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VERIFIED CONTENTAuthor: Aleksandra Żyłowska-Mharrab, dietitian, food technologist, educator
Anyone dealing with flatulence knows the condition very well. And it has nothing to do with just eating too much of a meal. There are many causes of flatulence, and it is worth identifying those that cause flatulence. The more so because the problem is really common. As many as 16-30% of the population complain about flatulence.
Bloating- technically speaking, it's an excess of gas, fluid, or solids in your intestines. What does flatulence look like in practice? Increased waist circumference, protruding, round belly, feeling of tightness and fullness. Sometimes associated with gas, intestinal overflow and belching. Pants suddenly become too tight, a hard belly resembles a balloon. You would like to change your stiff jeans, the button of which started sticking painfully under your belly button, for comfortable tracksuits.
What does a bloated stomach show after eating?
You have food intolerances or allergies
Food intolerance is a hypersensitivity to food unrelated to a response by the immune system that causes an adverse reaction in the body. The cause of intolerance can be:
- deficiency of specific digestive enzymes, which makes the digestive system unable to digest a food component,
- so-called leaky intestine, i.e. loosening of tight connections between intestinal epithelial cells, which protect against the penetration of insufficiently digested particles into the bloodstream,
- changes caused by taking medications,
- getting toxins into the body,
- metabolic and other problems.
Food allergy is triggered by a reaction of the immune system.
What food intolerances and allergies can cause flatulence? The most common are:
- lactose intolerance - this is the most common cause of a bloated abdomen after eating among adults. Lactose is milk sugar, it is found in milk and dairy products, and the ability to digest it naturally declines with age due to the loss of production of the lactase enzyme.
- egg allergy - a common symptom of gas is flatulence.
- fructose intolerance - fructose is the sugar found in honey and some fruits, with the highest amounts in grapes, apples, pears, mangoes, plums and fruitsdried, and in vegetables - tomatoes, cabbage, leeks, Brussels sprouts, pumpkin, onions and legume seeds. Ingestion of fructose may induce gas.
- gluten intolerance - gluten is the protein of cereals such as wheat, rye, spelled and barley, which gives baking flexibility. It is found in bread, pasta, pies, cakes and any other products made of gluten-free cereal flours. Bloating can occur in gluten intolerance and in celiac disease or celiac disease.
- wheat intolerance - not related to the presence of gluten and wheat proteins.
- intolerance to products rich in FODMAP, i.e. easily fermentable carbohydrates poorly absorbed, which include lactose, fructose, fructans and polyhydric alcohols. FODMAPs are common in foods and are especially common causes of a bloated abdomen in people with irritable bowel syndrome.
You eat carminative products
Some foods are known to cause gas and gas in anyone, regardless of the person. This is due to the presence of easily fermentable nutrients. Common carminative products that cause flatulence include:
- legume seeds - they contain a lot of fiber, the excess of which in one meal is responsible for flatulence and raffinose - a type of complex sugar that the human body does not digest efficiently. Good intestinal bacteria use raffinose as a valuable source of energy. The result of its decomposition is the formation of gases - hydrogen, methane and sulfur, which are responsible for a bloated stomach after eating.
- cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts - also contain raffinose and fiber.
- onions, garlic, artichokes and leeks - they contain fructans, the fermentation of which by gut bacteria causes the formation of gases.
You eat too little or too much fiber
Eating too much fiber from bread, groats, vegetables and fruit causes gut bacteria to process it, resulting in a bloated belly. The average person should eat 20-40 g of fiber a day.
More will almost certainly cause gas. So is the sudden transition from a low-fiber diet to a high-fiber diet. However, too little fiber in the diet is also responsible for a bloated stomach. Fiber deficiency causes constipation, and fecal matter in the intestines causes a bloated abdomen.
You eat too much fatty meat
Fatty pieces of pork or beef can stay in the intestines for too long and ferment there, causing a lot of gas and a bloated abdomen. This is because both protein and fat (both components of meat) slow digestionand shifting of food content in the digestive tract.
In addition, gas caused by the consumption of large amounts of fatty meat has an additional unpleasant consequence - gases with a very characteristic smell of rotten eggs, which are formed as a result of the breakdown of the amino acid methionine. Methionine contains sulfur in the molecule and it is sulfur that is responsible for the unpleasant smell of gases.
You drink too much soda
Gases are not only produced in the digestive tract as a result of digestion, but you also supply them from the outside. The main source of gases in food products are water and carbonated drinks saturated with carbon dioxide, which after drinking it breaks away from the liquid and must find an outlet - either by belching or by bloating and gas.
You swallow air while eating
A common cause of a bloated stomach after eating is eating too fast and greedily, and swallowing large amounts of air at the same time. Bloating is also fostered by talking while chewing food, eating standing up or in a reclining position, and chewing gum.
If you complain of a bloated stomach after eating, try to chew with your mouth closed and eat slowly.
You have irritable bowel syndrome
Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common disease of the gastrointestinal tract. It is estimated that it affects up to 14% of the population, but most people go undiagnosed. Common symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome are flatulence, upper abdominal pain, discomfort, and alternating diarrhea and constipation.
As many as 60% of patients complain about troublesome bloating. In irritable bowel syndrome, bloating occurs most often in the evening and is associated not only with gas formation, but also with irregular intestinal contractions and displacement of the food content.
To reduce the symptoms of the disease, a low-FODMAP diet is recommended, i.e. a diet that eliminates foods containing easily fermentable, difficult to absorb carbohydrates.
How to get rid of a bloated stomach after eating?
The first step to getting rid of a bloated stomach after eating is to carefully watch your meals and how your body responds to them to identify what's really causing you. Very often, a positive effect is brought by replacing dairy products with its lactose-free or vegetable versions.
If excluding lactose does not help, you need to look at other possible intolerances and exclude from meals individual products or groups of products containing the same irritating ingredient. It is not worth eliminating all suspicious products at the same time, because this way you will not find out which food is actually harmful to you.
If a bloated stomachappears occasionally after an overly heavy and fatty meal, just remember not to overdo it with the portion size. When you frequently complain of a bloated stomach and you think that even drinking tea is causing you to bloat, check if you are eating fast, in a hurry and under stress. This is when it is easiest to swallow excess air.
It may turn out that you will need the help of a doctor and professional diagnostics to identify the cause of flatulence. In the case of some intolerances, symptoms appear even a day after food consumption. Then it is difficult to be sure as to the source of the gas.