Feeling bloated or gassy? You’re not alone. Abdominal bloating and gas are among the most common digestive complaints that doctors hear from patients.

A 2022 survey that included close to 90,000 people found that about 14% of all Americans reported experiencing stomach bloating in the previous seven days. And among bloating sufferers, close to 60% reported never having sought medical care for this problem. In other words, most people who experience bloating and abdominal distension seem to have resigned themselves to just dealing with it on their own.

“Bloating” is term that people often use to refer to different experiences. For some, “bloating” actually means “distension,” or a waistline that protrudes significantly from its more typical, flatter baseline. This type of distended belly bloating bothers some people largely because of how it looks. They may think a protruding tummy makes them look pregnant. Others are frustrated when that swollen stomach sticks around even after weight loss.

But for others, bloating is less about looks and more about discomfort. “Bloating” in this case can often refer to a feeling of discomfort and overfullness that is not commensurate with what or how much they eat. This subjective feeling of fullness, tightness or discomfort may or may not actually be accompanied by a visibly distended abdomen.

Often, bloating can be accompanied by other gastrointestinal symptoms, and these can offer clues as to the nature and origin of the bloating. For example, patients may describe belching, nausea, early fullness or heartburn that accompany their bloated bellies, suggesting the nature of their bloating originates with a problem in the stomach. Others may describe flatulence (farting), lower abdominal gas pains or cramping or irregular bowel movements that accompany their bloated bellies, suggesting the nature of their bloating originates in the intestines.

If you’re ready to get rid of abdominal bloating, here’s what you should know.

What Is Stomach Bloating?

The terms bloating and abdominal distension are often used interchangeably. Technically, bloating is a temporary feeling of fullness, usually due to intestinal gas, while abdominal distension refers to a visible, measurable increase in the stomach’s size. Passing gas, belching or having a bowel movement may or may not provide relief.

Bloating and distention are symptoms, however, not conditions of their own. There are dozens of conditions that may be accompanied by bloating and/or distension, ranging from lactose intolerance and constipation to more serious conditions like colorectal or ovarian cancer. While many causes of bloating are caused by or worsened by certain foods, not all bloating has a specific dietary culprit underlying. Some causes of bloating do not originate in the digestive system, such as like hypothyroidism or endometriosis.

Solutions to bloating are not one-size-fits-all. If you’re committed to getting to the bottom of your bloating, you and your doctor or GI-trained dietitian will need to do some detective work.

Stomach bloating explained

You can feel overfull when you hit up against the limits of your stomach’s natural ability to expand, or stretch, in response to eating a meal. Your stomach muscle is about the size of a fist at rest, but its muscular walls are designed to expand quite a bit to accommodate large amounts of food; this function is called “gastric accommodation.” Until the stomach completes its work of churning and breaking down food with digestive enzymes, it’s natural to feel temporarily full after a substantial lunch or supper.

In some cases, however, the stomach may have impaired stretchiness that makes you feel as though you’ve overeaten even when you’ve eaten only a modest amount; this is called impaired gastric accommodation. Therefore, one of the first steps in relieving this type of bloating is to consume smaller portions more frequently rather than fewer, larger meals. There are some over-the-counter herbal remedies that can help with this type of bloating as well.

Visible distension – or a pregnant-looking appearance – can often result from abnormal nerve reflexes that govern how the diaphragm and abdominal wall muscles coordinate in response to food or gas moving through the gastrointestinal tract. These abnormal reflexes can result in an exaggerated protrusion of the abdomen after eating, drinking liquids or harboring even “normal” amounts of intestinal gas. This type of neuromuscular dysfunction is sometimes treated with a therapy called biofeedback, or in some cases with nerve modulating medications.

Of course, a belly that isn’t perfectly flat 24 hours per day is perfectly normal; our abdominal walls are stretchy by design so that they can accommodate multiple organs, the varying contents of our digestive tracts and bladders, and for some people, the uterus as well. Gestating children would be an impossibility if the abdominal wall was not pliable!

Bloating Symptoms

What Causes Bloating?

Dr. Hardeep Singh, a gastroenterologist with St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, California, says bloating can develop from several causes. Dietary problems are the most common, he says, with intolerance of certain food products leading the way. A food intolerance, or food sensitivity, means your digestive system can’t break down specific foods, which can lead to excess gas and bloating. “Typical intolerances include dairy, but people can be intolerant to almost anything,” he says.

Which foods cause bloating?

Some problem foods are more likely to cause bloating, while other foods may help prevent it.

Other causes of stomach bloating

There are many possibilities when it comes to causes for bloating. They include:

Tips to Get Rid of Bloating

Bloating is a complex health issue that doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all treatment approach as it depends on the cause of bloating. But you may find relief with one of these bloating remedies:

1. Peppermint

Some research suggests peppermint oil may help with digestion and symptoms of bloating.

2. Massage

Gently massaging the belly may help stimulate the bowels and relieve symptoms of bloating.

3. OTC gas relief medications

Simethicone is an anti-gas medication that can help to move excess air out of the digestive tract.

4. Herbal tea

Certain herbs, such as ginger, chamomile and fennel, deliver gas-relieving properties.

5. Walking

Low-impact exercise like a walk can help your body digest and expel extra air.

6. Digestive enzymes

Digestive supplements containing ingredients like amylase, lipase, lactase, protease or HCL might help get rid of bloating quickly. These ingredients are meant to aid the digestive process and can reduce gas production.

How to Prevent Bloating

You don’t have to live with bloating, and there’s plenty you can do to alleviate bothersome or persistent symptoms.

1. Keep a food and symptom journal

Pinpointing your personal bloating triggers is the first step. This should help you figure out whether specific food triggers are associated with your bloating, Singh says. Be precise about the foods you eat, the symptoms you experience and your bowel movements, including the times of day. Every detail matters, such as vitamins, alcohol and water intake, salad dressings and even midday treats like a piece of candy or two. This information will help your doctor or dietitian identify the cause of your bloating so you can make a plan to combat it.

2. Eliminate possible food triggers

If you’ve noticed a pattern, try removing the foods that appear to trigger bloating, one at a time, to see if gas and bloating improve. Look at labels to avoid ingredients that tend to bother you. Try temporarily cutting back on high-fiber foods that aggravate bloating.

3. Consider the role of meal patterns rather than specific foods

Sometimes, it’s not what you eat but how you eat that can contribute to bloating. Skipping breakfast and concentrating a full day’s worth of eating into two larger meals may not sit as well for some people than eating three modestly sized meals and one or two snacks.  In other cases, eating large volumes of “roughage” from entrée sized salads, nighttime popcorn, nuts and berries may lead to more bloating than a diet characterized by more cooked, softer and less ‘volumetric’ foods.  People prone to constipation or difficulty emptying their bowels completely often find one or both of these meal patterns to be problematic.

4. Treat constipation

If you do not move your bowels frequently or adequately enough to feel a true sense of relief, talk to your doctor about possible remedies to improve your stool output.

5. Make related lifestyle changes to reduce swallowed air

“Eliminate gum chewing and eat slower,” Singh says. If you’re an avid gum-chewer or hard-candy sucker, you’re more likely to swallow excess air. Ditto for chugging or gulping water at the gym. Quitting smoking should also help.

6. Be mindful

Consider what could be causing your bloating and whether it’s tolerable or it’s time to make changes, Vanderwall says. A healthy, higher-fiber diet might be worth the trade-off in occasional bloating, for instance. However, she adds, if you believe that eating pace and food quantity are your problem, “this may be an area to explore and opportunity to become a more mindful eater.”

7. Try gas-reduction remedies

Over-the-counter products such as Mylanta Gas and Gas-X contain simethicone, which breaks down gas bubbles and reduces pressure within the bowels. Adding Beano (alpha galactosidase), an over-the-counter supplement, to meals containing veggies and beans can also prevent gas from these healthy but fermentable foods. If you’re lactose-intolerant, enzyme supplements like lactase can improve your digestion. There are over-the-counter supplemental enzymes available for fructose intolerance and prescription enzymes available for sucrose intolerance; a gastroenterologist can order breath testing to diagnose either of these conditions if they are suspected.

8. See a dietitian

“Registered dietitian nutritionists are well-prepared to accompany patients on their food- and nutrition-related journeys, including medical nutritional therapy for abdominal distension or bloating,” Vanderwall says. There is even a subspecialty of GI-trained dietitians who have particular expertise in helping people identify and manage digestive symptoms, including bloating. The American Gastroenterological Association maintains a national database of GI-trained dietitians on its website.

9. Visit your doctor

If bloating and related digestive problems persist, your health care provider may suggest certain tests to rule out medical conditions. “Routine labs including testing for H. pylori infection or celiac disease should be considered,” Singh says, and if indicated, your doctor may recommend an abdominal ultrasound or endoscopy to have a look at what’s happening inside your belly. In some cases, antibiotics can relieve bloating from bacterial overgrowth.

It’s possible that serious medical conditions may be the underlying cause of bloating, so the bottom line is: If issues persist, see a gastroenterologist, Singh says.

“People need to realize that this is not normal,” Vanichkachorn emphasizes. “So if patients are worried about any symptom, whether it may be related to COVID or not, they should go ahead and try to find care.”

How Do Body Type and Weight Relate to Bloating?

Carrying extra belly fat can contribute to a more visibly distended waistline, but this is distinct from “bloating,” which is not a function of fat deposition or weight gain.

Possible culprits for excess abdominal fat include cigarette smoking and chronic alcohol consumption. Smoking affects where fat is deposited in the body, tending to favor the stomach. Heavy drinking has a similar effect, particularly in people assigned male at birth. A so-called “beer gut” can really occur with any type of alcohol used in excess.

In people assigned female at birth, having an apple-shaped body type means fat is more concentrated around the midsection, as opposed to pear-shaped body types. For people who experience menopause, the distribution of fat can also change and result in more concentration in the midsection

Contrary to popular diet claims, no foods or diets can target fat loss from the belly specifically. When you lose weight, you’ll lose body fat from all over. “Spot reduction” is not really a thing when it comes to weight loss.