EP.272/ Listener questions: How do I reduce endo belly bloating?
Okay, so this week’s listener question is “How do I reduce bloating in the moment?”. So, this person is looking for short-term strategies for when bloating kicks in.
Now, before I answer this, what I want us to consider is why the bloating is happening in the first place. There is always a root cause and so the key to long-term relief with the endo belly, is to work out the root cause of your endo belly. It might be SIBO, gut dysbiosis which is an imbalance of bacteria in your intestines, it might be inflammation, a food intolerance or it might even be adhesions affecting the flow of digestion. All of these are very possible with endometriosis and it’s likely that there’s not just one root cause, but perhaps two or even a handful.
If that sounds overwhelming, don’t worry – often when we start healing one of these root causes, the others improve too. Additionally, if you do want to start working on your gut health with endo long-term and you want to identify your own root causes, I do have a series of episodes dedicated to the steps I take my own clients through for endo belly healing, and I’ve linked those in the show notes for you. If you’d rather have a bit more personalised guidance, my course, The Endo Belly Protocol, literally takes you through your own endo belly healing journey, though I will say it’s not available to purchase at the moment, but if you sign up to my newsletter, you’ll always be the first to know when I’m running a course.
But today, we’re focusing on short-term symptom reduction, so we’re looking at what could help us in the moment that bloating hits. Now, what works for you will really depend on your body and your own root causes, but today I am sharing some of the things I see as being most successful and covering a range of possible triggers. Before I start, please consult your doctor if you decide to try any of these supplements.
Body work and movement
Number 1 is about body work or movement. If your endo belly is being caused by a build-up of gas or an interrupted digestive flow, perhaps due to adhesions, tight fascia, or even pelvic floor issues, we want to try and help to release that gas or digestive flow and get things moving again
Something I w.ant to note is that people often don’t know that they’re gassy. If you’re bloated and your stomach is expanding badly, especially after meals or as the day goes on, there’s a high chance that at least some of this is driven by gas build up. And if it’s getting trapped and is not being released, you won’t always know that it’s gas, because firstly, you’re not passing it, so it’s not like you’re noticing lots of wind, and secondly, you don’t always feel gas moving or causing pain, even when it’s trapped.
So, anyway, I just wanted to make you aware of that because often people don’t think they’re gassy because they don’t actively have wind, but if you’re bloating, the chances are, gas is going to be at least in part, behind that.
So back to our first strategy and that’s movement or body work.
The I Love You Massage is a self-massage you can perform quickly – it takes anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes, and it’s designed specifically to help digestion, ease gas, bloating, constipation, etc. The best bit about the massage is you can watch tutorials of it for free, on YouTube and I’ve linked to the video I use with clients in the show notes.
If you want something a little more advanced or endo focused, I do have a previous course student who is also a trained massage therapist and she has designed her own endo belly massage which is also available on YouTube, and I’ve linked to that in the show notes too.
You can also try movement, as exercise is very helpful for helping the passage of wind and food through the digestive tract. There are many debloating yoga stretches and moves on YouTube and I’ve linked to one in the show notes. Additionally, going for a 10-minute walk when the bloating kicks in or even bouncing up and down on a rebounder or trampoline, can really help to get things moving. If you’ve literally just eaten, I’d keep with the walk or gentle stretches so you don’t actually disrupt digestion, but if you ate say more than an hour ago, you can get on that rebounder and get jumping.
Supplements
Next up is symptom relief supplements.
Typically, with my Endo Belly Protocol course students, I use specific individual supplements, which I’ll talk to you about briefly shortly, but I may have something even more effective for you – and before I dive into this, this is not sponsored. The company have no idea who I am, and I purchased this supplement myself, so I am not being influenced to say this in any way. Okay, let’s get to it.
Recently, after I broke my ribs, I was experiencing really severe bloating constantly. It was literally like my body shape changed and I needed to find some relief as my usual go-to supplements weren’t making any difference and the pressure was actually hurting my breaks.
I had been curious about the brand Arrae because they have a bloat supplement which is clinically proven to work, to a pretty staggering degree and of course, working with so many endo belly clients, I wanted to test it for myself anyway, so I knew whether to recommend the brand or not.
So, here are their findings:
· 74% of participants reported less IBS symptoms and gassiness
· Shown to reduce bloating by up to 86%
· Reduces IBS symptoms by 77%
· 74% of participants experienced improvements with 1-2 hours of taking Arrae
Those are just some of the results from their third-party tested clinical study and I’ve linked to their research for you to have a read if you’re interested, but you can see the results are pretty incredible.
Arrae use a blend of evidenced-based natural ingredients including ginger and peppermint, which you all know are two of my favourites for bloating relief, as well as ingredients like bromelain, which is a digestive enzyme and dandelion root, which helps bile production.
I’m not sure how they got their blend so right, but I’ve never experienced bloating relief like it, in my entire life (other than when I was on the elemental diet for SIBO) and I’ve tried literally all of these ingredients individually. For me, I found they did work to a degree after meals, they sort of helped with that discomfort and would take the severe bloat down to a moderate bloat, but it was the results I saw over time that I found the most staggering. After a few days, my stomach was flat, pretty much all the time, unless I ate a real trigger food or had a big meal, but even with those times, the bloating was short-lived. Not only was I less swollen in my stomach, but I was less swollen and puffy everywhere, which is likely down to the ginger calming inflammation and the dandelion root which supports kidney function, helping to drain excess water.
Now, Arrae is, in my opinion, expensive. I haven’t been able to buy it since then because it’s about £50 for a month’s supply – and I really have noticed the difference of not being on it and I would love to get some back, but as they ship from America, the import fee is about 20%, plus shipping, so it really adds up.
My suggestion is, if you can afford it or you live in the USA, so you don’t have to worry about the shipping or taxes, then try this out, because I really think it’s worth at least giving it a shot.
But if you’re not in the USA or you want something cheaper, I would consider ginger, peppermint, or charcoal supplements. You can get lots of these digestive relief capsules over the counter at health food shops, so go and have a look at the range of options available to you in your country.
Targeting inflammation
If your endo belly is being caused by intestinal inflammation or pelvic inflammation from your endo itself or your period etc., you can try ginger.
Ginger root powder is an incredibly effective tool for reducing menstrual pain, inflammation and intestinal bloating and discomfort. When we are in pain from our periods or endo, the main culprit behind that pain is high levels of an inflammatory chemical called prostaglandin E2, and ginger root powder has been shown in studies to lower these levels.
Additionally, it helps to speed up the migrating motor complex, which is the house keeping of the small intestine. It is a process which clears the small intestine of feed debris, gas, and bacteria, and so can help with bloating by moving these down and out of the small intestine.
The dose we use for bloating flares is 1000mg an 1-2 hours after meals, and this is most easily done in capsule form. Whilst ginger is very safe, the maximum dose should be no more than 2000mg a day, and if you’re pregnant or on medication, you must discuss this with your doctor, especially if you’re on any blood thinning medications, because ginger is a natural blood thinner. The same goes for if you have a surgery coming up, please talk to your surgeon in advance, in case they want you to come off it ahead of time.
I will say it’s very hard to get this specific amount over the counter in supplements, so I recommend either getting some ginger supplements and just following the label dose, or finding a herbalist who can create these capsules for you.
Consider what you’re eating and how you’re eating it
Lastly, this is a sort of bonus tip because it’s not actually going to reduce bloating in the moment, but more so prevent it – and that’s to consider what you’re eating and how you’re eating.
Is it possible that you’re eating certain foods you’re intolerant to or have a sensitivity to? Or would you be better off eating foods that are lower in fermentable carbohydrates for a period of time, by following the low fodmap diet or the fodmap lite by Dr Megan Rossi?
This is not an easy question or an easy fix, and I would recommend you either work with someone, take a course or at the minimum, read a book by a professional, to help you with this process, so you don’t get stuck on a limited diet for a long time. These therapeutic diets to identify intolerances and calm the gut are really only supposed to be short-term, 4 or so weeks at the most, but many people end up restricting for months or years and we really don’t want that because it’ll cause more problems with your gut and overall health further down the line.
But what I did want to say as a little tip is, if you’ve got a big event and you’re worried about bloating, say you’re eating out for something like a wedding or a birthday, you could choose foods that are a little lower in fermentable carbs. You don’t have to go full low fodmap or weigh out the foods the waiter is bringing out, but if you know there are some high fodmap foods that don’t always agree with you, like cauliflower, but there are some lower fodmap foods that do agree with you, you could perhaps choose a dish more focused around those. That’s just an idea if you’re panicking about a meal out and having a flare, but it’s certainly not a long-term solution and shouldn’t be your go-to way of managing your gut health because it can encourage longer-term restriction and disordered eating patterns.
And then my second tip within this is, are you rushing your food, eating when stressed or not chewing properly? Your digestion needs to be switched on to actually work, and when you’re stressed, rushing, or not chewing properly, it switches off and slows down, resulting in bloating. So, consider the way you’re eating as well, not just what you’re eating, and see if you can make any changes.
As I said at the start of this episode, we really do want to look at long-term resolution rather than short-term symptom relief, but as someone with chronic SIBO – I get it. Sometimes you just need a little help.
I really hope these tips do bring you some relief and if you decide you want to go that step further and start investigating the root causes, definitely check out the other episodes I’ve linked to in the show notes.
Show Notes
Endo belly podcast episodes
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/10-root-causes-of-bloating-with-endometriosis-endo-belly-ibs
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/what-is-the-endo-belly-endometriosis-ibs
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endo-belly-treatment-endometriosis-ibs
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endo-belly-treatment-endometriosis-ibs
Body work and massage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTOkKVlBHzk&t=9s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMMjCSlvdsY&list=PLDputRBPsHFQ13MwZcuWPUx1akvkUCdjg&index=14
Arrea
Peppermint
https://bmccomplementmedtherapies.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12906-018-2409-0
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11207510/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24100754/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26319955/
Charcoal
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3717809/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3521259/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7015846/
Ginger
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30423929/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10442508/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16865831/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24390893/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17545109/
https://www.europeanreview.org/article/10145
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3958926/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18403946/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25912592/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23612703/
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This episode is sponsored by Semaine. Semaine is a plant-based supplement for reducing period pain and inflammation, that you take for 7 days of your cycle, during your period. Semaine is made up of 9 super-powered plant extracts and minerals that are all vegan and sourced for maximum quality and bioavailability and selected based on the latest clinical research. If you want to try Semaine, they are currently offering 20% off your first order with code: THEENDOBELLYCOACH and they deliver worldwide! Head to: www.semainehealth.com
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Produced by Chris Robson