Seven habits that make you feel bloated

When you feel excessively full and uncomfortable – you are bloated.

Medical doctors will describe it as getting air trapped in your abdomen. Depending on the instance, it can be severe or mild.

Most people experience bloating on a regular basis and it can lead to a distended or bulging stomach in some cases.

If you have ever wondered why you feel bloated, even when you have not had a large meal, here are seven possible causes.

Overeating

When people hear the word bloating, the most likely cause they think of is overeating. While overeating can cause bloating, it is not the only cause.

While exploring other likely causes of bloating, it would do you a world of good to have small frequent meals instead of a one-off large meal.

Too much fibre

True, fibre has a lot of benefits like making you feel full thereby reducing food consumption and helping your bowels feel at ease. However, your body needs to adjust to having fibre around.

Slowly incorporate high fibre foods into your diet to help your body adjust properly.

Not drinking enough water

The benefits of drinking the adequate quantity of water cannot be overemphasised. Not drinking enough water causes your body to hold on t0 what fluid it has and this gradually leads to stomach bloating.

Chewing gum

When you chew gum, you unwittingly swallow some air. That excess air intake can make your intestines feel like a balloon. Also, gums contain sugar alcohols, which can cause gas and bloating. Even sugar-free gums contain sorbitol, which can cause a ton of stomach issues.

Eating too fast

It is known for a fact that digestion starts in the mouth, not in the stomach. When you chew slowly, you break the food into small pieces and allow the enzymes in the saliva act on the food before moving to the stomach.

When you eat fast, it means that you most likely miss out on the mouth action and your stomach has to work overtime to digest your food, leading to gas.

Drinking with a straw

A colorful straw may make your drink picture perfect and Instagram-worthy but it doesn’t do your body any good.

When you drink with a straw, air flows from the straw into your mouth before the drink flows in. What you have successfully done is get air into your stomach, getting it trapped in there.

Snoring

If you feel bloated in the morning, it could possibly mean that you snored all through the night or breathed with your mouth while sleeping.

While snoring, you probably got air inside your stomach and that left you with an abdomen feeling like a balloon.