Bloating

Struggling with bloating? Here’s what you need to know to find relief.

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What is bloating?

When you’re bloated, your stomach or abdomen can feel full and uncomfortable, or even painful.

This bloating happens when your gastrointestinal tract contains too much gas or air. Bloating can be mild, or more severe, and may present as:

– A visibly distended or swollen abdomen

– Feeling very full and uncomfortable

– Feeling of tightness in the abdomen

– Excess gas – belching and/or flatulence

– Rumbling or gurgling

There are several causes of bloating, so it’s important to diagnose the cause of your bloating and find out why it’s happening to you.

Why does bloating happen?

Prolonged periods of bloating could indicate an underlying health problem, if so you should see your GP.

Possible causes can include:

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS diagnosis)
Ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), where the inner lining of the large bowel is inflamed and develops ulcers
Crohn’s disease, the other form of IBD, where some parts of your colon are inflamed
Too much bacteria in your small intestine (called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, or SIBO)
Gastroesophageal reflux disease
Food intolerances, especially lactose or fructose intolerance
Producing too much gas (dysbiosis and fermentation)
Weight gain
Stress or anxiety
Delays in your food and drink moving on from your stomach (called gastroparesis)
Eating too quickly, so that you swallow too much air (called aerophagia)

Diagnosing bloating

Feeling bloated is no fun, but once you know what’s going on you can start to manage your symptoms and the underlying causes.

Testing options:

At the Functional Gut Clinic, we can run the following tests to diagnose the causes of bloating:

Gastric emptying test– which measures how quickly food leaves your stomach

Carbohydrate malabsorption breath test– which finds out if you have certain food intolerances (lactose or fructose)

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) breath test– which finds out if you have an overgrowth of bacteria in your small intestine (called SIBO)

Oesophageal manometry– which measures the function of your oesophagus (food pipe)

24-hour pH impedance monitoring– which looks at whether you have any reflux

Colonic transit study-a non-invasive test which looks at how long it takes for faeces to pass through your bowl

Find out more and book your test

Learn more about bloating

3 Foods That Could Cause Bloating

Education

April 16, 2025•2 min read

3 Foods that cause bloating

Bloating is one of the most common digestive problems people complain about, and the food we are eating is often to blame.

Some food components are digested in the large bowel (right at the end of your gut) by healthy gut bacteria. This process is known as fermentation and naturally produces gas. It is this gas which can leave you feeling bloated and uncomfortable.

In other cases, a malabsorption of certain sugars may be to blame. For example, those with lactose intolerance will find that they are unable to digest lactose, a sugar naturally found in dairy. Not being able to digest lactose would therefore lead to bloating.

Carry on reading as we discuss 3 foods which may be the cause of your bloating.

1. Fruit

Fruits contain a sugar known as fructose.

Some individuals are fructose intolerant, meaning that they are unable to digest this sugar, leading to its fermentation in the large bowel, gas production, and ultimately bloating.

This does not mean that these individuals need to avoid all fruit, as some fruits are easier to digest than others. This is because some fruits, contain similar amounts of both glucose and fructose.

Why is it good that the fruit also contains glucose? Because glucose helps us absorb fructose, preventing digestive problems.

Interestingly, many people without a true ‘intolerance’ to fructose will still suffer with bloating when eating large quantities of fruit. This is because their gut has a maximum amount of fructose it can deal with at any one point. So, avoiding larger portions such as smoothies and fruit bowls may be of benefit.

2. Chewing

Sugar-free chewing gum is another popular ‘food’.

It has benefits in helping with oral hygiene and many people will go through several pieces in a day.

The problem here is that sugar-free chewing gum mostly contains sweeteners which are sugar alcohols. These sweeteners can’t be broken down or absorbed by our bodies, leading to their fermentation, and consequent bloating and even diarrhoea.

Again, there is often a tolerance level with this, so it is worth reducing the amount you use slowly if you are experiencing unpleasant symptoms to see where your tolerance levels lie.

3. Wheat

Wheat contains a fermentable carbohydrate known as a fructan. In some people with IBS, fructans can trigger symptoms of bloating as they get digested by gut bacteria, producing gas.

Think you might be intolerant to lactose or fructose? Find out more about our lactose and fructose intolerance breath tests.

The Functional Gut Clinic

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