Health
Here’s why you’re bloated — and what to do about the common digestive condition
Most people experience periods of bloating, which involves a tight, full feeling in the stomach that’s often combined with gas.
Although it’s very common and generally not serious, the condition can cause extensive discomfort.
Fox News Digital spoke with two gastroenterologists for more information about how to manage or prevent bloating symptoms so you can better digest the situation next time it happens to you.
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Here are details.
What exactly is bloating?
Tightness in the gut and feeling overly full are usually the first signs of bloating.
“Bloating refers to a person’s sensation of abdominal fullness,” said Leila Kia, M.D., an associate professor of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and a spokesperson for the American Gastroenterological Association.
Tightness in the gut and feeling overly full are usually the first signs of bloating. (iStock)
“This sometimes occurs when excess air is trapped in the digestive tract, causing discomfort — though more commonly, it is due to increased awareness of normal amounts of gas,” she told Fox News Digital.
What causes bloating?
There are many different causes of bloating, including these common triggers.
Gas-producing foods
Certain foods, such as beans, lentils, cruciferous vegetables and carbonated beverages, can produce gas during digestion.
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This happens either by the fermentation of gut bacteria or by fluid being drawn into the digestive tract, said Kyle Staller, M.D., director of the GI motility laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the Boston metro area.
Lactose intolerance
Individuals diagnosed with lactose intolerance often experience bloating, gas and diarrhea after consuming dairy products, said Staller, who is also a spokesperson for the American Gastroenterological Association.
“Lactase supplements can help break down lactose, reducing these symptoms,” he said.
Certain medical conditions, such as celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease, can lead to secondary lactose intolerance.
Menstrual cycles
During women’s menstrual cycles, hormone levels — particularly estrogen and progesterone — fluctuate to regulate the process, Staller said.
During women’s menstrual cycles, hormone levels — particularly estrogen and progesterone — fluctuate to regulate the process, a GI doctor said. (iStock)
“In the days leading up to menstruation, the body retains more water, and this can contribute to bloating,” the doctor said.
Overeating or sluggish bowel movements
When someone overeats, the digestive system is tasked with handling a larger amount of food than it’s accustomed to processing.
“Imagine your digestive system as a team of workers in a factory — they are responsible for breaking down the food you eat into smaller particles, absorbing nutrients and eliminating waste,” Staller said.
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“When you eat more than your body needs, it’s like sending an overwhelming amount of work to the digestive team,” he went on.
“As a result of this excess workload, the digestive process may slow down because there’s so much food to break down, which can lead to a backlog in the digestive system.”
“When you eat more than your body needs, it’s like sending an overwhelming amount of work to the digestive team.”
As the digestive system works harder to break down the surplus food, more gas is produced as a natural byproduct.
This excess gas can accumulate in the stomach and intestines, the doctor said.
An enlarged stomach can also put pressure on neighboring organs and structures, leading to a feeling of fullness and bloating. Constipation can also happen as a result, according to the expert.
How to reduce bloating
Lifestyle changes can help to prevent bloating from happening in the first place.
Diet modification can be effective, Staller said. He recommended identifying and limiting the foods that tend to cause gas and bloating.
As mentioned earlier, some common culprits include beans, certain vegetables, carbonated drinks and artificial sweeteners.
An enlarged stomach can also put pressure on neighboring organs and structures, leading to a feeling of fullness and bloating. (iStock)
Eating smaller, more frequent meals — and chewing food thoroughly, to reduce the amount of swallowed air — can also be helpful, according to the doctor.
Staller also recommended drinking plenty of water to help maintain regular bowel movements and prevent constipation, which can contribute to bloating.
Regular exercise can also promote healthy digestion and help alleviate bloating.
Treatments for bloating
Some over-the-counter remedies may help alleviate symptoms.
Anti-gas medications may provide relief by breaking down gas bubbles in the digestive tract, although evidence of their effectiveness is rather limited, noted Staller.
If an underlying medical condition, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is causing bloating, a health care professional may prescribe medications to manage symptoms.
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Fiber supplements may also be helpful, although Staller noted that “not all fiber is created equal.”
He said, “I generally recommend soluble fiber as the best for IBS, which is one of the more common causes of bloating. Soluble fiber — found in foods like oats, beans and fruits — can be beneficial for bloating.”
Over-the-counter anti-gas medications may provide relief by breaking down gas bubbles in the digestive tract, although evidence of their effectiveness is rather limited, a doctor said. (iStock)
Although fiber can help bloating, it can also cause the condition, the doctor warned.
It’s advisable to introduce fiber supplements gradually to allow the digestive system to adjust.
“Starting with a low dose and increasing it over time can help minimize potential side effects like gas and bloating,” said Staller.
What if lifestyle changes don’t help?
Although bloating is common and typically harmless, Kia from Northwestern cautioned that if symptoms don’t improve with dietary and lifestyle changes, or if there are other associated symptoms, it’s important to consult a physician.
“If a person has persistent bloating that does not improve with lifestyle or diet interventions, one may want to consider other causes,” Kia told Fox News Digital.
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“Bloating can be due to digestive disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, or inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease),” she said.
“It can also be seen in chronic constipation, intestinal blockage, bacterial overgrowth or cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.”
Diet modification can be effective in preventing bloating, a GI doctor said. (iStock)
These conditions require specific treatments aimed at treating the underlying problem, the doctor said.
“Bloating typically improves when the underlying cause is addressed.”
It’s also important to consult a physician if bloating persists or is associated with pain, bloody stools or weight loss, she emphasized.
“Your doctor may want to order tests to determine the cause,” Kia said. “Some of these tests may include scans of the abdomen, a colonoscopy, an upper endoscopy, or blood and stool tests.”
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Eating too much salt has long been linked to high blood pressure, but new research suggests it could trick the immune system into prematurely aging the blood vessels.
A preclinical study recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association has identified a biological chain reaction that links a salty diet to cardiovascular decay.
Scientists at the University of South Alabama observed that mice on a high-salt diet experienced rapid deterioration in their blood vessel function.
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After just four weeks of high sodium intake, the small arteries responsible for regulating blood flow lost their ability to relax, according to a press release.
The team found that the cells lining these vessels had entered a state of cellular senescence, a form of premature cellular aging in which cells stop dividing and release a mix of inflammatory signals that can damage surrounding tissue.
Excess salt has long been linked to high blood pressure, but a new study goes deeper into its effects on the cardiovascular system. (iStock)
The researchers tried to replicate this damage by exposing blood vessel cells directly to salt in a laboratory dish, but the cells showed no harmful effects.
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This suggests that salt isn’t directly causing damage to the vascular lining but that the real culprit may be the body’s own defense mechanism, the researchers noted.
Excess salt may trigger the immune system to release a molecule called interleukin-16 (IL-16), which acts as a messenger that instructs blood vessel cells to grow old before their time, according to the study.
Excess salt may trigger the immune system to release a molecule called interleukin-16, which acts as a messenger that instructs blood vessel cells to grow old before their time, according to the study. (iStock)
Once these cells age, they fail to produce nitric oxide, the essential gas that tells arteries to dilate and stay flexible.
To test whether this process could be reversed, the team turned to a class of experimental drugs known as senolytics.
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Using a cancer medication called navitoclax, which selectively clears out aged and dysfunctional cells, the researchers were able to restore nearly normal blood vessel function in the salt-fed mice, the release stated.
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By removing the decaying cells created by the high-salt diet, the drug allowed the remaining healthy tissue to maintain its elasticity and respond correctly to blood flow demands.
Excess salt may trigger the immune system into stopping the cells from dividing, the study suggests. (iStock)
The study did have some limitations. The transition from mouse models to human treatment remains a significant hurdle, the team cautioned.
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Senolytic drugs like navitoclax are still being studied for safety, and the team emphasized that previous trials have shown mixed results regarding their impact on artery plaque.
Additionally, the researchers have not yet confirmed whether the same IL-16 pathway is the primary driver of vascular aging in humans.
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Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables was found to have a surprising link to lung cancer among younger non-smokers, early research suggests.
The observational study, led by Jorge Nieva, M.D., of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at Keck Medicine, was presented this month at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in San Diego. It has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Researchers looked at dietary, smoking and demographic data for 187 patients who were diagnosed with lung cancer at age 50 or younger.
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They found that among non-smokers, there was a link between healthier-than-average diets – rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains – and the chance of lung cancer development.
Young lung cancer patients ate more servings of dark green vegetables, legumes and whole grains compared to the average U.S. adult, the researchers found.
Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables was found to have a surprising link to lung cancer among younger non-smokers, early research suggests. (iStock)
The researchers hypothesized that pesticides applied to conventionally grown produce could be a possible factor in the disease association.
“Commercially produced (non-organic) fruits, vegetables and whole grains are more likely to be associated with a higher residue of pesticides than dairy, meat and many processed foods,” according to Nieva. He also noted that agricultural workers exposed to pesticides tend to have higher rates of lung cancer.
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“There is a large subset of lung cancer patients whose disease is not caused by smoking,” Nieva told Fox News Digital.
The disease is becoming more common in non-smokers 50 and younger, especially women – despite the fact that smoking rates have been falling for decades, the researcher noted.
The researchers hypothesized that pesticides applied to conventionally grown produce could be a possible factor in the disease association. (iStock)
“These patients tend to have eaten much healthier diets before their diagnosis than the average American,” he went on. “We need to support research into understanding why Americans – and women in particular – who no longer smoke very much are still having lung cancer,” he said.
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The study did have some limitations, Nieva acknowledged, primarily that it relied on survey data and was limited by the participants’ memories of their food intake.
“Also, the survey participants were self-selected, and this could have biased the findings,” he told Fox News Digital.
“There is a large subset of lung cancer patients whose disease is not caused by smoking.”
The researchers did not test specific foods for pesticides, relying instead on average pesticide levels for certain types of food. Looking ahead, they plan to test patients’ blood and urine samples to directly measure pesticide levels, Nieva said.
Although the study shows only an association and does not prove that pesticides caused lung cancer, Nieva recommends that people wash their produce before eating and choose organic foods whenever possible.
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“This work represents a critical step toward identifying modifiable environmental factors that may contribute to lung cancer in young adults,” said Nieva. “Our hope is that these insights can guide both public health recommendations and future investigation into lung cancer prevention.”
“It is possible that the increased lung cancer risk could be due to pesticide exposure in whole farmed foods, but is by no means certain,” a doctor said. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, said the study is “interesting,” but that it “raises far more questions than it answers.”
“It is a small study (around 150) and observational, so no proof,” the doctor, who was not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital.
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“It is possible that the increased lung cancer risk could be due to pesticide exposure in whole farmed foods, but it is by no means certain,” Siegel went on. “How much exposure is needed? How much of it gets into food and in which areas? This requires much further study.”
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Kayla Nichols, communications director for Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network, a distributed global network, said the organization agrees with the study’s conclusion that more research should be done on the rise in lung cancer, particularly in individuals eating diets higher in produce and fiber.
“There is a large subset of lung cancer patients whose disease is not caused by smoking,” the researcher told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“There is a bounty of existing research that already links pesticide exposure to increased risk of multiple types of cancers,” Nichols, who was also not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. She called for more research on chronic, low-level exposures to pesticides, as well as more effective policies to protect the public from pesticide residues on food.
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The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, as well as industry partners including AstraZeneca and Genentech, among others.
Fox News Digital reached out to several pesticide companies and trade groups for comment.
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