Always bloated?

ColdDawning
ColdDawning Posts: 36 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Almost every time I've eaten, I get bloated, like, very bloated. My stomach can "grow" (from I--I to I----I) from morning to evening. I know some foods do more than others, full meals do more than some bread and hot chocolate. Sugary things are usually pretty bad, like cookies, but other than that I've not noticed much of a pattern.

I've been to doctors before and they've never found anything wrong (I don't think they've ever taken it seriously), I have considered trying specific diets but cutting things like tomatoes haven't been easy so I usually give up within a few days. I could probably try to cut out wheat without any issues, but I don't know if wheat is the problem.
I don't eat dairy.

I've had this issue since I was a teen, maybe forever (?), and I'm not sure what's causing it, any ideas? I can live with it, sure, but it's annoying.

Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited October 2019
    Did your doctors do testing for conditions such as celiac disease? If not, and https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/celiac-disease-symptoms sounds like you, insist you get tested. No point giving up wheat if you don't have a medical reason to do so.

    You could also try an elimination diet, but you would need to commit to it for 5-6 weeks. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/elimination-diet
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited October 2019
    I take it you've had blood tests done? to check for intolerance's.

    White bread or donuts/high sugar desserts and soft cheese are the main causes when I get bloat. Its a matter of trial and error and eliminating the things that cause your bloat/discomfort.

    Do you drink enough water?
  • ColdDawning
    ColdDawning Posts: 36 Member
    Thank you for your answers, I drink plenty of water :wink:

    The doctors tested for celiac disease 13 years ago, I suppose things might've changed since then? I could definitely get that checked again.

    I've tried the elimination diet before and failed. Some of the things one is supposed to exclude doesn't really work for me to exclude, such as legumes (vegan here), it's hard to get what I need when I cut those, but maybe I could try a simplified version?

    If I had known exactly what made me bloat I would probably have stopped eating it by now, cookies and such is more a special occasion thing, nothing I eat normally since I know too much will upset my stomach.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    Do you eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc.? Those can cause a lot of gas. On the second page of this file are some other gas producing foods: https://www.med.umich.edu/fbd/docs/Gas reduction diet.pdf
  • ColdDawning
    ColdDawning Posts: 36 Member
    apullum wrote: »
    Do you eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc.? Those can cause a lot of gas. On the second page of this file are some other gas producing foods: https://www.med.umich.edu/fbd/docs/Gas reduction diet.pdf

    Not really those, but I'll check that link, thank you!
    Strudders67 wrote: »
    Keep a diary - what you ate, how you felt afterwards and how quickly does bloating occur. Maybe even take and track measurements of your stomach.

    Eventually you may see a pattern with regard to which foods are the trigger. Consider ingredients, not just the whole item. I'm intolerant to yeast, but it took a while to register that that was a component of wine, mayo, vinaigrette dressing and a whole bunch of other things.

    I've considered keeping a diary, but since it's almost every time I eat... it sounds a bit tiresome.

    I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    ColdDawning wrote: »
    apullum wrote: »
    Do you eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc.? Those can cause a lot of gas. On the second page of this file are some other gas producing foods: https://www.med.umich.edu/fbd/docs/Gas reduction diet.pdf

    Not really those, but I'll check that link, thank you!
    Strudders67 wrote: »
    Keep a diary - what you ate, how you felt afterwards and how quickly does bloating occur. Maybe even take and track measurements of your stomach.

    Eventually you may see a pattern with regard to which foods are the trigger. Consider ingredients, not just the whole item. I'm intolerant to yeast, but it took a while to register that that was a component of wine, mayo, vinaigrette dressing and a whole bunch of other things.

    I've considered keeping a diary, but since it's almost every time I eat... it sounds a bit tiresome.

    I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

    Try the Cara app. You log foods, movements, bloating, gassiness, etc, and as it collects data, it tells you your foods on your best days and worst days. It’s a serious game changer if you have food intolerances.
  • caprihana
    caprihana Posts: 38 Member
    I know a Dr. who see's this all the time. She suffered herself really badly and the tests still showed nothing. She recommends completely giving your guts a rest. Cut out dairy, alcohol and other things too, taking pre and probiotics (amongst other things) and then after a month see how things are. She does this with her patients and has seen some excellent results.
  • ColdDawning
    ColdDawning Posts: 36 Member
    collectingblues wrote: »
    ColdDawning wrote: »
    apullum wrote: »
    Do you eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc.? Those can cause a lot of gas. On the second page of this file are some other gas producing foods: https://www.med.umich.edu/fbd/docs/Gas reduction diet.pdf

    Not really those, but I'll check that link, thank you!
    Strudders67 wrote: »
    Keep a diary - what you ate, how you felt afterwards and how quickly does bloating occur. Maybe even take and track measurements of your stomach.

    Eventually you may see a pattern with regard to which foods are the trigger. Consider ingredients, not just the whole item. I'm intolerant to yeast, but it took a while to register that that was a component of wine, mayo, vinaigrette dressing and a whole bunch of other things.

    I've considered keeping a diary, but since it's almost every time I eat... it sounds a bit tiresome.

    I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

    Try the Cara app. You log foods, movements, bloating, gassiness, etc, and as it collects data, it tells you your foods on your best days and worst days. It’s a serious game changer if you have food intolerances.

    Thanks for the app-tip, I'll check it out.
    caprihana wrote: »
    I know a Dr. who see's this all the time. She suffered herself really badly and the tests still showed nothing. She recommends completely giving your guts a rest. Cut out dairy, alcohol and other things too, taking pre and probiotics (amongst other things) and then after a month see how things are. She does this with her patients and has seen some excellent results.

    I don't eat dairy and I don't drink alcohol, what other things do you mean? gluten? everything an elimination diet wants you to cut out? I can't really cut out legumes without having a really hard time getting what I need.
  • wendyheath32
    wendyheath32 Posts: 74 Member
    Also another tip here ( fellow vegan here) soak and rinse your legumes also rinse the canned ones before you eat them. It's supposed to go with gas/ bloating
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,213 Member
    I avoid beans completely because of how gassy they make me. If they are a mainstay for you I would suspect them. Have you tried Beano?
  • ColdDawning
    ColdDawning Posts: 36 Member
    I do rinse them. I've never really noticed any correlation with legumes and being bloated, though, most of my more severe bloatings happen when I haven't eaten them at all.

    I don't know what beano is, I googled it but I don't think we got that here.

    Also, I was bloated way before I switched to a vegan diet, and back then i didn't eat legumes at all. I do notice a slight improvement if I don't use processed foods at all, meaning I cook from scratch, but I'm not sure why that is. Could it be the fat?
  • slbbw
    slbbw Posts: 329 Member
    It may be worth looking into FODMAP sensitivity. I just attempted and failed miserably at an elimination diet myself, but I had been tracking symptoms over the years and had a sense of what things might be triggers. Apples, onions and garlic for me. Cruciferous vegetables as well, but if I keep them to a minimum I am fine. These sensitivities tend to be cummulative so the idea of minimizing instead of eliminating is valid, its just harder to pinpoint the keytriggers that way. I would look up the classes of Fodmap and maybe start using your MFP log to note at which meals the bloating is the worst. If you can get some general trends you may be able to cut back on certain foods without having to do a full sale elimination.
  • slbbw
    slbbw Posts: 329 Member
    since you are vegan, do you eat Seitan? Does this cause bloating or not? Seitan is straight gluten and can be a good indicator. You could still be sensitive to wheat, but determining if it is gluten or not might help you keep some key items in your diet.
  • caprihana
    caprihana Posts: 38 Member
    @ ColdDawing "I don't eat dairy and I don't drink alcohol, what other things do you mean? gluten? everything an elimination diet wants you to cut out? I can't really cut out legumes without having a really hard time getting what I need"

    I'll contact her and see if I can get some details for you.
  • whitpauly
    whitpauly Posts: 1,483 Member
    Probiotics/prebiotics can help,I'm a bloater too no matter what I eat,the only problem with probiotics is finding the right strains thaat you need and they get pricey!
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    There are many good suggestions here already. It can be very tricky to narrow down food intolerances.

    I would recommend a gas tablet like Beano or Gas-X like someone else mentioned if you have already been to the doctor and they have ruled out serious causes. GERD can sometimes cause bloating as can IBS.

  • carlaringuette
    carlaringuette Posts: 158 Member
    I have that issue from food allergies. The docs love me because I am always the unusual case. Best I've ever felt is when I did the rotation diet and allergy shots.

    It's worth looking into.

    It's a pain and not exactly convenient. When I start to feel bad enough I flip back to it

    Wanna be vegan here.

    Having a General Tso's tofu bowl as we "speak"
  • ColdDawning
    ColdDawning Posts: 36 Member
    Thank you all for your replies, I'll check out the different things you're suggesting.

    I've had seitan as a small addition to stews and such and not really as a big piece at once, so I can't really say that I've noticed anything. I could try to just eat a big piece straight up and check if it does something for sure.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    Just be aware that Beano may not be vegan. I think it's formulation changes and sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. I don't know about Gas-X. There's a similar product that I think is called Bean-zyme and comes in a vegan version, but I've never tried it.
  • ColdDawning
    ColdDawning Posts: 36 Member
    I don't think we have those kinds of gas tablets in my country (those brands), but I know we have other ones. I will try to make other changes before I turn to those, however, I'm not a fan of the idea to eat pills to combat this issue, I rather solve it, you know?

    Anyway, thank you all for the help!
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    edited October 2019
    Beano and Gax-X are different things. Beano is an enzyme that helps in the digestion of cruciferous vegetables, so that you don't get gassy and bloated. Gas-X helps channel the gas out of you once you get gassy and bloated.

    I was having bloat issues and eventually started popping a couple of Beanos and Lactaids before every meal. I wouldn't say "problem solved" but maybe 75 % problem solved. Beano is harmless and simply supplements your stomach's own production of enzymes to process vegetables.

    There is no harm in buying a bottle of Beano and trying it for a while. It's very, very good at what it does.

    Beano is the brand name; if it's unavailable in your area, what you want are capsules that have alpha-galactosidase. In fact many enzyme pills are sold on Amazon with that chemical, though Beano is a "cleaner" way to get a nice high dose of it.

Categories