What Causes Bloating

What causes bloating

Anyone who suffers abdominal bloating will often describe it as a feeling off fullness of the tummy area. Overall it is a sense of extreme discomfort. The kind of sensation that makes you want to loosen your belt or the clothing around your waistline. Actual swelling of the stomach is a common symptom so too is stomach ache and abdominal cramp.

Simple causes of bloating

While there are many causes of bloating some are very simple. Such things as as swallowing air or talking while eating, chewing gum and smoking can also make you inhale more air. All this air gets trapped in your system until it can be relasesed. Certain types of food because of their chemical composition produce gas during our digestive process. This accumulation of gas expands the stomach causing pain and discomfort of trapped wind until it can be released either by belching, flatulence or during bowels movements. Known gas causing foods include various beans and high fibre products, dairy produce, rich or fatty foods and carbonated drinks such as soda. Many fruits and vegetables although very good for us health wise can create havoc due to also causing bloating. These include pears, peaches and apples and vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, cauliflower, onions and brussels sprouts.

Many more women that men appear to suffer from the problem of bloating. It is thought it this is due to affecting women in relation to the retention of water during last two weeks of the menstrual cycle.

More serious stomach bloating causes

Physical conditions or illness may be to blame. These might be irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulosis, abdominal infections, celiac disease, cancer tumors, bowel obstruction or hernias. Some medications, one such is opiate pain killers, have side effects which are know to give rise to chronic constipation which in turn can lead to bloating discomfort.

Abdominal bloating relief

Discovering the cause of the situation is better than simply treating the symptoms. It would be better for a sufferer to first try to establish possible causes by a process of elimination. It is a simple case of certain foods are to blame, by reducing or elimating them from the diet could solve the problem. However once all possible reasons have been examined it is then likely medical intervention is required. Your medical practitioner would then most likely try pin down the cause and take the necessary action including tests and examinations. Whatever the cause, abdominal bloating symptoms should be investigated rather than just tolerated.