What Your Bloating Can Tell You About Your Gut Health + 6 Ways To Find Relief

Your gastrointestinal (GI) tract doesn't have words to tell you that it is overtaxed, unbalanced, or inflamed, so it sends you symptoms like bloating, belching, and gas instead. When you can read these symptoms as signals, you gain the opportunity to truly nourish and support your unique body without judgment. 

As a holistic health coach, I often work with clients who see bloating as a sign of failure, as if it makes them "broken."

Your gut microbiome is the collection of microbes, bacteria, and fungi hanging out in your GI tract. These billions of strains of bacteria are responsible for absorbing nutrients from your food and breaking it down. Contrary to what your mother may have told you, you are not what you eat; you are what your gut microbiome can absorb.

The good news is that the composition of your gut can change within just 24 hours 6when we change our food quality and stress levels. Here are some strategies to help you do so: 

Raw vegetables, though incredible sources of vitamins and minerals, can be difficult to digest in large amounts. (Specifically looking at you, cruciferous vegetable family.) If you notice that raw foods are contributing to your bloat, try shifting a few meals over from raw to cooked, steamed, puréed, or boiled veggies, and see if it leads to easier digestion.

Probiotic supplements and foods high in probiotics like kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, sourdough bread, and fermented veggies can be helpful to rebalance the bacteria in your gut. Increasing food sources of probiotics is known to decrease and even eradicate bloating but is also linked to stronger immune function, decreased cholesterol levels, improvements in allergies, lower rates of depression, and healthier skin. (If you're looking for a probiotic and don't know where to start, check out our guide.)

Ayurvedic wisdom teaches the mindfulness practice of chewing your food 30 times before swallowing. For reference, the average American chews each bite four to seven times! If this feels like a stretch for you, simply chewing your food from solid to liquid can do the trick. 

It takes about 20 to 30 minutes for the hormones in your stomach to signal to your brain that you are full. If the pace of your day requires your lunch to take five minutes, it is likely that you will feel overfull or bloated no matter what you ate. Challenge the pace of your meals by decreasing distractions, slowing down, chewing enough, and listening to your body's hunger and fullness signals.

Studies on peppermint show 10a 50 to 70% decrease in abdominal pain and digestive discomfort when subjects consumed peppermint oil or tea daily. Ginger is known to decrease inflammation and stimulate the digestive tract11 while easing nausea and bloating. Turmeric, nature's most potent spice for promoting healthy inflammatory actions, can decrease pain and bloating12 and even improve mental health markers like depression and anxiety13. 

If you are routinely eating highly processed foods that cause inflammation, bloat may feel pretty inevitable. High amounts of fast food, fried foods, alcohol, refined sugar, and packaged snack foods can contribute to bloat by forcing your gut into overdrive. For some, identifying individual food sensitivities like gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, etc., may be necessary for a short time.

Remember: Bloating is not a blemish. It provides helpful feedback from our bodies and tells us that something is unbalanced with the bacteria in our gut, the food on our plate, or the state of our nervous system. If you struggle with bloat, instead of focusing on cutting out foods, prioritize adding nourishing foods like pre- and probiotics, fiber-rich foods, bone broths, and healing habits like mindful eating, deep breathing, and chewing your food from solid to liquid. Nourishment heals better than restriction.