8 Reasons You're Feeling Constantly Bloated | HealthyBe (2024)

There are days when your jeans just won’t zip up. Days when your stomach inflates a little after lunch. And, days when your tummy feels full, even when you’ve not eaten. For us ladies, bloating can be related to your period.

But, if you’re always feeling bloated constantly it could be a sign of gastrointestinal disorders such as IBS or SIBO.

Before we get into some of the root causes, let’s have a quick look at…

What is bloating?

Bloating is caused by a build-up of gas and can cause cramping and pain, leaving you wandering around with a hot water bottle attached to your belly. It can also affect your ability to eat, and wear the clothes you want to and can ultimately affect your self-confidence. But most importantly it is a sign that something is out of balance in the gut and good gut health is critical to overall health.

Remember, your body needs the vitamins, minerals and macronutrients from your food to be able to operate and if you can’t digest them, this will ultimately start to cause health issues. Bloating can be one of the key signs that something is amiss with your digestive system.

Is it normal to feel bloated all the time?

Feeling bloated and gassy after indulging in a large meal can be quite normal. However, feeling bloated constantly warrants a closer look into your dietary habits and health.

Whenever a client comes to me with this problem, I draw upon my clinical experience to uncover the root cause of their discomfort. Understanding the underlying reasons is crucial to providing relief and preventing future occurrences.

Reasons for feeling bloated constantly

1. Visceral hypersensitivity

This is where the nerves in the gut become irritated as a result of inflammation, food poisoning, etc and you can feel bloated even though you can’t see any visible bloating. We look at ways of reducing inflammation to support this and I often use a supplement called Curcumin where this is present.

2. SIBO

At least 60% of IBS is caused by something called SIBO. This is where there is an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine.

When you eat certain foods called FODMAPs (fermentable carbohydrates) the bacteria in your small intestine that shouldn’t be there in such numbers start to break down your food as fuel and they produce gas in the process. This is what gives rise to those symptoms of SIBO bloating after eating, pain, and excessive wind that we see in IBS.

When I work with my clients, we do a breath test to ascertain which type of gas is being produced and in what amounts, which then helps me to tailor diet and supplements to deal with the root cause.

3. Pancreatic Insufficiency

This is where the pancreas isn’t producing digestive enzymes, the enzymes that help to break down your food so that it doesn’t sit in your gut fermenting and causing gas.

There are various ways to encourage the production of pancreatic enzymes. Some basic ones you can try straight away include eating bitter foods before your meal like a rocket salad. The bitter taste stimulates the production of digestive juices.

4. Low Stomach Acid (Hypochlorhydria)

This is where you are not producing enough stomach acid to break down proteins, which then again leads to food fermenting in your gut.

Check out my stomach acid test to see how good your stomach acid production is. Low stomach acid can also lead to GERD / reflux/heartburn, so we often see the two together.

5. Bile Insufficiency / Bile Acid Malabsorption

Bile is important. It helps us to break down fats, to get rid of toxins via the bowels, and keep our hormones in balance by eliminating excess hormones such as oestrogen, etc.

When I see someone with hormonal imbalances, I always consider their digestion as a possible contributing factor. Gallstones, high cholesterol, IBS, vitamin deficiencies like vitamin D deficiency can all be caused by low bile. Bitters help to stimulate bile, as do healthy fats like avocado, nuts, seeds and lots and lots of fibre in the form of vegetables.

6. Candida

Candida exists in our guts as part of the ecosystem there. However, it can overgrow given the right environment, such as heavy metal toxicity, a diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates like cakes and pastries, bread and pasta.

Candida can be hard to kill and we use certain herbs and probiotics to reduce and crowd it out, together with a biofilm disruptor to break through its cell wall so that the herbs can do their job of killing it off.

Candida can cause leaky gut as the hyphae (finger-like projections) can burrow through your gut wall, leading to food intolerances and inflammation which causes symptoms like brain fog and fatigue.

7. Coeliac / non-coeliac gluten sensitivity

Both result from an immune reaction to eating gluten alongside intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut), which results in bits of undigested food entering the bloodstream and causing an inflammatory response.

8. Eating Habits

Believe it or not, how we eat can be a deciding factor in beating that bloat.

For some of you, it may be as simple as ensuring you eat mindfully and undistracted, away from screens or work. Make sure to chew your food until it’s liquid. Taking some deep diaphragmatic breaths before eating can help get you into the ‘rest and digest’ state.

Additionally, ensure you drink enough water (aim for 2 litres a day) to support your digestive juices. However, it’s important to time your water intake away from your meals so as not to dilute your digestive juices or affect the pH of your stomach acid. Aim not to drink anything within 30 minutes before eating and wait for an hour afterwards.

What can you do to help relieve bloating?

Depending on what’s causing you to always feel constantly bloated, it’s always worth seeking professional advice to identify any underlying gut health issues.

There are supplements that can help, but again you should seek advice before taking supplements as they may not always be appropriate and could even be dangerous, for example, if combined with certain medications or during pregnancy.

A binder such as activated charcoal can bind to the gas and help see it out but this can also cause constipation so may not be suitable for those of you already experiencing constipation. Constipation means either going for a bowel movement less than daily or having an incomplete bowel evacuation.

SIBO can result from a poorly functioning migrating motor complex and prokinetic supplements can aid in the function of the migrating motor complex, which governs waves of movement throughout the gut that help to see that everything passes through appropriately.

Peppermint tea for SIBO bloating relief can be a soothing remedy. Chamomile, ginger, turmeric, and fennel can all also assist with digestion and process gas. Dandelion tea can also aid with the relief of water retention. These can be found in certain herbal teas.

Peppermint oil Is a natural antispasmodic. That is, it aids in the relaxation of your gut muscles. This can assist you to pass blocked stool and gas, especially if you have a motility problem. However, peppermint oil can make symptoms worse if you suffer from reflux, as peppermint can relax the sphincter that stops acid from passing up from the stomach into the oesophagus.

Probiotics can assist by rebalancing your gut bacteria. They work best when taken with a prebiotic.However, many people with SIBO struggle to tolerate pro and prebiotics and some can find they make the bloating worse.This all depends on the type and strain of pre and probiotics and a skilled practitioner can help you with recommendations.

Magnesium aids in the neutralisation of stomach acid and the relaxation of intestinal muscles. Magnesium citrate and oxide have a natural laxative effect, which can be beneficial from time to time but can become habit-forming if used excessively.

When to seek expert advice for feeling bloated constantly?

Feeling uncomfortable because you’ve got a bloated stomach isn’t fun! And, whilst the occasional puffy tummy isn’t anything to worry about, if it’s a persistent issue that’s affecting your daily life then you might want to consider seeking assistance.

If you need help with your diet or gut health, I offer a FREE 30-minute digestive rescue call. We’ll talk about your health difficulties, I’ll offer you a few easy recommendations to get started, and I’ll explain how I work and the many programme options open to you.

Note – I am not a registered doctor and if you are worried about your health you should always speak to your GP first.