How to Stop—And Prevent—Bloating

Bloating 

 A health post as I am sure it will help if you suffer from bloating!

Soothe your stomach with these tips.

Domino

• Kristin Limoges

Photo from Getty Images.

There are few discomforts quite as annoying as the “water balloon inside your belly” feeling known as bloating. But luckily there are some tricks you can try to help limit the swelling. We enlisted a few experts—a heralded doctor who specializes in digestion and inflammation, a clean-eating expert, and a hormone specialist—to share their tips for beating bloat, both in the moment and before it happens.

But First—What Causes Bloating?

It turns out, as unhelpful as it seems, bloating that happens during the menstrual cycle is actually your body’s way of protecting you. Estrogen and progesterone sharply rise in preparation for a possible pregnancy (which is a normal monthly occurrence, even when you aren’t planning on getting pregnant), and in doing so, your body retains water by curtailing urine output.

“Many of us in evolutionary medicine believe this happens in order for us to have adequate fluid stores when the nausea of pregnancy kicks in,” says Steven R. Gundry, M.D., author of the best-selling book The Plant Paradox. “The nausea is actually protection of the newly developing embryo against potential plant toxins like lectins, which interfere with normal development.” If you’re not pregnant, though, bloating is just an annoyance.

Of course, you can also experience bloating for reasons totally unrelated to the menstrual cycle, like food and lifestyle choices. Part of the problem could be poor gut health and nutrient absorption, according to Whitney Tingle, cofounder of Sakara Life. “Food—even healing, cruciferous veggies—can make you bloat,” she says.“It can also be caused by fiber deficiency, chewing gum, carbonated drinks, inflammation, dehydration, and poor digestion.”

Another culprit? Stress. “If you’re stressed and you step on the scale, you seem to weigh five pounds more than you did the day before. That’s the effect of cortisol: It puffs you up due to its antidiuretic function, causing your body to retain sodium,” explains Alisa Vitti, functional nutrition and women’s hormone expert and author of Woman Code. “If you’re feeling chronically stressed, overwhelmed, stretched too thin, have low-grade fatigue all day, or a reliance on caffeine, then this is very likely the root cause for you.”

What Can You Do to Stop and Prevent Bloating?

A lot, thankfully. From digestive enzymes to leafy greens to (oddly enough) jumping, the experts have some recommendations:

Magnesium

We’ve chatted before about how magical magnesium is, but if you haven’t tried it yet, here’s your reminder: Every single one of our experts cited it as a must for daily well-being, but it’s especially helpful for bloating. “Magnesium is a critical mineral for digestion and overall calming of the body,” says Tingle.

Gundry suggests increasing the amount of magnesium in your diet (in pill form, ideally) to about 400 to 500 mg—particularly at bedtime. “Magnesium not only is an excellent sleep aid, but it enhances bowel motility and improves mood, especially during the time when your mood may not be at its best,” says Gundry. 

Chocolate

Vitti loves recommending high-quality chocolate as “hormone-balancing medicine”—as long as it’s at least 70 percent dark chocolate and made of organic raw cacao. “It’s fairly high in magnesium, with 176 milligrams in a 100-gram serving—that’s basically half of your daily recommended intake,” she says.

Liquids

The last thing that might sound helpful when you’re bloated is more liquids—but if you’re selective, they can be a saving grace. A classic is ginger tea, but room-temperature water is also beneficial. Vitti swears by her “Anti-Bloat-ini,” made with three beets, three carrots, four celery stalks, a half cup of spinach, half a bunch of cilantro, and one lemon. Drink up!

Probiotics

“When the microbiome—the bacteria that live in your gut—are off balance, your digestive system starts to react to certain foods, stops being able to absorb certain nutrients, and becomes inflamed,” Vitti explains, which can lead to bloating. A proper probiotic (one with digestive enzymes) is a great way to transform your overall well-being, but especially your gut; it helps properly break down foods so you can digest easier.

Leafy Greens

Tingle recommends aiming for six to eight cups of greens a day—which sounds like a lot, but between juices or smoothies and a salad at lunch or dinner, you’ll easily hit that number.“They will transform your microbiome—aka the six pounds of bacteria living in your gut,” she says. “And if your gut is thriving, you absorb your nutrients better, you feel lighter, your mood is better, you have more energy, and you even absorb your calories differently.”  

Parsley and Celery

If the root cause of your bloat is menstrual-related, then natural diuretics are the way to go. Gundry suggests incorporating both celery and parsley into your diet—in fresh and pill form.

“Both parsley and celery have been shown in human trials to increase urine output, and parsley and celery seed capsules are easily found in health food stores and online,” says Gundry. “Using parsley in cooking and having celery seeds sprinkled on salads is a great way to get rid of water retention.”

Exercise

Working out can feel like the absolute last thing you’d like to do, but it can get your blood circulation flowing. “Jump on a mini trampoline,” says Vitti. “Exercise is a great way to beat stress and decrease levels of cortisol.” And mini trampoline workouts—you can find videos online if there isn’t a studio near you—are seriously no joke (although they are pretty much guaranteed to make you laugh).

Kristin Limoges is the Wellness Editor at Domino.

How Gut Bacteria Influence Your Metabolism

Gut Bacteria

Story at-a-glance

• Any given individual will have around 160 different species of bacteria colonizing their gut. This individual combination is known as your gut microbiome, and can have a tremendous influence on health and well-being
• Obesity is associated with as much as a 40% decrease in bacterial diversity. Improving diversity through probiotic supplementation can help resolve metabolic defects, resulting in fat loss
• Research has demonstrated that probiotics — beneficial bacteria found in fermented and cultured foods such as yogurt — have a measurable effect on several metabolic pathways
• A link has also been found between bowel movements and obesity; 8.5% of obese and 11.5% of severely obese individuals reported chronic diarrhea, compared to 4.5% of those with normal weight
• One hypothesis is that chronic low-grade inflammation is at play. Not only is chronic inflammation a factor in obesity, but it can also contribute to diarrhea

Hippocrates once said that “all disease begins in the gut,”¹ and the more we learn, the more accurate that statement proves to be. As noted in a 2018 paper:²

“While often-quoted figures suggest that the microbes that live in and on the human body outnumber human cells by 10:1, a more recent estimate suggests that we are essentially one part human to one part microbe in terms of cell number.³

These commensal microorganisms have a vital role in human health. They break down otherwise indigestible dietary fibres and other components of food, produce vitamins, promote the development and maturation of the immune system, and prevent pathogenic bacterial species from colonizing the gut.”

According to evidence cited in this paper, of the 1,000 or so gut bacteria we know of, any given individual will have around 160 different species of bacteria colonizing their gut. This individual combination is known as your gut microbiome, and can have a tremendous influence on health and well-being.
The diversity of your gut microbiome begins to be established when you are an infant, and is affected by genetics, whether you are breast or bottle fed, and your immediate environment. Later in life your microbiome is significantly affected by your food choices.⁴
Diets high in sugar and processed foods may reduce the diversity and your overall health, while diets high in whole foods high in fiber tend to have a beneficial impact.
For example, a number of studies have found obese individuals tend to have a less diverse gut microbiome,⁵ in addition to having greater numbers of certain harmful bacteria and fewer beneficial ones.
Studies have shown obesity is associated with as much as a 40% decrease in diversity,⁶ and that improving that diversity through probiotic supplementation can help resolve metabolic defects, resulting in fat loss.⁷

Obesity Associated With Frequent Diarrhea

There’s also a link between abnormal bowel movements and obesity, according to research⁸ published in September 2019. As reported by Medical Xpress:⁹

“In the most comprehensive analysis of the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and bowel habits to date, published today in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, a team of physician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) found a strong association between obesity and chronic diarrhea independent of an individual's dietary, lifestyle, psychological factors or medical conditions …

‘While several previous studies have pointed to an association between obesity and bowel habits, all lacked data on whether dietary or other factors drive the connection,’ said corresponding author Sarah Ballou, Ph.D., a health psychologist in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at BIDMC.

‘Our research confirms a positive association between obesity and chronic diarrhea and reveals for the first time that this relationship is not driven by confounding factors such as diet or physical activity level.’”

Looking at data from the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the researchers found 8.5% of obese and 11.5% of severely obese individuals reported chronic diarrhea, compared to 4.5% of those with normal weight. “Stepwise regression revealed that severe obesity was independently associated with increased risk of diarrhea,” the authors say.
Unfortunately, this study cannot shed light on why this is happening. One hypothesis is that chronic low-grade inflammation is at play. Not only is chronic inflammation a factor in obesity,¹⁰ but it can also contribute to diarrhea.
Systemic inflammation is also believed to be one of the leading triggers for other serious diseases, including neurological degeneration,¹¹ Type 2 diabetes¹² and cardiovascular disease¹³ — all of which, by the way, are also associated with obesity.
Committing to making changes to your gut microbiome can do far more than improve your bowel habits. Your gut health is important to most aspects of your health, including reducing your risk for cancer, metabolic syndrome and depression.

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Probiotics Shown to Alter Metabolism

Improving your microbiome can be as simple as increasing your intake of fermented foods or taking a quality protiotic supplement. Previous research has demonstrated that probiotics — beneficial bacteria found in fermented and cultured foods such as yogurt — have a measurable effect on your metabolism.
One such study,¹⁴ published in 2008, found the bacterial strains Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus affected a number of different metabolic pathways, including the metabolism of:

• Hepatic lipids
• Amino-acids
• Methylamines
• Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)

As reported by Science Daily:¹⁵

“Adding 'friendly' bacteria changed the makeup of the bugs in the gut, not only because this increased the number of such bacteria, but also because the 'friendly' bacteria worked with other bacteria in the gut, amplifying their effects.

One of the many biochemical changes observed by the researchers was a change in how mice treated with probiotics metabolized bile acids. These acids are made by the liver and their primary function is to emulsify fats in the upper gut. If probiotics can influence the way in which bile acids are metabolized, this means they could change how much fat the body is able to absorb.”

While some claim taking probiotic supplements or eating fermented foods won’t have a significant impact on your microbiome, this particular study found otherwise. As noted by corresponding author Jeremy Nicholson with the department of biomolecular medicine at Imperial College:¹⁶

"Some argue that probiotics can't change your gut microflora — whilst there are at least a billion bacteria in a pot of yoghurt, there are a hundred trillion in the gut, so you're just whistling in the wind.

Our study shows that probiotics can have an effect and they interact with the local ecology and talk to other bacteria. We're still trying to understand what the changes they bring about might mean, in terms of overall health, but we have established that introducing 'friendly' bacteria can change the dynamics of the whole population of microbes in the gut."

Can Probiotics Effectively Aid in Fighting Obesity?

So, can probiotics actually have a beneficial impact on obesity? A number of studies suggest the answer is yes. Among them is a 2013 animal study,¹⁷ which found the probiotics Lactobacillus gasseri BNR17, found in human breast milk, act as an obesity inhibitor and antidiabetic.
According to the authors, “The administration of L. gasseri BNR17 significantly reduced the body weight and white adipose tissue weight regardless of the dose administered.” Such findings jibe well with studies¹⁸ showing breastfed babies have a significantly lower risk of childhood obesity.
In another study¹⁹ published that same year, obese participants with a fasting blood sugar level above 100 mg/dL were given either BNR17 or a placebo for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, the treatment group had shed more body fat than the controls. As reported by the authors, “Despite there being no change in behavior or diet, administration of only the supplement of BNR17 reduced weight and waist and hip circumference.”
Lactobacillus gasseri has also been shown to ease symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis,²⁰ thanks to its anti-inflammatory effects. L. gasseri is also one of four bacterial strains shown to help eradicate Heliobacter pylori,²¹ a primary cause of stomach ulcers.
A more recent review,²² published in the journal Nutrients in February 2019, sought to “present evidence … demonstrating the effects of various probiotic strains and their potential efficacy in improving obesity and associated metabolic dysfunctions.” As noted in this paper:²³

“A large body of evidence has described several possible mechanisms by which the gut microbiota can contribute to, and/or influence, obesity.

Although so much is still unknown and debatable, thus far there is a general consensus that the gut microbiota is implicated in obesity through dietary carbohydrate fermentation, lipogenesis, excess energy storage, and several other pathways including a vast array of metabolites, hormones and neurotransmitters, some of which are known to control food intake and the regulation of energy balance.”

How Gut Bacteria Can Influence Your Fat Stores

Three main phyla or groups of gut microbes make up the human microbiome and serve diverse structural, protective and metabolic functions:²⁴

• Bacteroidetes — Porphyromonas, Prevotella and Bacteroides
• Firmicutes — Ruminococcus, Clostridium, Lactobacillus and Eubacteria
• Actinobacteria — Bifidobacteria (the most prevalent type)

As explained in the 2019 Nutrients review,²⁵ in your gut, these bacteria protect your health by “displacing harmful bacteria, competing with pathogens for nutrients and producing antimicrobial factors.”
Structural functions provided by them include “developing the immune system, inducing immunoglobulin A (IgA), and reinforcing the mucosal barrier,” while metabolic functions “benefit the host by synthesizing vitamin K, folate and biotin” and play a role in the absorption of minerals such as magnesium, calcium and iron.
Importantly, gut bacteria also help break down the foods you eat and ferment digestive-resistant starches, turning them into beneficial SCFAs, which help modulate your immune response and inflammation.²⁶ As explained in the 2019 Nutrients review:²⁷

“Degradation of dietary polysaccharides and fiber by Bacteroides and Firmicutes in the gut results in the production of SCFAs, such as propionate, acetate, and butyrate.

Propionate is an important energy source for the host via de novo synthesis of lipids and glucose in the liver. Acetate is used in peripheral tissues as a substrate for cholesterol synthesis while butyrate represents a rich energy source for the epithelial cells that line the colon.

Furthermore, microbiota is involved in the control of energy balance, food intake, and satiety via gut peptide signaling, through hormonal effects in the blood or by modulating the nervous system directly. The appropriate balance of these regulatory peptides may be disrupted if the microbiota composition is altered …

SCFAs … also serve as signaling molecules that can activate G-protein coupled receptors (GPRs), including GPR43 (also known as free fatty acid receptor 2) in adipose and intestinal tissues.

In adipose tissue, SCFAs bind to GPR43, thus promoting adipogenesis and increasing energy expenditure. In intestinal tissue, SCFAs bind to GPR43 leading to secretion of anorexigenic peptides … resulting in improved glucose tolerance and increased energy utilization.”

Since SCFAs play such an important role in fat accumulation, the two phyla that produce SCFAs, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, may be used as markers for obesity. As noted in the 2019 review, obese individuals tend to have higher proportions of Firmicutes and Lactobacillus and lower proportion of Bacteroidetes and Bifidobacterium compared to normal weight individuals.²⁸
Studies have also linked specific strains to specific health problems. For example, high levels of Bacteroides vulgatus (which is abundant in the human gut) appear strongly associated with inflammation, insulin resistance and altered metabolism.
Low levels of certain bacteria in the Firmicutes phylum, including Blautia and Faecalibacterium, have been linked to the accumulation of trunk-fat specifically.²⁹

How Probiotics Can Benefit Your Health and Weight

The 2019 Nutrients review also details the mechanisms by which supplementation with probiotics can improve your health and weight. Key areas of influence include:³⁰

• Enhancing the integrity of your intestinal epithelial barrier
• Enhancing the adhesion of bacteria to your intestinal mucosa, thereby facilitating colonization
• Producing antimicrobial and other health promoting substances
• Inhibiting pathogenic microbes by competitive exclusion
• Modulating your immune system

While individual strains of bacteria have been linked to specific health effects such as reductions in trunk fat or lowered inflammation, several studies have demonstrated that multi-strain probiotics may be more beneficial than single-strain ones, as they tend to create synergistic effects.³¹

An Easy, Inexpensive Way to Improve Your Gut Microbiome

While probiotic supplements are widely available, few can compete with traditionally fermented foods, in terms of the diversity and sheer number of probiotics.
Fermented foods are also your least expensive alternative, as you can easily make them at home. Using a starter culture will speed the process and ensure you’ll end up with a consistent, high-quality product.
Remember, your diet is one of the easiest, fastest and most effective ways to improve and optimize your microbiome, so the good news is you have a great degree of control over your health destiny. For instructions and general guidance, see “Learn How to Make Cultured Veggies at Home.”

Probiotics: Bacteria For The Brain?

Probiotices Good For The Brain

A healthy gut must have benefitcial influences on the brain!

Posted on:

Tuesday, March 6th 2018 at 3:30 pm

Written By:

Kelly Brogan, M.D.

This article is copyrighted by GreenMedInfo LLC, 2018
Visit our Re-post guidelines

For two decades now, pioneering researchers have been substantiating inflammatory models of mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.  Research has focused on markers that indicate immune distress in an important subset of patients, many of whom are labeled "treatment resistant." Through this body of literature, we have identified that depression can be induced, in animals and in humans through inflammatory agents, that it is correlated with blood levels of inflammatory markers, in a linear way (more markers = worse depression), and that symptoms can be reversed through pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories.

Inflammatory Models of Mental Illness: The Role for the Gut

Working with this premise, where is the best place to begin when we consider how to modify inflammatory states in the body, naturally? You guessed it, it's the gut. Housing >70% of our immune system, the gut is our interface between the outside and inside world, separated by one-cell-thickness. The resident microorganisms, outnumbering by 10:1 by our human body cells, develop an ecosystem through postnatal exposures, in the vaginal canal, through breastfeeding, and the immediate environment.  Disruption to the balance of bacteria through medication exposures, gluten, herbicides, stress, and infection can set the stage for the innate immune system to prepare for attack. Depression, associated with compromised integrity of this intestinal barrier, becomes the swirling storm of inflammation, impairment of cellular machinery (i.e. mitochondria), oxidative stress, and inflammation in a carousel-like forward rotation. Specifically, depression is associated with elevated levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a nutrient-binding, inflammatory toxin produced by bacteria that are intended to remain in the gut
.
If depression is a downstream collection of symptoms, and inflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction are driving these symptoms, what is at the source? It appears, from data in animals and humans, that disruption to our gut ecology may be a major player, and the microbiome has stepped to the forefront of cutting-edge psychiatric research.

Enter psychobiotics: "a live organism that, when ingested in adequate amounts, produces a health benefit in patients suffering from psychiatric illness."  A review by Dinan et al. encompasses the clinical basis for the use of probiotics in mental health with reference to animal studies in which behavioral changes resulted from exposure to bacterial strains such as bifidobacterium and lactobacillus. In placebo-controlled trials in humans, measures of anxiety, chronic fatigue, and depression and anxiety associated with irritable bowel syndrome.

The therapeutic clinical applications of probiotics have been limited to a handful of strains out of the more than 7000 at last count. It appears that colonization is not an expected outcome of probiotic supplementation, and that genomic communication between bacteria and immune receptors may account for anti-inflammatory effects.

Ancient Wisdom

Given how little is known about therapeutic applications of different strains, it may make sense to defer to ancestral practices that confirm the importance of probiotic exposures. In these foods such as lactofermented kimchi, pickles, sauerkraut, and other traditional vegetables, microbes are acting on the food, and the food is then acting on our microbes.
What do bacteria accomplish in the gut? Do they just help with digestion? According to Selhub et al., they:

• Direct protection of the intestinal barrier;
• Influence on local and systemic antioxidant status, reduction in lipid peroxidation;
• Direct, microbial-produced neurochemical production, for example, gammaaminobutyric
acid (GABA);
• Indirect influence on neurotransmitter or neuropeptide production;
• Prevention of stress-induced alterations to overall intestinal microbiota;
• Direct activation of neural pathways between gut and brain;
• Limitation of inflammatory cytokine production;
• Modulation of neurotrophic chemicals, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor;
• Limitation of carbohydrate malabsorption;
• Improvement of nutritional status, for example, omega-3 fatty acids, minerals, dietary
phytochemicals;
• Limitation of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth;
• Reduction of amine or uremic toxin burden;
• Limitation of gastric or intestinal pathogens (for example, Helicobacter pylori);
• Analgesic properties.

Given widespread fermentation practices in traditional cultures, it appears that this dietary wisdom may serve to ameliorate gut-based inflammation and promote optimal nutrient assimilation as described in this review: "Traditional dietary practices have completely divergent effects of blood LPS levels; significant reductions (38%) have been noted after a one-month adherence to a prudent (traditional) diet, while the Western diet provokes LPS elevations ."

In addition to increasing bioavailability and production of minerals, neurochemicals, and fatty acids, fermented foods actually produce methylfolate, an activated form of folate required for methylation: brain chemical synthesis, detox, and gene expression.

Because of the complex coevolution of bacterial strains, cultivated through our food supply, and complementary to our inner microbiomes, we have an opportunity to use therapeutic foods to reeducate an immune system that has been drawn off course. Psychobiotics have the potential to modulate multiple different relevant factors at once:

"This could manifest, behaviorally, via magnified antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, reduction of intestinal permeability and the detrimental effects of LPS, improved glycemic control, positive influence on nutritional status (and therefore neurotransmission and neuropeptide production), direct production of GABA, and other bioactive chemicals, as well as a direct role in gut-to-brain communication via a beneficial shift in the intestinal microbiota itself."

It is therefore compelling to consider the power of reconnecting to the natural world through our food; communicating through our guts to our brains, that nutrients are plentiful, our bodies are safe, and that our inflammatory systems can be put at ease. It is under these circumstances that the infinite complexity of the endocrine, immune, and gastrointestinal systems can play out, unhindered in support of mental health and wellness

Probiotics Help Reduce Symptoms Of Depression

Probiotics Help Reduce Symptoms Of Depression



By Dr. Mercola
When it comes to mental health, most assume the brain is in charge. In reality, your gut may be calling the shots. Interestingly enough, in the 1800s and early 1900s, it was thought that waste in your colon could produce infections that lead to depression. As it turns out, they weren't too far off the mark.

Scientific advances now suggest your state of mind is influenced, if not largely directed, by the microflora in your gut, and probiotics (beneficial bacteria) are being thought of as "the new antidepressants." However, while it may be tempting to trade one pill for another, I urge you to consider taking a more comprehensive approach.

Taking a probiotic supplement may be helpful, but if you're still eating the same junk as before, it's not likely to make a significant difference. The key, really, is to eat a healthy diet. Limiting or eliminating sugar is absolutely essential, as adding healthy fats will provide your brain with much-needed fuel, while fermented foods will give you the beneficial bacteria you need.