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9 REASONS YOU’REBLOATED ( THAT HAVENOTHING TO DO WITHYOUR DIET )

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6/8/16, 12:27 PM9 common causes of bloating | Well+Good

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1/10If you’ve cut out

and yet still suffer from bloating on

the regular, you’re not the only one. As it turns

out, there are over a hundred (!) reasons why

your gut may be sending you an SOS—many of

which have nothing to do with your diet.

And when it comes to those sneaky digestive

saboteurs, gastroenterologist

has seen them all—and she’s recently

compiled the most common culprits into a

reference manual titled . “I

wanted to create a guide for women to be their

own medical detectives,” says Dr. Chutkan.

“Bloating is absolutely is the number one

thing I see in my practice. It’s sort of that

common, non-specific way for the GI tract to

let you know it’s unhappy.”

#

!

"

#

*

+

dairy, gluten, and

soda

Robynne

Chutkan

The Bloat Cure

! # " & '

6/8/16, 12:27 PM9 common causes of bloating | Well+Good

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Why

is

the gut so temperamental? “To a layperson,

our digestive tract can feel like this empty

tube, but people don’t appreciate how

specialized it is,” explains Dr. Chutkan. “There

are so many different things happening in

different parts, and so many things that can go

wrong.” And it’s because of our GI system’s

complexity that it’s so hard to pinpoint—and

treat—the root cause of bloating.

It’s Dr. Chutkan’s hope that The Bloat Cure will

open our eyes to causes we may not have

considered before, after eliminating any

possibility of a serious condition. (If you’ve got

scary symptoms like severe pain, bloody stools,

vaginal bleeding that’s not your period, or

unexplained weight loss, you should see a

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2/10

Photo: /Repeatly

doctor, stat.)

But if you’re just suffering from general

discomfort and can pinpoint a few possible

causes, she recommends a simple process of

elimination to nab the real antagonist. “Tackle

one thing at a time—and go with the simplest

thing first,” she recommends.

Ready to become the Nancy Drew ofyour digestive tract? Read on todiscover nine unexpected reasons whyyou might be bloated, even if yourdiet’s on point.

1. Texting and eating

Those who talk on the phone or scroll through

GET STARTED

NRAH

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Instagram while scarfing down their

#saddesklunch, this one’s for you: According to

Dr. Chutkan, aerophagia—aka swallowing air—

is becoming more prevalent as multitasking

takes over. If you breathe through your mouth

—be it from seasonal allergies or an intense

workout—you’re also highly susceptible.

“A lot of people with aerophagia feel like they

have acid reflux, but they’ve been on drugs for

months and aren’t any better,” says Dr.

Chutkan. “There’s often a waxing and waning

to it; they don’t necessarily start the day

feeling full.”

The Cure: Eat slowly and ; don’t

drink anything while you’re eating; ditch your

chewing gum habit; .

mindfully

practice deep breathing

,

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3/10

Photo: /Repeatly

2. Depression

Not only is there a link between low

and depression—which can

lead to constipation and bloating—but

bloating is also a common side effect among

many of the drugs used to treat the

disease. Talk about a downer.

The Cure: Dr. Chutkan recommends

considering talk therapy before pills when

appropriate, as well as adding in a daily sweat

session to your routine (if there isn’t already

one in there). “Movement helps to lift the

mood, and it doesn’t have to be intense to get

a little bit of an endorphin rush,” she says.

(Not sure where to start? are

pretty much guaranteed to make you happier.)

Beige Renegade

serotonin

levels in the gut

These moves

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4/10

Photo: Stocksy/Xiaoxian Cheng

3. Dehydration

Just because you’re drinking

doesn’t mean you’re totally

quenched. Along with well-known hydration

hijackers like soda and coffee, we also sap our

water reserves when we pop an antihistamine

or spend too much time in air conditioning.

And when this happens, says Dr. Chutkan, our

intestines lose their lubrication and stagnation

occurs. Cue bloating!

The cure: Keep tabs on the color of your urine

—the lighter, the better. Make sure you’re

keeping up with your water intake even if you

don’t feel thirsty, and consuming lots of

hydrating foods (like these

).

,

eight glasses of

water a day

beauty-boosting

smoothies

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5/10

Photo: Stocksy/Studio Firma

4. Appendectomies

If you had your appendix out as a kid, you may

be exceptionally prone to bloating as an adult.

“The appendix is super important. What I see

is that people who have their appendix out

often have way worse bloating, particularly

after an infectious episode, because they don’t

have that reserve of good gut bacteria that the

appendix is supplying,” says Dr. Chutkan. (She

notes that the appendix harbors a reserve of

these friendly microbes for emergency

situations.)

The Cure: Keep your microbiome strong by

steering clear of antibiotics unless they’re

really necessary—no, the sniffles don’t count.

,

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6/10

Photo: Stocksy/Natasa Mandic

7/10

5. Skipping meals

Here’s yet another reason to

. “If there are long periods of time

where nothing’s moving through the gut, it

becomes a little bit inactive,” says Dr. Chutkan.

That makes bloating even more likely the next

time you do eat.

The Cure: Make sure to fuel up on a regular

basis, even if it’s just a snack. This

is a brilliant place to start.

6. Haywire hormones

,

never go without

breakfast

gut-healthy

breakfast

,

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Photo: Stocksy/Melanie Defazio

8/10

There are many factors that contribute to

in women—a condition

that’s linked to bloating— but Dr. Chutkan says

that without a doubt, artificial

hormones, including the birth control pill, are

primarily to blame. (She’s not the only doctor

who says .)

The Cure: Along with considering

, Dr. Chutkan says to

avoid , like those found in

conventionally-raised produce and meat,

plastics, and cleaning supplies.

7. Post-workout pain meds

If you pop an Advil to avoid feeling sore after

estrogen dominance

BCP is wrecking our gut health

alternative

methods of birth control

xenoestrogens

,

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Photo: /Repeatly

9/10

your long-distance runs, you could be giving

your gut a serious pounding. “

, but because there’s

so much marketing of these drugs, there’s this

perception that they’re benign,” says Dr.

Chutkan.

The Cure: Use over-the-counter pain meds

sparingly—and opt for holistic options (like

). “Every

time you take something, you have to do a

risk-benefit analysis,” says Dr. Chutkan.

“There’s nothing you can take with no side

effect. And the place you’re most likely to see a

side effect is in your gut.”

8. Desk jobs

See Want Shop

NSAIDS are

super toxic to the GI tract

this trigger point-releasing yoga pose

,

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Photo: Unsplash/Jeff Sheldon

10/10

Sitting all day is a major cause of bloating,

since it causes your GI tract to move at a

glacial pace. “A lot of the people I see are

lawyers—they’re literally at their desk for 14

hours in a row, five days a week, and then

sitting even more at home,” says Dr. Chutkan.

(Even among non-lawyers, this might sound

familiar.) “It’s horrible for the gut, because

we’re meant to be on the move.”

The Cure: Invest in a or, at

minimum, schedule walking (or !)

breaks throughout the day to get your bowels

moving.

9. Stress

You already know that stress is bad for you—

treadmill desk

workout

,

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Photo: Stocksy/TJ Macke

but you can add “bloating” to the long list of

reasons why. Evolutionarily speaking, says Dr.

Chutkan, “when a T-Rex is upon us and we

have to get away from it, it shunts blood flow

away from the digestive tract to the big

muscles in the legs and the heart so you can

run.”

The problem today? “Unfortunately, a T-Rex is

upon us every 20 minutes.” Not only do these

constant stress signals slow down our gut

movement, but they also can affect the pH of

the digestive tract as well as enzyme and acid

secretion.

The Cure: Meditate—here’s a

that may help you—or check out some

of these other . And if

you’re rolling your eyes and saying ‘Tried that,

still bloated,’ consider speaking to a mental

health professional or investigating gut-

five-minute

exercise

natural anxiety fixes

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directed hypnotherapy (yes, it’s a thing).

Beating bloat isn’t just about what you cut

out—try adding in

. You might also want to

try taking or figuring

out your .

some of these digestive

hero ingredients

digestive enzymes

gut type

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