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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.
