Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:09] Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of the Whole health Revolution. It's lovely to have you back with me. Now, over the years, I've had many clients come to me asking, what can they do for bloating? I get a lot of bloated clients coming to see me. They're often already limiting their foods, but to no avail. They've cut so many things out. And common things that I hear are, I can't eat broccoli or onions. When I eat fruit, I bloat. I can't eat bread or legumes or dairy, any vegetables.
[00:00:37] And some of those clients come to me so far down the track that all they can tolerate now are like a handful of foods. And this is what they eat every single day, severely limiting what they're eating.
[00:00:50] And the truth is that most people aren't bloated because of a particular food, because that food is bad. They're bloated because their gut is struggling to handle food. So instead of asking, what should I cut out when it comes to food, the more helpful question is, why is my body reacting this way right now? That's what we need to find out. So that's what I want to talk about today. If bloating is something that you deal with regularly, your body is giving you information. So let's look at that. And I hope that this week's episode is going to help you determine what's going on for you and also give you some starting points in working towards healing your gut and being able to eat a broad range of foods. A lovely, diverse diet.
[00:01:31] First up, let's talk about food for a moment. Because, yes, food can trigger bloating, but usually as a symptom and not the root cause. Some of the most common food triggers include onions and garlic, legumes and lentils, wheat and bread, dairy. Yes, you can be intolerant to dairy. That does happen and it can happen for many people later on in life.
[00:01:53] But also certain fruits like apples and pears and stone fruit, cruciferous vegetables, you know, all those good vegetables. I always say, yes, we need lots of. So we're looking at bright broccoli and cauliflower and cabbage, etc, and also ultra processed foods, particularly those that contain artificial sweeteners. And these foods are often blamed, but most of these are really nutritious, except for the processed food and artificial sweeteners, of course, but all the others are nutritious foods. So we really don't want to be missing out on those. And I've even heard nutritionists Say to leave certain foods out if they cause you bloating. Don't eat cauliflower if it cause you bloating, when in reality you're missing out on all those nutrients they provide and you're not focusing on why it's happening to you.
[00:02:35] So we really need to dig in, find out what's going on in your gut before you end up reacting to more and more foods and end up like my clients, that only can tolerate a few. Now, these foods often tend to cause bloating because they're fermentable. Maybe they're fibrous or they require a really good digestive capacity to break them down properly. So if your digestion is strong, these foods are usually tolerated quite well.
[00:03:00] But if it's compromised, then they can ferment too early in the gut, and that creates gas, which creates pressure and bloating.
[00:03:08] So why do we bloat with certain foods? Well, it comes down to several issues. It can be low stomach acid, maybe you've got sluggish digestive enzymes, imbalanced gut bacteria, inflammation in the gut lining, or maybe you've got leaky gut. Is your gut slow? You've got slow motility. So food is moving along the GI tract very slowly.
[00:03:30] And when food's not broken down properly in the stomach or the small intestines, which is where it should be broken down, it ends up being fermented by bacteria further down the gut. And that fermentation process causes gas. That gas creates pressure, and the pressure then creates bloating, which is a horrible feeling. It's not a nice way to live your life. I've been there myself many years ago, and every evening I knew I was going to be bloated, but it was also a particularly stressful time in my life as well.
[00:04:00] And this is why often bloating will happen after a meal later in the day, which it was for me, or even it can be the next morning. You can be fermenting those foods overnight. And it's also why I hear people say that they wake up flat, but by the nighttime they look six months pregnant. That's a digestive problem. It's not fat gain. And this is why simply cutting out more and more foods doesn't fix the problem long term. Yeah, it may reduce the symptoms temporarily, which is a good thing. It gives that gut a rest, but it doesn't restore gut gut function. But it's not always about the food. When I hear someone say that they can't find what their food triggers are, then we need to look at lifestyle, let's look at stress and hormones for example.
[00:04:43] So lifestyle stress is a huge one and it's often overlooked digestion only works properly when we're in a relaxed state. It's our rest and digest state. That's why it's called that. When we're stressed, rushing, if we're anxious, if we're eating on the run or constantly in that fight or flight mode, the body literally down regulates that digestion because we don't need it when we're in that fight or flight mode, we don't need it at that time. So it shuts it off. And what does that mean? That means less stomach acid. We need that to break down our food. It means fewer digestive enzymes and it's going to slow the gut movement as well.
[00:05:20] And you know, stress is involved. If you can eat the same foods on holiday and feel fine, but when you eat it at home or during a stressful week, you feel awful. You and I've seen this with clients. I've seen them when they go on holiday, all their gut issues go away. I remember having a nine year old client when I was at college actually in the student college, the student clinic. And poor thing, she was getting terrible pains, she was getting bloating. But it only happened during the school term because when they went away and usually on the long holidays over Christmas, they'd go out to Rarotonga or something like that and she was fine. So that was a huge cue that we needed to work on her nervous system, not necessarily the gut. She was eating the same food, but it was in a different nervous system state. So if you're bloated and under stress, it's not that you suddenly can't eat properly, it's just that your body is prioritizing survival over digestion. It's looking after you. And this is why part of healing. Bloating isn't just about food changes. It might be about slowing down, chewing your food thoroughly, taking a few slow, deep breaths before eating and supporting that nervous system. It's about eating lunch away from your DES desk. I've often prescribed that with my clients. Get away from your desk. Even if it's in your car, wherever you need to be, where you can sit and be mindful, and be mindful of what you're eating and slow down. It makes a huge difference. And then there are hormones. Now these play a big role as well in bloating, especially for women because estrogen and progesterone both influence our gut motility.
[00:06:57] Progesterone in particular can slow down digestion, which is why many women notice more bloating and constipation or discomfort in the second half of their cycle. It's very common. And around perimenopause, those fluctuating hormones that are going crazy can make the gut more sensitive and reactive as well. And I've heard that many times over, over the years, women coming to me saying, gosh, you know, I was able to eat anything, but all of a sudden when I've hit perimenopause, I've got intolerances or sensitivities to food.
[00:07:27] So if bloating seems to come and go across the month, it's often hormonal. So this is where asking these questions and really getting details on what's.
[00:07:36] When do you feel bloated, when does it happen, what's triggering it? This is where it's really important to get a really good case take.
[00:07:43] And this is another reason why a one size fits all food rule doesn't work, and why timing, stress, and hormone support matter just as much as what's on your plate.
[00:07:54] Now, let's look at a few common gut conditions that I've seen and very common in today's world. One of them is ibs, Irritable bowel syndrome.
[00:08:03] It's not really a diagnosis. It's really looking at a pattern of symptoms rather than a single diagnosis. It's if you're getting bloating, gas, pain, constipation or diarrhea, or maybe getting a mixture of the two, and the gut is more sensitive and reactive. And when it's not relieved after passing a bowel motion that can be labeled ibs.
[00:08:24] We can also see sibo, which is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. And this happens when the bacteria that should live in the lower gut in the large intestines moves up to the small intestines. And what happens is these bacteria start fermenting food too early. They're meant to ferment it in the large bowel, not the small bowel. And this creates gas and bloating very quickly after eating. So if you're eating foods, particularly what we say, you know, a healthy foods like your veggies, et cetera, and you're bloating, say 20 minutes after food, it could very well be Sibo.
[00:08:59] And then we've got leaky gut or gut hyperpermeability when the gut lining becomes inflamed or it becomes compromised. So your gut lining is like a tea bag.
[00:09:10] It has small little micro holes in it. So that all the good nutrients can come out of the gut and into the blood where they need to go. But what happens is, if those holes become too big, you start letting things into the bloodstream that don't belong there, such as larger proteins, and that can make you react very strongly to foods that normally wouldn't cause you an issue.
[00:09:30] This then comes with bloating and discomfort, fatigue. Sometimes it will impact your skin or your immune system as well, because most of our immune systems in our gut, so leaky gut, is a real big one.
[00:09:43] And it's very common as well, especially if there's stress in the picture. If you're on proton pump inhibitors, antacids, et cetera, they can often go hand in hand, as can SIBO with proton pump inhibitors as well.
[00:09:57] So with all of these or any of these, we need to support the gut and encourage that healing.
[00:10:02] And there's also another really important piece that often gets missed in the connection between bloating is constipation. Many people think that if they're going to the the toilet every day, they're passing a bowel motion every day. They're not constipated. But it's not always true. This is why when I question my clients, I always say, okay, yep, you're going to the toilet every day. What does that look like? Is it like a nice smooth sausage? Is it like little rabbit pellets? You know, that's constipation. Is it hard to pass? And you can still be constipated if your bowel movements are incomplete, if you're feeling like you're not fully eliminating, or as I say, if it's hard to pass that bowel motion, it's probably constipation.
[00:10:41] And when waste isn't moving through the gut efficiently, it sits there for longer than it should. And guess what? Yep, the bacteria start fermenting and that fermentation creates the gas and the pressure and that uncomfortable, bloated feeling. So sometimes bloating isn't about what you're eating, it's more about what's not moving through the gut. So supporting a regular, complete bowel movement is often key to reduce that bloating.
[00:11:06] So we're looking at things like increasing your fibre intake, making sure you're hydrated, maybe a bit of magnesium, because that relaxes the bowel.
[00:11:14] So let's look at how we can start alleviating bloating. The first step is really about awareness and not restriction. We don't want to cut out food straight away. The first step is to keep A food and symptoms diary. This can be really helpful and it's great for me if I can see a pattern that's happening.
[00:11:31] And on this diary, it doesn't have to be anything specific, it can just be a notebook. But what you need to note down is not just what you're eating, but when you eat. So the time of day that you're eating, how stressed you were when you ate, how quickly you ate, were you sitting down to that meal, were you just shoving it down on the run before dropping the kids at school, and when the symptoms start to show up after that meal. And this helps us see if there's a pattern instead of sort of second guessing what's going on. And next, then what we may do is reduce or eliminate those trigger foods. If you know that there are certain foods that are really aggravating your gut, we need to take them out, but not forever. All this is going to do, it's going to give your gut a bit of a rest, bit of respite, and then we can work on healing that gut and then we can start to bring those foods back in again one by one. So the goal is not to live on a restricted diet forever. I want all of my members to be able to eat as many foods as possible.
[00:12:26] Unless they've got a complete intolerance to foods, an allergy or what have you, we should be able to eat most things. So this is a good time to talk about FODMAPs. You've probably heard about FODMAPs. You know, lots of people go on the FODMAP diet, so what are they? So FODMAPs are fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. Bit of a mouthful, that's why it's called fodmaps. But what these are, there's certain types of carbohydrates that are more fermentable in the gut. And for people with IBS or SIBO especially, they can be significant. They can significantly worsen that bloating and gas and really cause a lot of discomfort. Some examples of these high fodmap foods are onions and garlic, so stone fruits, cruciferous vegetables, dried fruit, legumes, dairy, and yes, those artificial sweeteners. So by reducing these or eating a low fodmap diet for a period of time, this is going to give the gut some breathing space, it's going to help settle those symptoms. But we must be working on your gut and healing your gut in the Meantime, and the key point is a low fodmap diet is not forever. You shouldn't eat that way forever. It's a little interim diet.
[00:13:40] But I have seen clients that have been on a low fodmap diet for years. Years. Which, you know, I mean, I guess it's. They're still eating healthily, but they're still cutting out many food groups, which they don't need to be doing. And if we stay on that restrictive diet, long term we can end up negatively affecting the microbiome because our gut bugs love a good diverse range of foods. They all have different tastes. Like humans, we all like different things. And the different species of gut bugs like to eat different things in our diet. So this is why where diversity is really key.
[00:14:11] So the goal once again is always symptom relief first. Because hey, if you go to somebody for help, you want to get rid of those symptoms. So that's always the first thing. Let's relieve those symptoms while we're working on gut healing. And then we're gonna gradually reintroduce those foods. But the gut becomes more resilient and less fragile over time. That's what we're trying to aim for.
[00:14:34] Now when I talk about healing the gut, there are some lovely gut soothing nutrients that can help calm inflammation and support that gut lining. First one is glutam, a key fuel for cells of the gut lining and can help in that repair and the integrity of the gut. So if you've got leaky gut, glutamine is often a go to for me when it comes to that slippery elm. This coats and soothes the gut, especially when there's irritation. Maybe you've got reflux or sensitivity. Slippery elm is soothing. Marshmallow root is very calming, protective for the gut lining, especially when it comes to bloating and any burning sensations. Marshmallows, lovely. And I'm not talking about the marshmallows. The pink and white ones you get in a packet. This is the actual marshmallow root. And then we've got ginger, which is fantastic for bloating, especially when it's linked to sluggish digestion or delayed stomach emptying. So if your food's moving through the bowel too quickly, it can normalize that it helps to stimulate digestive juices, supports that motility, meaning the food's going to move through more efficiently instead of sitting there and fermenting. And ginger can be especially helpful when bloating comes with nausea.
[00:15:45] If you're feeling fullness. You know, some people get Full very quickly or you've got that heavy feeling after meals. Ginger is fantastic. Just be war, just take care if you do get reflux, it can make it worse, it can make it better. So it really is an individual thing.
[00:16:00] Another one is peppermint, well known for its ability to relax the smooth muscle of the digestive tract. And I know if ever I've got a bloated stomach, I'll often go and make myself a nice strong cup of peppermint tea and nice hot peppermint tea. And it generally would works.
[00:16:16] It helps reduce that gas, it helps reduce cramping and the pressure, particularly if you've got IBS type symptoms. It doesn't fix the underlying cause, but it's very effective for that symptomatic relief. Then we've got digestive enzymes. They can be really helpful when bloating is linked to poor breakdown of food. Now, if you've got food still in your stool, you're not breaking that food down. You shouldn't be able to see whole pieces of food unless you there are things like sesame seeds or sweet corn, they don't generally break down. And that's why when we eat them, we can actually use them as a test to see how fast food is going from your mouth out the other side.
[00:16:53] We can see how fast your transit time is, but generally you don't want to be seeing food in your stool. So these enzymes are going to support your digestion at the top end, so less is undigested and not going to create gas when it goes through the intestine.
[00:17:09] Bitters. Digestive bitters are a favorite of mine. They help to stimulate the stomach acid. They help to start creating that bile and get the digestive enzymes flowing. So they're particularly useful for people who feel bloated quickly after eating or they feel full after small meals. Bitters gently encourage the digestive process rather than forcing it. And you'll find things like bitten bitters such as dandelion root, burdock, milk thistle, lemon. Excellent. The liver loves bitter. And then, as I've said before, magnesium can be helpful for bloating, especially if it's linked to constipation or a slow bowel.
[00:17:48] It supports that regular, complete bowel motion and that in turn can often reduce the gas and the pressure that's building up. And another benefit of magnesium is it also has a calming effect on the nervous system. So if there's stress in the picture as well, magnesium can work really well.
[00:18:06] Now, I do see a lot of people actually come to me and say, you know, I've had gut issues and I took probiotics. It's not always the first port of calls, definitely not for me.
[00:18:15] They can be helpful for many people, but they're not always the first step, especially when bloating is present. If you've got something like Sibo, certain probiotics can actually worsen symptoms. And this is because you're adding more probiotics in and they're going to add to the fermentation.
[00:18:32] So choosing the right strain is really important. The timing usually matters rather than taking a generic probiotic and just hoping for the best, which is what many people do.
[00:18:42] So when I give a probiotics, it's usually a specific probiotic or a group of probiotics for that person and I introduce that at the right time. But all of these supplements only work best when they're combined with diet, stress management and consistency doing these things because as you know, if you tuned into any of my previous episodes, supplements are tools. They're there to supplement what you're already doing. They are not the magic bullet. So I don't like to to just rely heavily on those supplements. We must have those foundational things in place first. So looking at our food, looking at our lifestyle and our nervous system support, really important and well, that's me for tonight. There's a lot I've covered there in a short space of time. The gut is very complex, let's face it. But if there's one thing I want you to take away from tonight, it's this, is that bloating isn't a personal failure on your part. It's not a sign that you're broken. It's a message. So let's use that, that signal that it's giving us and let's try and get to the bottom of it. And when we listen to that message, instead of silencing it by cutting out everything, all the foods, we can actually start to heal the gut and expand those food choices again. If bloating is something that you're struggling with, you don't need to figure it out alone can be really difficult. With the right approach, most people can dramatically improve this and often enjoy those foods again that they thought they would never eat.
[00:20:05] So thank you for listening, have a great evening and I look forward to being back again with you next week.
[00:20:11] Hello and welcome. You're listening to a recording from inside the members hub of the whole health revolution. These episodes are taken from my live weekly coaching calls where members can join me in real time for honest conversations around health, nutrition, weight loss and sustainable lifestyle change. So inside the program, members get access to live coaching calls, a growing library of whole food recipes, workouts for at every level, a supportive community, meal plans and personalized coaching. From me, the whole health revolution is not about restriction, extremes or quick fixes. There's no fad diets here. It's about building long lasting healthy habits that support your body. Whether your goal is weight loss, managing chronic health condition, improving your nutrition, maybe you want to balance your hormones or simply start feeling better in yourself.
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[00:21:32] You'll also find these details in the show notes.
