There are many ways to naturally address bloating. By supporting your natural digestive process and eliminating foods, you can begin your healing journey to beat your bloating for good.
First, you need to determine what the cause is. Read up on the causes of bloating here if you haven’t already because it will help you to understand the reasons behind it.
You can also check out our Top 5 Home Remedies for an Upset Stomach here.
There are a few remedies that you can take for bloating that you’ll likely find in your pantry.
- CHAMOMILE TEA
Chamomile tea is a carminative – meaning that it helps to calm down and upset the digestive system. Try having a strong chamomile tea – add 2 teabags in hot water and drink once cool. This can help to calm a bloated tummy. - PEPPERMINT TEA
Like chamomile tea, peppermint has a carminative effect on the gut and can help to calm bloating and indigestion. Place 1-2 teabags in a cup of water and steep well. - APPLE CIDER VINEGAR AND LEMON JUICE
Taking some lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in water can stimulate the digestive system, moving things along and clearing congestion that can lead to bloating. - BELLY MASSAGE
Sometimes manual massage of your colon can help to move wind and congestion which can ease bloating. Use a massage oil or coconut oil and massage your tummy in a clockwise direction. Take deep breaths and try to relax the abdomen.
There are many ways that you can help your body to heal from bloating. Naturopathy is an excellent choice because it addresses the dietary components of bloating and also the underlying factors that have led to the problem. Seeing a naturopath with experience in gut health means you can do specific testing to look at gut health. Common tests that you may need to get done are comprehensive digestive stool analysis, microbiome profiling and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) breath tests.
- MICROBIOME REGULATING THERAPY
This involves testing the microbes in your gut (yeasts, parasites and bacteria) to diagnose any imbalances or issues. Once you have this information, you can then develop a specific treatment plan. This may involve the cycling of antimicrobial or antifungal herbs, gut healing agents, probiotics and prebiotics.
NOTE: It is important not to take herbal antimicrobials without a proper gut healing protocol, involving probiotic therapy and gut healing agents. This is because herbal antimicrobials can also impact on your healthy bacteria, and can lead to further imbalance if not used in a proper balancing protocol. - ANTIINFLAMMATORIES
In many cases there will be some inflammation in the gut that needs to be calmed in order to beat bloating and reduce food reactivity. This can be due to food intolerances, fungal, bacterial overgrowth, parasitic infection or inflammatory bowel disease like ulcerative colitis and crohn’s disease.Common anti inflammatories that may be used in gut inflammation are turmeric, boswellia and the amino acid glutamine.
- RESTORING YOUR BILE, ACID AND ENZYMES
Herbal medicines have some amazing actions when it comes to restorting your own natural digestive function. Bitter herbs can stimulate the production of stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes. Choleretic and cholagogue herbs help to increase the production and release of bile from the liver, which helps you to break down fats effectively.
When choosing a practitioner to help you with your gut health it is important to look at a few factors.
- Their qualifications – are the degree qualified? Depending on where you live the term naturopath can be used quite loosely, and you want to know that they have a minimum education of a bachelor degree.
- What is their experience with gut health issues? Are they up to date with the latest testing available and how to best use it?
- Are they up to date with the latest research on the gut microbiome?
There are many people out there that have the training and qualifications to help you on your healing journey. It’s time to get some support and beat bloating for good!
If you want something self-guided, we offer an 8-week program called Heal Your Gut to help you heal your gut and address the dietary aspects of gut healing. Created by our founder and master naturopath Katherine Maslen, Heal Your Gut covers the 8 pillars to gut healing in a supportive online environment. Learn more about the program here.
