Why Do I Bloat After Eating?

Bloating causes your stomach to feel full and tight. Many people even describe bloating as painful. There are a lot of different reasons why you may feel bloated. Although most are not harmful and can be relieved using home remedies and over the counter medications, there are certain medical conditions that can cause abdominal bloating.

After eating, stomach bloating can be uncomfortable. Abdominal pain, belching, feeling full, and flatulence are often experienced along with bloating. If you are wondering, why do I bloat after eating, check out the top 14 causes of bloating after eating.

Carbonated Beverages

Drinking carbonated beverages increases the amount of gas in your gastrointestinal tract, which can lead to bloating, indigestion, and gas. Reducing or eliminating carbonated beverages can help minimize the amount of bloating you experience on a day to day basis.

Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is an immune and digestive disorder. When foods containing gluten are consumed, long term digestive issues can occur. Over time, celiac disease causes damage to the gastrointestinal tract. It can cause a plethora of unpleasant symptoms. You may experience belly pain, nausea, vomiting, bloating, gas, weight loss, constipation, diarrhea, and fatigue.

Food Allergies

When you ingest a food that you are allergic to, your immune system will activate and cause a number of symptoms. Symptoms include swallowing difficulties, mouth itching, and breathing difficulties. In addition to these symptoms, you may experience digestive issues including bloating, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. The common food causes of allergic reactions include peanuts, wheat, fish, shellfish, eggs, and milk.

Gallstones

In the beginning, gallstones typically do not cause any symptoms; however, over time, symptoms can develop. Once symptoms occur, they tend to worsen with time. The most common symptom of gallstones is biliary colic, which causes abdominal pain and nausea. Other symptoms of gallstones include belching, belly bloating after eating, and flatulence.

Gastroparesis

Gastroparesis affects the muscle and nerves responsible for controlling the muscles of your stomach. When this occurs, your stomach does not properly digest your food. The symptoms of gastroparesis include abdominal pain, bloating, vomiting, and nausea.

Hiatal Hernia

A hiatal hernia occurs when the stomach pushes up through the diaphragm. The symptoms of hiatal hernia are caused by stomach acid flowing up into the esophagus. You may experience heartburn, burning in your chest, chest pain, vomiting, burping, retching, nausea, and excess saliva.

H. Pylori Infection

Pylori, or Helicobacter pylori, is a bacteria that infects the lining of the stomach. The symptoms range from mild to severe. The most common symptoms are bloating, abdominal pain, vomiting, belching, and nausea. If the infection worsens, you may experience heartburn, bad breath, and worsening abdominal pain. H. pylori can also cause bleeding in the GI tract, resulting in dark stools, anemia, or vomiting blood.

Indigestion

Indigestion occurs when the stomach and upper GI area function improperly. The symptoms of indigestion can fluctuate in intensity and frequency. It may occur every day for weeks and then you may have no symptoms for weeks. Indigestion causes feeling full after eating only a small amount of food, belching, abdominal pain, abdominal bloating, nausea, and abdominal distention.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Irritable bowel syndrome is sometimes referred to as a spastic colon. This medical condition occurs in the large intestine. It is a chronic condition that causes abdominal cramping, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, flatulence, heartburn, mucus in your stools, feeling like you didn’t finish your bowel movement, and bloating.

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are common kinds of inflammatory bowel diseases. These two conditions differ in their behaviors and the portion of the GI tract they affect. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is caused by widespread inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Ulcers can occur in both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Abdominal pain, bloating, and changes in bowel habits are common symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease.

Lactose Intolerance

Lactose intolerance occurs when you have the inability to properly digest the milk sugar, lactose, found in dairy products. Lactose intolerance occurs when your body has a lactase deficiency. This all important digestive enzyme helps the body break down lactose for proper digestion. The symptoms of lactose intolerance include stomach bloating after eating very little dairy products, abdominal pain, flatulence, diarrhea, nausea, indigestion, and abdominal distention.

Liver Disease

Your liver is an important organ and is responsible for many different functions in the body, including your metabolism, blood clotting, cholesterol, and glucose. Several things can impact the health of your liver, including medications, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis, mononucleosis, and iron overload. The symptoms of liver disease include weakness, nausea, fatigue, vomiting, weight loss, jaundice, and bloating.

Premenstrual Syndrome

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) affects about 90 percent of females sometime during their life. PMS occurs one to two weeks prior to a woman’s period. The symptoms associated with premenstrual syndrome include bloating, abdominal pain, headaches, mood swings, diarrhea, constipation, back pain, noise and light intolerance, sleep issues, and much more.

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) occurs when the bacteria and microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract become overpopulated, populated with the wrong bacteria, or grow in the small intestine. SIBO causes a number of symptoms like nausea, diarrhea, weight loss, appetite loss, malnutrition, and bloating.

Looking For Relief from Bloating

If you keep asking, why do I bloat after eating, there are several ways to ease and prevent belly bloating. First, you want to eat a healthy diet. You also want to get at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise on most days.

You will need to identify any food that may be causing your bloating. This can be due to food intolerances, food sensitivities, food allergies, or gallstones. Keeping a food diary is one of the best ways to pinpoint any issues. Limit the amount of air you swallow by avoiding chewing gum or drinking through a straw. Additionally, slow down while eating and avoid drinking carbonated beverages.

There are several natural remedies that can help reduce belly bloat and relieve your other digestive woes.

• Chamomile Tea – Chamomile tea offers a host of digestive benefits., including relieving acid reflux, preventing bloating, and improving the overall health of your digestive system.
• Ginger – Ginger contains anti-inflammatory properties that help encourage digestion. It helps reduce bloating and relieve nausea. Ginger has been shown to speed up digestion to help prevent digestive woes.
• Peppermint Tea – Peppermint tea relieves bloating, gas, and indigestion naturally. It works by relaxing the digestive system and reducing spasms in the GI tract.
• Turmeric – Turmeric contains antioxidants to help detoxify and heal the body. Its anti-inflammatory properties reduces bloating, improves digestion, and helps relieve abdominal cramping and discomfort.

How We Can Help?

Our team of functional medicine clinicians understands how digestion can impact every area of your body. If you have been experiencing abdominal bloating, it is time for you to learn why you are bloating after eating. We will work with you to get to the root of your digestive problems and provide proven techniques to improve digestion, reduce bloating, and relieve abdominal pain.