Bloating after eating: causes and treatment

Many people around the world are faced with the problem of bloating. Often this symptom appears after 30 years or in pregnant women. It may indicate a disease or pathology. The causes of bloating after eating and treatment are described in the article.

Why does this occur?

It can be permanent or occur periodically. A constant increase in volume usually indicates abdominal ailments. If the phenomenon is periodic, then digestion may be the cause of bloating and heaviness after eating. With this phenomenon, accumulation of liquid or gases is likely.

Why does bloating occur after eating? The reasons can be various: from the use of a large amount of soda and fatty foods to a serious ailment. The most common include the following:

1. If the diet includes foods with a lot of fiber, then gases appear in the body. Carbohydrates are easily digested, and the fermentation process starts, which leads to heaviness and bloating. Therefore, it is important to be careful when eating legumes, apples, eggs, brown bread, kvass, cabbage.
2. During eating, a person swallows air. And if he is in a hurry, loves quick snacks or talks while eating, then more air enters the stomach than is required. This causes a gastrointestinal overflow. Gas may cause nausea, sharp, short-term pain.
3. Bloating after eating can occur with large amounts of food. This is usually observed when a lot of food is eaten at one time. A large amount of salt causes flatulence. Foods high in sodium retain water and cause bloating.
4. In case of impaired intestinal motility, its movements become disordered and chaotic, which leads to irritable bowel syndrome. The person has frequent pains, periodically there are urges to a chair or constipation.
5. Heaviness and bloating after eating occurs with colitis, chronic pancreatitis, enteritis, and gastritis. Moreover, it will turn out to determine some ailments on their own. For example, if the stomach swells after eating, then this usually indicates the presence of gastritis or pancreatitis.
6. Bloating and gas after eating appear due to intestinal dysbiosis. In the large intestine, there are normal beneficial microbes, as they serve as protection against harmful microbes. If the protective properties are reduced, alien microbes appear in the intestines with their own methods of digesting food (decay and fermentation), which leads to the formation of gases.
7. Often this phenomenon torments during pregnancy. In the early stages, this is due to the high content of progesterone, with which not only the muscles of the uterus relax, but also the motor function of the intestines and stomach decreases. In the 3rd trimester, this occurs due to a noticeable increase in the uterus.
8. Another reason is congenital insufficiency of digestive enzymes, eating disorders, gastrointestinal tract diseases.
9. This may be due to constipation, when the body consumes few fibers or does not drink enough fluid to ease regular stool.

In addition to these ailments, bloating after eating occurs due to obstruction of the urinary tract, diverticulitis, appendicitis, ulcers, gallstone disease. Only a doctor can determine the type of ailment.

Constant bloating

If bloating is constant after eating, what is the cause of this? This is usually associated with a disease. This symptom often manifests itself with:

• cirrhosis of the liver;
• peritonitis;
• pancreatitis;
• dysbiosis;
• hepatoma.

Provoking factors for healthy people include:

1. Improper food intake, swallowing large portions with insufficient chewing.
2. Eating starch rich foods.
3. Love for sweets and starchy foods.
4. Consumption of soda.

Eliminate increased gas formation after treatment of the underlying disease or correction of your diet. And for this we need a consultation with a specialist.

Bloating Products

Bloating, belching after eating occurs from several foods. These include:

1. Legumes Although they are often called superfoods that perfectly replace meat, beans, lentils can lead to discomfort. This is due to the presence of difficult to digest oligosaccharides. Soak and rinse before cooking will reduce the effect.
2. Cruciferous vegetables. This is cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower. These vegetables have raffinose, which is slightly digested until it reaches the large intestine. In this situation, yogurt is required, which will increase the growth of beneficial bacteria in the colon and reduce bloating after eating.
3. Dairy products. They have a lot of lactose, and with intolerance to this component, digestion problems may appear. Intolerance means that the body does not have the necessary enzymes that are required for the normal digestion of dairy products. In this case, they must be excluded from the diet.
4. Whole grains. Fiber-fortified foods are not only good for heart and health. They can be a problem for some people. When bloating, eat whole grains in moderation.
5. Artificial Sweeteners. Such components usually lead to bloating due to the fact that they cannot be completely digested. It is advisable to exclude products with artificial sweeteners, because they contain many chemical unnatural components that lead to irritation of the stomach.
6. Carbonated drinks. They accumulate gas and increase bloating. You should not use soda through a straw, as this increases the amount of air, enhances the discomfort and condition of the microflora.

The exclusion of these products will get rid of many digestive problems. But it will be useful meat - veal, chicken, turkey. From dairy products you need to eat hard cheeses, yoghurts. The diet should include rice, vegetables, fruits, which must be subjected to heat treatment. Of drinks, you need to use herbal teas - from mint, chamomile, St. John's wort. Restoring the diet will improve the condition of the person as a whole.

Symptoms

With bloating after eating, the appearance of:

• feelings of fullness and heaviness;
• aching pains or colic in different places of the abdomen.

Intestinal colic usually disappears after exhaustion of the gases. In this case, there may be nausea, constipation or diarrhea, a not very pleasant aftertaste or smell in the mouth, loss of appetite, or burping.

It is necessary to visit a doctor if the following problems are detected with this phenomenon:

• severe and prolonged pain in the abdomen;
• nausea;
• blood in the stool;
• weight loss;
• temperature increase;
• chest pains.

Long-term digestive disorders, in which there is a strong gas formation, are accompanied by symptoms of intoxication - general weakness, insomnia, malaise, irritability, depression, headaches, heart rhythm disturbances, shortness of breath.

Diagnostics

Before establishing how to treat bloating and heaviness of the abdomen after eating, it is necessary to undergo an examination and establish the causes. Attention should be paid to nutrition and food intake. This is necessary to determine which products lead to strong gas formation.

Then the doctor provides directions for the necessary procedures. Usually required surrender and passage:

• studies of bile;
• studies of gastric juice;
• fecal analysis;
• bacterial analysis of feces;
• digestive system ultrasound.

According to the diagnostic information and the severity of flatulence signs, a course of treatment is established. This should be established by a specialist, that is, a doctor.

Treatment

When bloating after eating, what should I do? As with any other ailment, it is necessary to eliminate the causes that lead to strong gas formation. Assignment helps:

• power correction;
• treatment of the underlying disease;
• restoration of motor function;
• treatment of imbalance in the intestinal microflora;
• removal of accumulated gases.

At home, normalization of the diet is necessary. It is important to remove foods from the diet that emit a lot of gases during digestion. This applies to cabbage, legumes, rice, whole milk. You need to eat whole grain bread, dairy products, fresh vegetables and fruits.

It is necessary to do exercises every day and walk at least 3 km per day. In the absence of organ diseases, this program eliminates bloating and gas after eating.

If the whole thing is intestinal dysbiosis, gastritis, ulcer or enterocolitis, then it is required to treat the disease itself, which initiates flatulence. Flatulence, which appears due to chronic pancreatitis, that is, from a deficiency of pancreatic enzymes, is eliminated by drugs with these enzymes.

Tablets

Strong bloating after eating is treated at home with drugs:

1. Activated charcoal in tablet form. With flatulence, the drug is taken 1-3 times before meals. Children under 7 years of age require 1-2 tablets. It is necessary to wash down with boiled water.
2. Espumisan and other drugs with simethicone. The medicine is taken in the form of capsules or emulsions, 2-3 times with food. Espumisan is also used to relieve a rare accumulation of gases in the intestines, which is due to a violation of the diet, after operations and with constipation.
3. White coal tablets are based on dietary fiber. They are able to absorb toxins and gases. They should be taken before meals 1-2 pcs.

It must be borne in mind that all these intestinal adsorbents are agents with increased activity that collect gases, but the main cause of flatulence with them is not solved. Therefore, these tablets should be used only for symptomatic treatment, in case of a violation of the diet: overeating, poisoning, the use of dairy products, when lactose deficiency is detected.

These situations are not considered chronic, and flatulence is only an unpleasant sign, eliminated by pills from bloating and flatulence after eating. But before that, you still need to consult a specialist.

Folk remedies

You can get rid of pain and bloating after eating with traditional medicine:

1. Parsley broth. We need the fruits of the plant (20 g), which is poured with warm water (1 cup). Keep steaming for half an hour and cool. Strain and use should be 1 tbsp. l 4-5 times a day.
2. Dill water. Dry seeds (1 tbsp) and boiling water (1 cup) will be required. After 1-2 hours, it is necessary to strain and drink cup 2-3 times a day.
3. A decoction of wormwood. Dry grass (1 tsp) is poured with boiling water (1 cup). Insisting is carried out for half an hour, and then it is necessary to strain, cool and take 1 tbsp. l 3 times a day before eating food.

If bloating immediately after eating does not occur due to poor nutrition, but is considered a consequence of an ailment, then the cause of flatulence must be treated after consulting a doctor.

What should be added to the diet?

The menu should include products that restore intestinal motility: boiled and baked vegetables and fruits, wheat bread (wholemeal), dairy products, buckwheat and millet porridge.

There is a special diet that allows you to prevent excessive gas formation:

1. For breakfast you need cereal porridge, a dessert of cottage cheese, sour cream, prunes.
2. For breakfast, you need granola with juice.
3. For dinner, you should prepare carrot puree with boiled turkey, broth and unsweetened tea.
4. For an afternoon snack, you need to bake an apple or cook buckwheat porridge and steam meatballs.
5. For dinner, you should drink low-fat yogurt (200 ml.).

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy exercises will help get rid of bloating. Moreover, with this method, you do not need to take medication:

1. Bike. Need to lie on your back. Legs should be bent at the knees and raised above the floor. Perform movements similar to cycling.
2. Slopes. It is necessary to stand upright, put your feet shoulder width apart. You should lean forward alternately - to the left and right leg. Repeat the exercise in 3 sets of 20 times.
3. You must lie on your stomach, on the floor. It should bend in the lumbar spine and take emphasis on the hands.
4. The boat. The starting position should not be changed. You must lie on your stomach. Hands extend overhead. You need to alternately raise the torso with arms and then legs.

Massage

Such procedures also eliminate this unpleasant symptom. First you should feel the liver. Heterogeneous formations or an enlarged organ are signs that need the help of a doctor. In these cases, massage should not be performed. Gas plugs should not be removed for pain or discomfort in the cecum. There are other features of massage:

1. It is necessary to find the place of accumulation of gases. Sometimes there are several of these sites.
2. If the pain is cutting, an ileal zone is needed. With a little pressure, a dull sound with a burp sounds. A lowered stomach should not be massaged.
3. Then you need to find the lower air plug. From its lower part in a circular motion a little massage the intestine to eliminate the cork.
4. In the presence of hardening, feces are present. This plug is passed, but massaged at the bottom.

Fecal and air congestion accumulate in the intestines, therefore, it is necessary to examine the course of the intestines from below. Massaging is performed from the free part, heading to the top. You should not forcibly deal with congestions, since such a massage is dangerous. Treatment should be chosen carefully.

In newborns

Bloating occurs in 50% of children. The reason is considered physiological dysbiosis. Intestinal microflora in babies is not formed, putrefactive bacteria produce gases that are not promptly eliminated from the intestine, since their motor function is not entirely perfect.

Signs of bloating in babies include:

• whims;
• refusal of food;
• knocking legs and pulling them to the stomach;
• redness of the face.

A small massage of the abdomen will help: movements should be performed clockwise. The baby should be put in the stomach on a heated diaper. Then he needs to be given a means to remove gases (Espumisan, Bebinos). A gas tube is used, the tip of which is treated with petroleum jelly and inserted into the anus for 15 minutes. If you still have fever, diarrhea, then you need medical help. The specialist will prescribe first aid equipment.

Prevention

There are no special preventive measures against bloating. People need to follow simple rules. Among them:

• exclusion of bad habits;
• following an active lifestyle;
• implementation of nutritional recommendations;
• taking medication as prescribed by a doctor;
• stress elimination.

Since this symptom is considered a manifestation of a digestive system disease, it is advisable to undergo examinations more often by a gastroenterologist. This will prevent the emergence and development of many ailments.