Bloated? Consider digestive herbs!

Bloating is a digestive complaint where the stomach feels distended or stretched, and can be transient (i.e. after eating a large meal), or a re-occurring symptom – which is generally a sign of an unhappy gut. This could be due to poor diet or poor digestion. Poor diet encompasses eating the wrong sorts of foods – such as high sugar or carbohydrate diets or consuming too much carbonated beverages, while poor digestion could be linked to delayed stomach emptying, an imbalance of the gut microbiome or sluggish bowels.

Bloating checklist:

• Do you regularly eat on the run? This can impact digestion as your body stays in a sympathetic nervous system state, rather than a parasympathetic nervous system state needed to properly digest food.
  • TIP: Eat mindfully, minimising stress and distractions, to help your body break down the food and assist nutrient absorption.
• Do you eat quickly? This can result in bloating and overeating, as you’re not allowing the body time to register satiety.
  • TIP: Eat slowly, chewing each mouthful thoroughly to support the mechanical digestion of food and reduce the likelihood of overeating.
• Are there certain foods that trigger your bloating? This could be due to a lack of sufficient stomach acid or enzyme activity needed to break down certain foods, for example high protein meals or certain carbohydrates like lactose that can be difficult to digest.
  • TIP: Pay attention to your diet and symptom picture to help understand and avoid your trigger foods. Common culprits include legumes, cauliflower, cabbage and gluten.
• Do you consume fresh foods daily? Raw foods such as fruits and vegetables are full of antioxidants, fibre and enzymes that help digest food and keep the bowels moving.
  • TIP: Increase your consumption of fresh foods, particularly pineapple, which contains bromelain, and papaya, containing papain – key enzymes that support healthy digestion.
• Are you physically active? Physical activity is important for healthy digestion as it stimulates the bowels and relieves stress.
  • TIP: A short 10-15 minute walk after a meal can help improve symptoms of bloating[1].

If you’re still finding bloating is impacting your quality of life, you might consider some well-known digestive herbs to give your gut the love it needs. Dandelion is a well-loved herb traditionally used in Western herbal medicine to improve digestive weakness and relieve symptoms of indigestion, while Caraway and Fennel are traditionally used in Western herbal medicine as carminatives to relieve excess intestinal gas.

For targeted support for bloating, consider Herbs of Gold Bloating Relief Complex, which contains a blend of Dandelion, Fennel and Caraway plus Chen pi, traditionally used in Chinese medicine to relieve abdominal bloating and feelings of fullness.

Always read the label and follow the directions for use.

1. Ballou, S., Singh, P., Nee, J., Rangan, V., Iturrino, J., Geeganage, G., ... & Lehmann, M. (2023). Prevalence and associated factors of bloating: results from the Rome Foundation Global Epidemiology Study. Gastroenterology, 165(3), 647-655.