How Do I Get Rid of Bloating?
- Gut Honest Truth
- Aug 31, 2021
- 7 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
The answer might surprise you...
Welcome to the Gut Honest Truth blog where a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner gives you digestible information to tackle your chronic health concerns.
That’s me, Katie Morra; and in this blog I am going to talk about the who, how, when, why's of bloating. We will dive into the most common contributors and how to relieve bloating and relieve symptoms.
Side note- If you want an even deeper dive into understanding and improving IBS - check out my "How to Get Rid of Your IBS" e-book.
And as always, working one-on-one for your specific needs is always our top recommendation, check out our appointment options to get started with one of our licensed health care professionals today.
We've all experienced it, we all slightly fear it, we all know that one person that constantly complains about it... but how deep of an understanding do we actually have around chronic abdominal bloating?
Abdominal distention, or bloating, is a common gastrointestinal complaint characterized by trapped gas, abdominal pressure, and fullness. Generally speaking, it is the result of air that's been confined somewhere in the gastrointestinal tract and is now causing pain or discomfort.
Before we dive deep, I want to make it known that a certain level of bloat after you eat is normal. You've just added food and liquid volume to your stomach — a degree of distention should be expected. The stomach naturally distends after eating to allow room for proper digestion.
Bloating only becomes a potential issue when it's a consistent occurrence and/or it is accompanied by pain and discomfort. And it's important to mention: the shame we often experience around bloating has absolutely no place here. Your body is doing its best to protect you under your current circumstances. Please extend grace and love to yourself as you continue along your healing journey.
I'm sure you've tried the basics — reducing carbonated drinks, eating slowly, taking probiotics, watching fiber intake, cutting processed foods, drinking more water, trying peppermint oil or ginger tea, eliminating gum and sugar alcohols. Some of you may have even tried a low FODMAP diet and ruled out lactose intolerance, IBS, Celiac Disease, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Maybe you had a little success, but nothing that stuck.
Let me introduce you to the six main reasons people struggle with chronic bloating — that almost no one is talking about.
6 Main Contributors to Chronic Bloat:
Insufficient digestive output
SIBO/SIFO
Low thyroid function
Food sensitivities
Stress
Hormonal imbalances
Low Digestive Output
We often only think of stomach acid when we think about digestion. But there are actually three separate yet deeply connected outputs your body relies on: stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, and bile. Each has a specific job, and when they're working together in proper amounts, digestion runs smoothly. When any one of them is off, the whole system feels it.
Digestive Enzymes
Digestive enzymes are produced by the pancreas and assist in breaking down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. When enzyme output is low, undigested food particles pass into the intestines, where they can become a fuel source for pathogenic bacteria, yeasts, and parasites — and a direct driver of gas and bloating.
Bile
Bile is made in the liver and stored in the gallbladder. If the gallbladder isn't functioning optimally, is inflamed, or has been removed, digesting fats becomes a real challenge. Floating stools are often a sign of fat malabsorption (steatorrhea) and a clue that bile output may be insufficient.
Stomach Acid
Stomach acid is the conductor of your entire digestive orchestra. It signals the release of both pancreatic enzymes and bile, and without adequate levels, the whole process downstream is compromised.
Stomach acid is responsible for:
Breaking down proteins and nutrients for absorption
Orchestrating the full digestive process
Stimulating enzyme and bile production
Acting as your first line of defense against pathogens
When stomach acid is low, food moves to the small intestine in a partially digested state — and your body responds with bloating, gas, and discomfort.
Signs of low stomach acid:
Gas or bloating immediately after eating
Undigested food in stool
Nausea after supplements
Nutrient deficiencies
Multiple food sensitivities
Weak, peeling fingernails
Itching around the rectum
A simple at-home test: Mix 1/4 tsp of baking soda into 8oz of water and drink it first thing in the morning before eating. If you burp within 5 minutes, your acid production is likely adequate. If it takes longer, your stomach acid may need support.
Want to go deeper? I cover further testing and HCl retraining in detail in my IBS e-book.
SIBO/SIFO
Do you experience most of your bloating 1-2 hours after eating, and does it tend to get worse throughout the day? This pattern is a classic sign of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) or Small Intestinal Fungal Overgrowth (SIFO).
The small intestine is meant to be a relatively low-bacteria environment. Its primary job is to digest food and absorb nutrients — not to house large colonies of bacteria or fungi. When overgrowth occurs, those microorganisms feed on undigested carbohydrates and produce gas as a byproduct. The result is bloating, excess gas, pain, and inflammation.
Common causes of SIBO:
Low digestive output
Adhesions or structural issues
Slowed motility
Medications (especially antibiotics or PPIs)
Food-borne illness
Chronic stress
SIBO is complicated — there are different types, and treatment approaches vary. But it's absolutely worth ruling out if you've been dealing with chronic bloating that hasn't responded to the basics. We test for SIBO regularly at GHT and can help you build a targeted protocol for addressing it.
Low Thyroid Function
Your thyroid is the master regulator of your metabolism — think of it as the team captain. It controls how well you digest and absorb food, utilize energy, and move things through your GI tract. When thyroid function is low (hypothyroidism), everything slows down — including gut motility. Slower movement through the intestines creates the perfect environment for bloating and gas to build.
Here's what I see constantly in practice: patients who have had their thyroid "checked" and been told everything looks normal — but only TSH was tested, maybe T4. That's like looking at the tip of an iceberg and assuming there's nothing underneath.
A complete thyroid panel should include: TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies (TPO and TgAb). Only when you see the full picture can you understand how well your thyroid is actually functioning.
If you suspect your thyroid may be contributing to your bloating, the first step is getting properly tested. I cover optimal functional ranges and what to do with your results in my Thyroid e-book.
Food Sensitivities
Food sensitivities are different from food allergies — reactions can occur anywhere from a few hours to 72 hours after eating, making them notoriously difficult to identify on your own. They're also often dose-dependent, meaning a small amount of a trigger food may not cause symptoms, but a larger portion will.
Many people jump straight to eliminating gluten and dairy, but those aren't automatic triggers for everyone. Cutting foods without properly identifying your personal triggers can actually backfire — increasing food-related stress and reducing the dietary diversity your gut microbiome needs.
The goal of any dietary adjustment should always include a plan to reintroduce foods. Identify the triggers, reduce them temporarily, heal the gut, and work toward bringing those foods back. The gold standard for doing this is a structured elimination and reintroduction protocol with guidance — not just cutting things out indefinitely.
Stress
It wouldn't be a GHT blog without talking about stress. Stress directly suppresses stomach acid production — which we've already established as a root driver of bloating. But beyond that, stress shuts digestion down in real time.
Here's why: when your body perceives stress (whether that's a lion chasing you or your boss sending a passive-aggressive email), blood and energy get redirected away from your digestive tract and toward your extremities, preparing you to fight or flee. Your body cannot tell the difference between a physical threat and a psychological one. Every stress response during a meal means your digestion is essentially paused.
And it's not just big, obvious stressors. Feelings of unpredictability, lack of control, and even your own thoughts about how stressed you are all trigger the same physiological response.
Practical ways to support your nervous system:
Working with a therapist
Building routines with intentional, joy-producing habits (baths, reading, movement you enjoy)
Practicing breathwork like box breathing
Eating meals without screens — even 10 minutes of calm before eating can shift your nervous system into a more digestive-friendly state
Spending time with people who regulate you, not drain you
Hormonal Imbalances
When it comes to bloating and hormones, progesterone is the most common culprit. During the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle (roughly days 14-28), shifting estrogen and progesterone levels drive water retention — which often shows up as that frustrating end-of-cycle bloat.
While some fluctuation is normal, significant or debilitating hormonal bloating usually signals an underlying imbalance worth investigating. Gut health, stomach acid, nutrient status, and stress all directly impact hormone metabolism — so often, when we address those root causes, hormonal symptoms improve as well.
Our most recommended way to assess estrogen and progesterone levels is a DUTCH test, which gives a comprehensive picture of how your hormones are being produced and metabolized.
Bonus: Quick Tips to Reduce Bloating
Fiber: Aim for 25-35g/day, but increase slowly. Too much too fast is a bloating trigger in itself.
Ginger: One of the best natural anti-inflammatory foods. Add it to tea, soups, or stir-fries.
Peppermint: Clinically shown to support digestion and reduce bloating. Peppermint tea throughout the day is an easy way to incorporate it.
Cooked over raw vegetables: Raw veggie fiber is harder to break down and can worsen bloating, especially if digestive output is already low.
Reduce sodium: Processed and packaged foods drive water retention. Eat high-water foods like cucumber and watermelon to offset this.
Slow down at meals: Chewing thoroughly and eating without rushing is one of the most underrated things you can do for digestion.
If you've been plagued with constant bloating, the chances are high that one or more of the categories above is contributing — and the good news is that with proper testing and targeted support, this is very addressable.
Some bloating is normal. A constant state of discomfort is not. You deserve answers, and you deserve to feel your best.
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