Hey ,

Bloating can be quite anoying. And there can be multiple reasons why bloating can occur. Here are some easy tips and a few more ‘exotic’ tips that you could try out.
• Food hygiene – Taking time for food, eating mindful, chewing… it seems so easy, but it is very easy to skip it as well. Often eating in a stressed state tells our body that our energy needs to be away from digestion, reduce the production of stomach acid and digestive enzymes. Reductions in all of these enzymes can contribute to bloating.
• Remove milk products for a while – Since a lot of people are lactose intolerant or sensitive to proteins in milk, removing dairy for a while could be something worth trying. I would recommend to leave milk products away for a couple of months, since with a milk sensitivity you need to ‘calm down’ the immune system. I will come back to that later. Here is a listwith products you might not have thought of that also contain dairy products
• Remove gluten containing products for a while – A sensitivity to gluten could also lead to gass and bloating and is a common reason for bloating. Again, the B Better library has a list that can help you with less obvious gluten sources, just click here. 
• Remove other food intolerances & sensitivities – Practically all foods can cause intolerances. Besides milk and wheat other common food intolerances are soy products, eggs, peanuts, yeast, corn, pineapple, oranges (or other citrus fruits), beans and even beef, pork and shellfish. Quite a list! If you try this approach I would advise to start removing the foods you consume the most first. Remove these foods 100% for 30 days and reintroduce them for a couple of days. I would advise you to do this one by one. If your bloating returns you have a much better understanding of what foods causes your bloating. 
• Try carminative herbs and teas – Ginger, fennel, anise, cinnamon, lemon balm and peppermint are all herbs that you could use in foods or teas to reduce bloating. 
• Helping digestive enzymes with supplements – Consider if supplementing with digestive enzymes creates some relief. A supplement that I recommend my clients is digestive enzymes ultra from Pure encapsulations. It is also available in fullscript, just click here.

The B Better library has a document right here with some other options you could try. But it is important to find the root cause, wether it is low stomach acid and digestive enzymes or something else like constipation, or dysbiosis. 

Dysbiosis
I know you already made a few steps in your health journey. I believed you were struggling with heavy metals like mercury right? Sometimes the gut microbiome (in particular Candida) tries to protect the body against mercury by ‘catching’ it away. An organic acid test from GPL can give you insight into overgowths in Candida and other bacterial/fungal overgrowth.

I also remembered you were struggling with mold issues, right? If you didn’t considered on OAT yet, perhaps this is something you could try. Here is a video which discusses the OAT and give you some other options to consider as well. We could help you with the interpretation of the results here.

I hope this provides you with some starting points! Let us know how things develop!

Hi  – in addition to Daniel’s post above, we have a handout for bloating in the Symptom Dictionary here with possible root cause reasons which are summarized below:
•  Hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid)
• Low digestive enzyme production or signaling (often secondary to hypochlorhydria) 
• Low bile production or flow (often secondary to hypochlorhydria) 
• Dysbiosis and overgrowths 
• Food sensitivities or intolerances (ex. dairy and lactose) 
• Estrogen dominance 
• Constipation 

From this list, which ones do you feel are at play in your case?

If you’re not sure if you have hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid), I would encourage you to watch this video for the signs of low stomach acid and try the baking soda challenge home-test.

If you suspect that’s at play, then watch this video on the causes of hypochlorhydria so you can begin to take action. The most common ones are stress (or lack of eating hygiene which Daniel already explained – and here’s a video), H Pylori overgrowth, low thyroid function and food sensitivities.

Let us know what resonates with you and let’s that baby pouch gone!

Hey ,

I’m so sorry for the overwhelm! There are just so many reasons why people can experience bloating!

Perhaps we can help you narrow it down. It would be helpful if you could answer some questions first.
• Do you continuously feel bloated?
• Does the bloating get worse after dinner? And if so, does the bloating start after 15 minutes? An hour? 2-3 hours? It doesn’t need to be exact.
• Put your hands on the place where you feel the bloating.  Tell me where did you put your hand?
• Does one of your parents is lactose intolerant or allergic to gluten?
• Do you need to go to the toilet for a number 2 at least 1 time a day?
• Besides feeling bloated, do you have other gut-related issues? Are you gassy? Do you experience diarrhea? 
• Do you experience acid reflux? Or do you have ulcers that you know of?
• Are experiencing anemic symptoms? (Are you feeling cold, or fatigued, do you have tingling sensations in the arms or legs, do you look pale? Are you short of breath?)
• Do you have other pains or symptoms?

Let us know and we will try to help you in smaller steps!

Hi  – as Daniel mentioned above, the more information you can share with us, the more targeted we can be with our recommendations since bloating can be caused by so many different factors.

And as I mentioned in my comment above, low stomach acid is often at play with bloating which is why I recommend you start there and do the at-home baking soda challenge. Do that and please report back.

If it’s low, the next step is to help you identify why there’s low stomach acid. This once again, opens up a whole new set of root cause factors and possible tests to consider so let’s do this 1 step at a time.

So step 1 – if eating hygiene is in order, and you’re already 100% dairy/gluten-free, I recommend you assess stomach acid with the baking soda challenge.

In terms of rapid relief while trying to figure out the root cause, Daniel suggested a few options in his first reply. I like QuickSilver Dr. Shade’s Bitters No. 9, or Gaia Herbs Sweetish Bitters. Urban Moonshine and Dr. Mercola also have digestive bitters you can look into. These liquid bitter drops are taken 10-15 mins before a meal, and help break down food better which often results in less bloating. It’s a band-aid, but can help in the meantime while you work to figure out the cause of your bloating.

Hope this is a little more clear for you.

Hey ,

The first thing I recommend you do is to take a look at this handout about how to eliminate dairy. There could be some hidden dairy sources you are not aware of.

Lactose intolerance and milk allergy are not the same, but there is some overlap in symptoms. Avoiding lactose alone might not do the trick if you are also experiencing a milk allergy, so it is important to cut out dairy 100% if you would like to find out if dairy is the problem.

Immediately after eating your food ends in the stomach. When digestion doesn’t go well in the stomach, this can lead to bloating. The second thing you could do is follow  excellent tip on how to test if you experience low stomach acid.

In this handout you will find the backing soda test which only requires you to have baking soda and time. The backing soda test isn’t a diagnosis, but it can give you a strong indication if your stomach produces acid. I would perform the test a few times since stomach acid production also depends on factors like stress and hurried eating.

Focus on these 2 things first, let us know how the test went and if you experience any difference in bloating.

I hope this helps you on where to start!

Hey ! Lactose/dairy is off the checklist

Perhaps in the meantime, since this is off the checklist, you can provide me with an idea of your current diet. What are you having for breakfast, lunch and dinner? What types of fats and carb sources do you choose? What are the top 8 foods you consume the most? And what are the moments where you feel you struggle?

Hey ,

I was just wondering if you already tried the baking soda test!

Corn is one of the more common food sensitivities and yes, that can cause bloating.

Often we can develop food sensitivities to the foods we eat the most. The list of foods you mentioned could therefore be something you could try to replace for a few weeks. See if the bloating gets reduced.

Are you craving chips because you crave salty foods? If so, this can be an indication to stress. With depressed cortisol, we tend to loose sodium leaving us with cravings to salty snacks. And unfortunately, chips can cause bloating for a variety of reasons. But if it is the salt you need, you could try sole!

 I order my supplements through Fullscript (B Better’s supplement dispensary in the resources section), and use a mail forwarding company like Shop&Ship or Boxit4Me to redirect it to Dubai.