You worked hard to drop weight. But despite your macro-counting and crunches, you’re still struggling to button your pants in the evening.
Belly bloat is frustrating. It’s uncomfortable. It’s unflattering. It can feel like a quick undo of all your efforts.
Thankfully, there are steps you can take to beat the bloat. Today, I’ll teach you the three bigggest culprits causing belly bloat and how to beat it naturally.
Where the Bloat Begins
Bloating is not fat gain. That tight-belly feeling is often caused by gas or water retention, not fat gain. It’s typically triggered by what’s happening inside your gut.
Here’s your crash course on why bloat happens and can increase throughout the day:
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- Digestive Bottlenecks: Digestion starts in your mouth. If you eat quickly or don’t chew enough, your food will only be partially broken down when it reaches your stomach. That forces your digestive system to overwork. The food will ferment causing gas buildup and bloating.
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- Hormonal Swings: Have you noticed that your bloat peaks right before your period? Estrogen and progesterone also impact digestion and water retention. Hormonal shifts during your cycle can slow gut mobility and increase fluid retention, making it hard to button your pants.
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- Gut Bacteria Imbalance: Your intestines are home to trillions of bacteria. A poor diet or chronic stress can cause the “bad” bacteria to outnumber the “good” bacteria. Gas-producing strains of bad bacteria cause frequent bloating. Even healthy foods can trigger issues if your microbiome is out of balance.
Fast, Natural Bloat Busters
Tackle bloat with these natural, effective strategies.
🎯 Chew More
On average, people chew each bite 5-10 times. That’s not enough to break down the food before it enters your stomach, resulting in fermented food in your gut. Bubbling and bloating are a direct result of underchewed food.
It might feel extreme at first, but a bite of food is ready to hit your stomach after you’ve chewed it 30-40 times—especially high protein foods, raw veggies, and starches. Adequate chewing will reduce the burden on your stomach and small intestine, leading to less gas buildup.
Try this: Set your fork down between bites. Start by counting your chews for one meal each day. Soon, you’ll learn a new norm and rhythm for how long to chew your food.
🎯 Drink Like This
Beverages can be a major cause for bloating. Carbonated drinks build up gas in our stomach and intestines. Drinking too quickly can cause us to swallow air along with our drink.
Try this:
- Cut back on carbonated drinks. Pick water with a slice of citrus instead.
- Drink water slowly before and after eating, not during. Too much liquid with food can actually dilute stomach acid and slow digestion.
- Another hack is to start your day with warm water and fresh lemon juice. This combo stimulates bile production and promotes smoother digestion from the start.
🎯 Pace Your Fiber
Fiber is essential for health and weight loss, but too much too fast can backfire. Increasing your fiber intake too quickly produces gas in the large intestine during digestion by gut bacteria. If high-fiber foods often leave you bloated, build up your fiber intake slowly.
Try this:
- Take it easy on raw vegetables. Cooking veggies doesn’t significantly reduce their fiber content, but it makes the fiber easier to digest. Raw veggies contain tough insoluble fiber (like cellulose), which can be hard on sensitive guys and cause bloating. Cooking softens plant cell walls, breaking down fiber structure, so it’s gentler on digestion.
- Pair your vegetables with digestive herbs like cumin, fennel, or ginger to reduce gas.
🎯 Move to Debloat
Simple active habits help to move digestion and reduce gas build-up. You don’t need an hour-long workout to relieve bloating. Quick movements can make a difference.
Try this:
- A brisk 10-minute walk after eating helps food move through the GI tract and reduces gas buildup. Walking activates the peristaltic movement of the intestines (the muscle contractions that move food along the digestive tract). Walking prevents food from sitting in the stomach and intestines for too long, reducing the chance of gas and bloating.
- Hop on a mini trampoline. Rebounding stimulates lymphatic drainage and encourages peristalsis, which moves food through your gut. Even a few minutes of gentle bouncing several times a day can improve your health and digestion.
🎯 Balance Your Blood Sugar
Balancing blood sugar can reduce bloating by improving digestive function and reducing the likelihood of gastroparesis, a condition where the stomach doesn’t empty properly. High blood sugar can also damage the nerves involved in digestion, slowing or stopping the stomach muscles from pushing food through the digestive tract.
This one-two punch to the gut can lead to a buildup of gas and fluid, causing bloating. Stabilizing your blood sugar levels can help you digest foods better and bloat less.
Try this:
- Move after you eat, like we talked about above.
- Don’t eat carbs on an empty stomach. Start your meals with the fiber and protein portions (stick with cooked veggies if you’re sensitive to high-fiber foods). Then eat your carbs.
- Drink a large glass of water with up to 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar about 15 minutes before a meal. This will lower the impact of the meals carbs and sugars on your blood sugar levels.
🎯 Settle Your Nervous System
Stress is a major bloat trigger. It slows digestion, increases cortisol, and alters gut mobility. Calm your system with these quick, natural tricks:
Try this:
- Reset your vagus nerve by humming. There’s a reason people say “OM” while meditating. This little hack stimulates the vagus nerve, which controls digestion and helps turn on your parasympathetic (rest and digest) symptom.
- Box breath for 2-3 minutes. Here’s how: breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. Repeat. Box breathing helps reduce cortisol and aids in digestion, especially when you’re feeling anxious.
🎯 Add Enzymes
As we age, our bodies produce fewer and fewer digestive enzymes. Gas, bloating, constipation, and even low muscle mass and high body fat can be linked to insufficient enzymes.
Without enough enzymes, our bodies cannot digest food, leading to a number of gastrointestinal problems, inflammation, and infections.
Try this:
- Add these foods and this supplement to your regular routine to increase your digestive enzymes.
Don’t Turn a Blind Eye to Bloat
Bloating is your body’s way of waving a warning flag. It’s not just inconvenient, it’s impacting your health and wellbeing. But the solution could be as simple as a few of these small steps taken daily!
Lets recap your bloat-beating action plan:
- Slow down your eating and chew more.
- Skip the fizzy drinks and sip warm lemon water.
- Increase fiber slowly. Try cooked vegetables instead of raw ones at first.
- Take a short walk after meals.
- Balance your blood sugar by eating fiber and protein first, and try vinegar water before a big meal.
- Soothe your nervous system with box breathing or humming.
- Support your digestion with extra enzymes.
None of these tips requires dramatic diet changes. They are small, sustainable habits that each can make a big difference in your day-to-day comfort (and how your jeans fit by 6:00pm).
Now It’s Time to Boost Your Wellness and Weight Loss
If you feel like you’re spinning your wheels with weight loss, stop trying to hack it alone.
Join LEAN. You’ll reduce inflammation, boost gut health, and feel better fast, without extreme dieting or deprivation. You’ll get meal plans, daily coaching, and all the support you need to drop excess weight for good!
Let’s start your new health chapter today and together!
