't always as simple as looking at what you're eating. You

might be making healthy choices, making the effort to cook from scratch or opting

for the salad bar at work? So why are you still feeling bloated after eating?

When eating well doesn't improve symptoms

I was chatting to a client about this recently, she said that she was trying so hard to

prioritise healthy foods but the bloating was just the same. She described how her day would go; after breakfast the bloating would start, after lunch the cramping would kick

in and by the afternoon, she felt so uncomfortable. By the evening her tummy would

be rock solid, like her tummy was just filled with gas.

It's easy to assume that food is the problem

So she started questioning everything that she had eaten! Was it the tomatoes in the salad? Could it be the chickpeas with her lunch? Too much chicken with dinner? Was

she intolerant to these foods? Did she need to cut them out`?

But often it is not the food that is the problem, it can be how you are digesting your

food. Your digestion relies on a number of processes working together, each doing

their job effectively and each reliant on each other.

This can include:

Stomach acid at the correct Ph to digest food

Low stomach acid

Pancreatic enzymes sufficiency to aid the digestion of carbohydrates and protein

Release of adequate bile to aid the digestion of fats and fat soluble vitamins

Eating in a parasympathetic state

Having a dysbiotic gut microbiome

When things aren't working as well as they could be, if you're taking medications such

as PPI's that can alter stomach acidity, eating too quickly, eating on the go, eating in a stressed state, these can all affect how you digest your food and consequently how

bloated you may feel after a meal.

When digestion feels off it can also start to affect:

Your energy levels, confidence in what you can actually eat, how you feel in your

clothes and it can even effect your focus throughout the day. Over time you can find yourself second guessing meals that should feel nourishing.

Questions to consider

Do you wake up bloated?

Do symptoms build as the day goes on?

How soon after food do you start to feel bloated?

Do you seem to bloat after all meals or just certain meals?

Understanding these patterns can give a really useful insight into how your digestion is working.

A supportive approach to digestion

This is where a personalised approach can make a real difference, because it's not just about eating well, it's about your stomach effectively digesting the food that you are

eating and sometimes, instead of removing foods from your diet, the focus needs to

shift to supporting your digestion and we are all different.

A simple and effective starting point can be to add bitter foods such as rocket leaves, watercress or chicory to the beginning of your meal, they act as a signal to your

digestive system that food is coming and to stimulate digestion in readiness.

Mindful eating is a well established strategy for helping to aid digestion, simply

thinking about the food you are about to eat, smelling the food and even cooking the

food can be a subtle signal that food is about to be received and to prepare the gut

for digestion.

Adequate chewing is an essential part to start the digestive process, we only have

teeth in our mouth and we need to chew each mouthful of food ideally 20-25 times,

until it feels like 'mush'.

Simple strategies such as these can be a great starting point.

If your gut feels worse, despite your best efforts, you're

certainly not alone

It doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong, sometimes your digestion just needs

some support and things can start to feel better.

If you'd like further to discuss this further, I do offer a free 20-minute discovery call,

click the link from the homepage