Why Am I Bloated? + Best and Worst Foods to Beat the Bloat

Hey guys, Dr. Josh Axe here along with Jordan Rubin. Welcome to Ancient Medicine Today. Hey, on this video, we're going to be talking about how to overcome the bloat. If you're a person that's struggling with bloating, gas, digestive distress of any kind, we'll be going through the top herbal remedies, vitamins, supplements, and foods, and tips you need to follow in order to overcome bloating fast.

This is a good topic because people are making videos about Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, about chronic constipation and diarrhea, but just Flat-out bloating, which everybody experiences. 100% of people experience bloating at some point. Some people literally have bellies out to here and they're loaded with gas or distension. They're not necessarily full of fat. So how do we get rid of bloating? What foods to eat? What foods to avoid? And some other tips. Let's get started. It's time to beat the bloat. So these are the causes.

Yeah. Number 1, digestive disorders. Now, this could be leaky gut syndrome, it could be Crohn's, ulcerative colitis. A number of other conditions, but it all comes down to this. We're going to go through things today on how to seal and heal that gut lining.

Absolutely. Fluid retention is typically caused by excess sodium. We consume 10 times too much sodium, 10 times too little potassium. We actually bloat on the cellular level. Fluid retention sort of disguises itself as bloating. Too much fluid can be bloating, but so can too little fluid.

Yeah, dehydration, you know, you really need to have more H2O in your system and that really keeps Things moving through your body on a regular basis. This is important for your blood, it's important for your digestive system, your kidneys, but especially if you want to get rid of the bloat, you got to have more water.

Absolutely. Constipation, this is a no-brainer, right? If you don't have proper bowel motility, if you don't have movement, the wave-like motion that peristalsis will cause, you're going to be bloated because what happens is When food sits in your gut for a long time, it causes putrefaction and really unhealthy fermentation, and that leads to bloating. So if you're constipated, you're going to be bloated. It'll be relieved temporarily by an evacuation, but it's going to keep coming back. This is a big one too.

Oh, yeah, food allergies and food sensitivities. Listen, everybody has their kryptonite. We know Superman's was kryptonite. For some people, you know, I've done an IgG test, Jordan, that said, My body did not do well with cow's milk, certain types of casein and egg whites. And so those are things I stay away from. And then there are other things, you know, some other people can handle those foods no problem. But again, if you have a specific food sensitivity or allergy, absolutely will cause bloating.

SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. The small intestine is meant to have a very little amount of bacteria, but when some of it backs up from the colon, you get SIBO or SIBO, however you want to pronounce it. Bloating absolutely is an indicator of SIBO. Good news is you can eat the right foods, take the right supplements, and remove or even reverse SIBO.

Now, there are many different types of infections that can take place in your gut, whether it be your stomach or small intestine or your large intestine. But in terms of infection, you know, yeast infection or Candida infections are some of the most common. Different types of yeast, different types of bad bacteria can overgrow in the gut And that's a major cause of bloating as well.

Now, this is a big one. If you have bloating and you ruled out all the other previous causes or underlying issues and you think you might have bowel obstruction, if it's terrible pain, you're not evacuating properly for days and days, you need to see a physician. Bowel obstruction can be very, very serious. Sometimes it requires surgery, but it can be improved through nutrition certainly.

Absolutely. Hormonal changes, now this can be big. You know, if you're going through very different hormonal changes, that can actually affect your bowel movements but also can cause bloating as well. We know women during certain times of every single month can start to have issues with bloating and cramping in their gastric system.

Absolutely. And cancer, many types of cancer cause digestive distress but also cancer treatments, virtually every cancer treatment whether it's surgery, prep for surgery, what you're taking, what's being injected in or infused in. Medications, etc., radiation can all cause bloating. So if you have cancer and are dealing with treatments, you likely are going to have excessive bloating. But certainly, if there's bloating and you don't understand why, definitely get checked. Certain digestive cancers can cause bloating. Now, here's the good news, these are bloat-fighting foods. Let's get started.

Yeah, number 1 here, probiotic powerhouses. You know, consuming more fermented vegetables like Sauerkraut and kimchi, kefir, you know, these are some of the best. We know that probiotics are going to help get rid of some of that bad bacteria that's overgrown in your system and really can help in a big way with getting rid of the bloat.

Absolutely. Now, this is interesting, raw dairy in some can exacerbate bloating, but in many it really, really helps. You know, it's interesting, years ago when somebody would have nausea or even food poisoning, they'd tell you to drink milk.

Yeah.

So contrary to current popular belief, raw dairy products, especially fermented yogurt, kefir, etc., are amazing to fight bloating. You and I both like coconut kefir.

Oh, yeah.

Kombucha is interesting because it's iffy. Some people get more bloated, some people less. The kombucha with chia seeds in it, chia is a great bloat-fighting food we probably should be talking about. But raw dairy can help you with bloating because of all the enzymes.

Yeah, you know, water-rich produce can really help as well. You know, celery and cucumber are really near the top of the list as well. Getting more of those really water-rich vegetables are great, and then fruit as well. You know, if you really want to get rid of the bloat, your diet should really consist of lots of organic fruits, lots of— or a small amount of organic fruits, lots of organic vegetables are going to lead to a path to success. And even juice vegetables can be good as well.

Absolutely. What I found is oranges are great. Kiwis are great, mangoes, they all have a good source of soluble fiber, and blueberries. Doing enough of those will really, really help. Blackberry, not only its fruit but its leaves have been known to fight digestive issues for a long time. Herbs and spices, this is the best. I'm going to just start with ginger and peppermint. What I love about those, that's like hot and cold. I mentioned to you my neck was bothering me and I had peppermint and ginger and it was amazing.

Wow.

If you do that for your gut, it is great for bloating. We know that peppermint oil that's enteric coated, studies relieves gas and bloating. Ginger does the same thing. So many more I could mention, chamomile is a good one and many others. But ginger and peppermint are an ultimate one-two punch to beat the bloat.

You know, teas are fantastic. Chamomile is one of the best teas for reducing any type of digestive distress. Now, oftentimes you can find teas that are a bloat-specific formula and most of the time those will consist of chamomile, fennel, peppermint, and sometimes other herbs like caraway.

Absolutely. Those types of seeds are good. Cumin is another one, really, really good for bloating. All right, here's our bloat-promoting foods, and these are pretty self-explanatory. I'm going to let you take the first one because I got an interesting story on the second one, but this should be a no-brainer, but it's not.

Yeah, we know sugary foods and drinks, you know, those are going to feed that Candida, different yeast and bad bacteria buildup. So again, sugar is a big no-no.

Well, and think about this, carbonation, the man-made carbonation. I don't know about you, but I can't get through drinking a carbonated beverage And not fight a belch, you know what I'm saying?

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, it just happens. So sugary foods and drinks like the soda picture—

Now, chewing gum, you're a big fan of xylitol, right?

Well, buddy, don't even ask. Xylitol, which is definitely better for your teeth and your body than sugar and artificial sweeteners, we should have— I think we may have that. Sugar alcohols are notorious for causing bloating. But chewing gum, you know why chewing gum causes you to bloat? Because you produce digestive enzymes in your mouth called ptyalin, which digest carbs. When you chew gum, you expend all your enzymes. You're losing enzymes and you're losing them like withdrawing from your bank account.

Wow.

If you want to have less bloating, I'm going to turn this into a positive, chew your food 25 to 50 times, especially a carb food. Think about it, you start with oatmeal and by the time you chew it 25 times, it's liquefied. Chewing gum causes more bloating because it robs your digestive enzymes.

Wow, that's huge. Conventional dairy products, here's the issue, conventional dairy products have been pasteurized. So they've been heated up at a very high temperature, you're killing off the enzymes, you're killing off some of the good bacteria, and many of them have also been, you know, processed in many other ways like homogenization. So they become very, very hard to digest, both the proteins especially as well as some of the carbohydrates like lactose.

Refined grains and the starches they contain are disaccharides. Disaccharides are 2 sugars that are linked. Good digestion will break them apart for ease, bad digestion won't. And when these disaccharides get to the gut, bad bacteria and yeast create substances that represent gas and bloating. It's a battle, that's what it feels like, that's what it is. Refined grains can certainly make it worse.

You know, difficult to digest vegetables.

This is a tough one.

Now, here's what I'll say. Yeah, I mean, cooked vegetables are typically more easily digested. Doing raw broccoli or raw cruciferous vegetables. is a big no-no when it comes to overall gut health, especially if you're experiencing any type of inflammatory bowel disease. You want to do cooked vegetables, ideally made in a Crock-Pot, like a big bowl of bone broth soup with a little bit of chicken and loads of veggies are going to be better. But raw cruciferous vegetables, you want to stay away from and do more cooked vegetables like cooked carrots, cooked, you know, green beans, but cooked vegetables are definitely a better option.

It's funny because people will always talk about enzymes in raw foods, but I agree. Raw cruciferous vegetables are a challenge to so many people. And really, the difference between a raw carrot and a cooked carrot digestively is huge. Traditional Chinese medicine, they want you to eat warm pretty much everything. I do think some raw foods are good.

Sure, especially lettuces.

Yes, a lot of veggies should be cooked, especially look at the fiber in that stalk, that is impossible. In fact, it's unable to be digested, which is why gas and bloating comes. Similar, unsprouted beans and legumes, you always want to soak your beans and legumes or you want to look for a canned bean or legume that's already been soaked. And frankly, nobody needs to tell you that beans are— there's all these musical fruit and all that stuff. Beans are hard to digest, beans and legumes. By the way, peanuts and cashews are a legume. Unsprouted, unsoaked can definitely cause issues. They contain sugars called raffinose sugars that come off in the soaking and sprouting process, very difficult to digest.

Yeah. You know, artificial sweeteners can wreak havoc on your gut. They're really toxins. That end up in, you know, when you're consuming one of these, you know, pink or yellow or some of these different packs, and there are different, you know, there is NutraSweet, there's also sucralose. And what these will do is they will cause your body, they can damage the gut lining causing more leaky gut syndromes which in turn will cause bloating.

Absolutely. Now, here's some bloat beaters. The right exercise is really good. My favorite for bloat is walking. Jumping on a trampoline or a jump rope. Now, in the beginning, you might feel more bloated, but that really helps move things along, great for peristalsis.

Love rebounding in those mini tramps. Reducing stress, you know, getting outside in nature, taking walks. We know that stress actually backs up your liver, which is actually a big part of digestion, can back up your colon. Getting outside, doing exercises to relieve stress is a great way to go.

Getting hydrated. Drink more cleansing fluids, waters, herbal infusions, bone broth, and raw diluted juices are all great.

You know, if you follow all these tips and you're still having some issues, talk to a doctor. You know, you may start off talking to a doctor who practices more natural medicine who's going to really lay out for you a detailed supplement plan and diet plan and program to help relieve your bloating. And then also again, If you see a holistic doctor and that's not working, you know, and you're having issues like an obstructed bowel, then you're going to want to see a conventional doctor and get a diagnosis.

Absolutely. All right, I'm going to go over the causes of being bloated because if you're watching today, you have eyes, then you've been bloated before, you'll be bloated again, but we're going to help you get bloated less often. The cause might be a digestive disorder and you need to look deeper. Fluid retention can disguise itself As bloating, so can dehydration. Too much water, too little water at all can cause bloating. Constipation creates lots of gases that will bloat you and distend you. Allergies and sensitivities underlie your bloating, I promise you, in 100% of the cases. Small intestine bacterial overgrowth is part and parcel to all of this. Sometimes bloating is caused by an underlying infection. You need to make sure that you do not have too much yeast. Bacteria or parasites. Bowel obstruction, if you suspect that, go to your doctor immediately, go to the emergency room, make sure to get that taken care of. Hormonal changes, we mentioned PMS comes with bloating. And bloating might be the sign of a serious issue such as cancer.

All right, bloat-fighting foods. Get more probiotics in your diet like sauerkraut. You know, if you're a person that tolerates dairy, raw dairy, especially dairy kefir, can be a good option. Water-rich produce like celery and oranges and kiwi we talked about. Herbs and spices and teas like chamomile and fennel are 2 great ones as well.

And bloat-promoting foods, stay away from sugary foods and drinks. Don't chew gum. You know, people have more wrinkles that chew gum too. Same thing, you're robbing your enzymes. Conventional dairy has all kinds of things that make it difficult to digest. It's the number one allergen. In fact, refined grains have starches called disaccharides which are difficult to split and difficult on your gut. Difficult to digest veggies, raw cabbage, raw broccoli. Raw Brussels sprouts, yeah, back off if someone's going to consume that. Unsprouted beans and legumes, you've heard the jokes but it's true. Beans and legumes, that includes cashews and peanuts, people don't think about that, can cause bloating. Artificial sweeteners mess up your gut. Sucralose is chlorinated sucrose. And you know what else we don't have on here? Swimming in a chlorinated pool or showering in chlorinated water kills bacteria.

Yeah.

Drinking it can certainly cause bloating by imbalancing you. You mentioned this, sugar alcohols, if you consume too much xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol, I'm talking about bloat city. The good news is you can beat the bloat by following these simple tips. Now, if you know someone who's bloated, this is the big payoff, right? Like, hi, I know you're bloated all the time, check out this video. No, seriously, make sure to send the link to this video because everyone you know can benefit. Sometimes people aren't even overweight, they're just bloated all the time.

Yeah.

This can greatly help. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, join hundreds of thousands of people who get these educational and, might I say, entertaining videos on a regular basis. We're here every day, 5 days a week, sometimes even on the weekends, but because our videos are archived here, you can watch anytime. I'm Jordan Rubin with Dr. Josh Axe. This is Ancient Medicine Today brought to you by draxe.com. Defeat bloating. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.

Hi, Dr. Axe here. I want to say thanks so much for checking out this YouTube video and also don't forget to subscribe if you want to get more great content on things like herbs, essential oils, natural remedies, and how to use food as medicine. Also, check out more of our content on my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.