Other reasons for a full tummy!

Waistband suddenly feeling tight? It might not just be that you’ve eaten too much. You could be suffering from stomach bloat, which can be triggered by anything from fluctuating hormones to eating reheated pasta.

Often, bloating is caused by irritable bowel syndrome, a condition that affects a staggering one in seven people (caused by an oversensitive gut).

While most people’s stomachs may swell just a couple of inches, others can actually double in girth in just one day, only to ‘deflate’ overnight until the next attack.

So what can you do about it?

RE-HEATING FOOD

For some people, they only get tummy trouble or bloating when they eat pasta, rice or potatoes in a restaurant. This is often because these foods have been re-heated.

It seems re-heating starchy food changes its molecular structure, turning it into ‘resistant starch’. This cannot be digested in the small intestine but passes into the large intestine — the bacteria that helps break it down produces gas, hence the bloating.

Processed foods such as ready meals and part-baked breads such as baguettes also tend to have more resistant starch.

FLUCTUATING HORMONES

Hormonal fluctuations during a woman’s monthly cycle are a common trigger for bloating. But while many women might put it down to ‘fluid retention’, the cause is actually relaxed muscles. During ovulation, the ovaries produce more progesterone and it causes muscles in the abdomen to relax. The muscles in the bowel also relax, meaning they are less efficient at moving food along the gut. This can cause constipation, triggering further bloating. It’s possible to overcome this by eating more fibre.

CHEWING GUM

When you chew gum you swallow more air, which increases the risk of bloating. Sugar-free versions are worse as they contain ingredients which are fermented by bacteria in the gut and may also cause bloating — double trouble.

Eating quickly can also trigger bloating or make it worse. As we eat we swallow roughly the same amount of air as we do food.

A HEALTHY DIET

Anything “healthy” is often a cause of bloating. High-fibre foods, such as cereals, beans and pulses cause bloating by fermenting in the gut. Healthy snacks are another problem. Many people spend all day snacking on large amounts of fresh fruit, nuts and seeds — all of which ferment in the bowel and cause problems in both healthy people and those with irritable bowel syndrome.

Dieting can also cause bloating if you stick to a high-protein diet such as the Atkins or Dukan. People wonder why they are bloated and constipated, yet they are on a high-protein diet so getting very little fibre, which is what we need to go to the loo regularly.

ANTIBIOTICS

A lack of ‘good’ bacteria in the gut can lead to bloating. Good bacteria helps to stimulate the digestive process and keep the gut cells healthy. But taking antibiotics, or suffering from food poisoning, can disrupt the delicate balance of bacteria, causing bad bacteria to proliferate. It’s thought that probiotics can help restore the balance of good bacteria again.

STRESS

Stress is one of the biggest triggers for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

UNDIAGNOSED COELIAC DISEASE

Coeliac disease, which is an allergy to gluten, can cause uncomfortable bloating, although it’s not clear why. Whereas irritable bowel syndrome is basically a plumbing problem, allergies are caused by a problem with the immune system. The problem is the symptoms can be very similar to irritable bowel syndrome and many patients go undiagnosed for years.

Other common symptoms that might help differentiate coeliac disease from irritable bowel syndrome include unexplained anaemia, fertility problems and joint pain.

If you think you have a food intolerance or allergy, keep a food diary for seven days, noting when exactly you ate, what symptoms you had (if any), when they appeared, and grade them from zero to four in terms of severity.

Found on DailyMail.co.uk