Constantly waking up bloated?

rhinomidget

I am a vegetarian who tries to stick to a mainly "clean eating" diet. I try my best to avoid gluten and I also exercise 6 times a week. I very rarely eat salt. I drink 40 oz of water every day (approximately 7 glasses). I am a female, 5'0, and 99 lbs. I also do not eat anything after 9pm because I find that I bloat even more when I do.. (also, although this question is a little personal, I've been asked this before when I've brought up my problem and; yes, my poop is fine lol)

It doesn't matter much if I eat or drink, as the day goes on, my stomach just decides to get bigger and bigger..

I've been to the doctor and he had no tips or pointers for me...he couldn't even tell me WHY I was bloating like this! He took my blood and everything came back fine..

My normal weight is 99 lbs. But, almost every day I wake up and I'm 100 lbs - 103 lbs...and since I'm short, those few extra pounds REALLY show up. By the end of the day, I'm 3 - 6 pounds heavier than I was when I woke up. I get about 3 (give or take a day) days out of the month where my body is actually normal and isn't bloated into oblivion.

Aside from the bloating, I show no other signs of IBS. I also tried to take a probiotic...which did nothing. Hell, I've even tried chewing my food 50 times before swallowing and after some extremely LONG meals, my stomach still felt and looked pregnant!

Is there anything else that I could possibly do or do I just have to live with my body's idiotic way of processing food?

neanderthin

I find protein and fats keep my bloating in check, veg, not so much. But then again I'm sure my protein and fats are quite different then yours and if I got my protein and fat sources from plant material, bloat is going to happen to me.....might be volume based on my calorie allotment.

middlehaitch

Are you eating a lot of beans and lentils?
These, as well as cabbage( and other veg of that family), and onions are known to produce more gas on some people.

If you are making lentils and beans from scratch, rinse and soak, then cook in fresh water. If you are using the canned version of above rinse and rinse again.

I can't quote you the science on why you should over rinse ( something to do with a particular natural chemical in the outer coating), the information is available on the Internet if you wish to research it further.

There is a product called Beano ( I think), and probably others, that will help counteract the bloating when added to your lentils and beans.

Happy holidays, h.

jgnatca

Might you get checked if you have diverticulosis? I found out I had it only after a colonoscopy; I was otherwise symptom-free.

I dare not suggest an elimination exercise to find out if some foods are the culprit, as you are already eating vegetarian. You might experiment with oils and fats like flax seed oil.

feralX

I would suggest two things.
- take digestive enzymes
- you are likely sodium deficient. Your body needs sodium especially when you're training 6 days/wk. You should be getting lots of potassium from the vegetables, but you need a proper balance with sodium or you will retain water. Google Hyponatremia, bloating is a symptom.

jgnatca

Wow, feralX, good call. All it would take is a teaspoon of salt a day, I bet.

psuLemon

Can you open you diary? How long have these symptoms been occurring? I know i bloat if i eat a lot of veggies (50+g of fiber). And how long have you been eating vegetarian?