Causes of Stomach Bloating Unveiled

Table of Contents

Stomach bloating has become a public health concern in the current times. There are many causes of stomach bloating. Firstly, let us define bloating by posing this question: What is stomach bloating?

Definition of Stomach Bloating

This definition is important because we cannot understand the causes of stomach bloating unless know its definition. Stomach bloating is defined as a feeling of having a “swollen stomach” because your “bloated stomach” is full of gas.

You have an accumulation of gas, because of some reasons that we can avoid and some that we cannot avoid.

Examples of unavoidable causes of stomach bloating include:

Gastritis
fluid retention
Cancers
irritable bowel syndrome
inflammatory bowel disease
heartburn
weight gain
food intolerance
hormonal flux
functional gastrointestinal disorders
infections (Bacterial, parasitic, viral)
acid reflux disease
constipation
intestinal obstruction
dyspepsia (Indigestion)
premenstrual syndrome
celiac disease or gluten intolerance

Examples of avoidable causes of stomach bloating include:

eating gas-causing foods
Wrong eating habits (Eating while talking, eating too fast, opening your mouth too wide while eating, overeating)
chewing gum

This blog is committed to enlightening you on everything you wanted to know about the causes of stomach bloating. We are also committed to bringing you practical remedies to this problem.

It is a fact that you cannot be able to fight something unknown to you. Once you understand the causes of bloating, only then can you prevent bloating.

Additionally, you can mitigate the effects of abdominal bloating as well based on that knowledge.

Bloating is not something that should worry you so much but that depends on the cause. It also depends on the frequency of abdominal bloating.

If you experience stomach bloating after eating nearly every meal, then that should worry you. That is something that can even affect the success of your day-to-day work.

Let us now discuss some of the most important causes of stomach bloating:

1. Unavoidable or Medical Causes of Stomach Bloating

We term these causes of bloating unavoidable causes because you have little or no control over them.

a. Gastritis

Gastritis is the inflammation of the lining of your stomach. It is the bacterial infection that causes this situation. Helicobacter pylori aka H. pylori is particularly associated with this.

Other causes of gastritis include excessive drinking of alcohol. Some patients that use analgesics (pain killers) for a long time are also likely to suffer gastritis.

The most obvious symptom of this condition is a feeling of “Burning sensation” in the upper part of your abdomen.

This may happen every time you eat. It can also happen even before you eat for some people. The most common sign of gastritis is abdominal bloating.

b. Dyspepsia

Dyspepsia is the medical term for “indigestion”. This happens when you eat food yet the food is not broken down in the stomach. This leaves you feeling “Too full – Bloated” even long after that meal.

But in functional dyspepsia, the cause is not unbroken down food. It just happens without an obvious reason.

For some people, this discomfort makes them prefer skipping meals instead. Skipping meals is not advisable – from a nutritionist’s perspective. But you could be compelled by circumstances.

Indigestion can make you unable to deliver on your mandate at the workplace. This is something that can make you lose your job. You don’t want things to take such an ugly turn, do you?

c. Cancers

Some types of cancers of the abdomen make the patient have abdominal bloating as one of the signs of the disease. Examples of such cancers include:

Cholangiocarcinoma (Biliary duct tumors)
Hepatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Stomach cancer
Renal system cancer
Lymphomas
Tumors of the gall bladder

Although bloating, in this case, may not be a determinant of the cancer prognosis, it may complicate the palliative care being given to the patient.

d. Fluid retention

Water is an important aspect of the normal physiological functions of the body. However, it should be well balanced to make you feel normal.

When this balance is distorted, you are likely to feel you have a “Bloated upper abdomen”. Relief is achieved by draining the excess fluid from the body.

e. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a condition that manifests in the colon part of your gut. It is not a very serious problem for many people but can be a cause of concern in some people.

There are various causes of IBS. These include reduction in the gut normal flora (Good abdominal bacteria), nervous system problems, gut infections, and intestinal muscle problems.

One of the most common symptoms of IBS is frequently having a bloated stomach. Other symptoms of this disorder include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and cramping.

f. Acid Reflux Disease

Acid reflux disease is a condition where the stomach acid frequently moves up your stomach and irritates the esophagus.

This happens when the lower esophageal sphincter muscle valve becomes incompetent. It cannot close properly after food enters the stomach.

**Bloating Discomfort Can Arise from Acid Reflux Disease**

One of the most common symptoms of this disease is a “Bloated stomach”. Other signs and symptoms include heartburn, the sourness of the throat and mouth, nausea, vomiting, burping, or belching among others.

g. Celiac Disease

This disease is also known as gluten-sensitive enteropathy. It is a condition in which your body does not tolerate a gluten diet.

The immune system mounts an immune response that gives rise to many undesirable signs and symptoms. One such symptom is a bloated stomach and gas.

The unfortunate thing is that this disease does not have a cure. The only way to manage it is a lifestyle change. You have to adopt a gluten-free diet and the symptoms go away as a result.

There is a need to adopt such a lifestyle change as quickly as possible because this disease can have serious complications. The intestinal lining can be damaged completely.

This may cause a lot of pain and give rise to ulcers and anemia.

h. Abdominal Infections – Among Vital Causes of Stomach bloating

Bacterial viral or parasitic infections can cause a gas build-up in your stomach. This is particularly so for the infection with Helicobacter pylori and Escherichia coli. These are gas-producing bacteria when they ferment carbohydrates.

Infection with Giardia lamblia which is a flagellate protozoon parasite also causes gas accumulation in the stomach.

Some gut viral infections, for instance, rotavirus also cause stomach bloating alongside other symptoms like gut inflammation, pain, and vomiting.

Regardless of the type of infection, a bloated stomach resulting from this is unlikely to improve before you see your doctor for treatment.

The elimination of the infectious agent will reduce the production of gas in your gut and hence reduce bloating as well.

2. Avoidable Causes of Stomach Bloating

Stomach bloating can be caused by simple undesirable eating habits that we can rectify. They are habits that some of us are so used to, that we never associate them with the bloating that we experience.

Let us now discuss these habits and how they cause abdominal bloating:

a. Wrong eating habits

For a long time, people have casually talked about “table manners” when they imply that one should be quiet while eating. This is no longer a joke when it comes to bloating.

If you continue talking while eating, you swallow a lot of gas into your abdomen. This will happen whether you’re talking to people face-to-face or talking on the phone.

**Eating While Talking is one of the Causes of Stomach Bloating**

You will also swallow air if you unnecessarily open your mouth too wide while eating. Overeating and eating too fast will also contribute to the air you take in.

Therefore, the air you swallow will cause the buildup of gases in the gut and cause you to have a “Bloated Belly”. I believe this can be avoided and save you from trouble.

b. Eating Gas-producing food

There are many types of foods that have now been medically recognized as gas-producing foods.

**Gas-producing Foods like Beans are Among the Causes of Stomach Bloating**

If you eat these foods, within a short time, you will have a bloated stomach. This particularly becomes a big problem if you eat these foods while you are away from home.

You’ll immediately need to go to the toilet and empty your bowel to get relief. It is one of the natural or home remedies for a bloated stomach.

Some of such foods include:

Beans
Lactose (Milk sugar)
Cabbage
Fructose (Sugar in artichokes)
Onions
Sugars in soft drinks
Brussels sprouts
Lentils
Wheat and wheat products
Pears
Broccoli
Asparagus

c. Chewing gum – Most Avoidable Cause of Stomach bloating

Many of us like chewing gum even as we claim that we are seeking to have a fresh-smelling mouth. Others have made it just a hobby to chew gum at all times.

This can be a big contributor to the “bloated abdomen” that is making you uncomfortable. There can be many other ways of keeping your breath fresh as we shall discuss under prevention of stomach bloating.

Signs and Symptoms of Stomach Bloating

The main thing that manifests bloating is the feeling of a “Swollen belly”. You will also feel the urge to “belch” all the time when you have a bloated stomach.

Belching is the production of gas through your mouth. It can be relieving but is sometimes painful to your abdomen.

Flatulence or “farting” is another sign that your stomach is bloated. Flatulence which means the same as farting is producing air through the anus.

This can be embarrassing, especially when you are out with friends or colleagues. But it is one of the best ways to get a bloating relief when it is most discomforting.

Investigation of Stomach Bloating

There are no laboratory tests conducted to diagnose abdominal bloating. The symptoms that we have explained above are the best indicators that you have stomach bloating.

That means, you indeed can conclude that you have abdominal bloating by yourself even before you see your doctor.

If you feel the fullness of the abdomen, farting or flatulence, belching particularly soon after eating, what you are suffering from could be a “bloated stomach”.

Conclusion

Although stomach bloating can be a bother especially if it happens with high frequency and comes with abdominal pain, you can still live a normal life.

All you need to do is to use recommended remedies and change your lifestyle where appropriate.