Bloating is one of those annoying facts of life – like unexpected bills, surprise rain and colds that develop overnight – that can cut short any good mood or upend any fun plan. Some of us are lucky enough to only ever experience bloating after a big Christmas dinner or an extra slice of cake, while others are burdened by it constantly, no matter how healthily they eat or how much exercise they do.

The bloat is an “extremely common” problem, says Dt George Goodchild, a consultant gastroenterologist at The London Clinic. “It’s normal to experience bloating from time to time, as it’s a by-product of digestion, but there are factors that can make it stick for longer or become difficult to shift.” The fact that it is so banal makes it no less frustrating, “and it can become painful and uncomfortable at times, as we all know.

Here is how to relieve your bloating, why it might be happening, and how to prevent it in the first place.

What is bloating?

Simply put, bloating “is a feeling of excess pressure in your digestive system, like having a balloon in your tummy,” says Dietician Divya Singh. This is actually a separate problem from distension, “which is the physical protrusion in your stomach that you might get after a large meal, where you have to unzip your pants or might even look pregnant”.

The two often come together, but they can occur separately, and they have different causes. Both can be a result of constipation, but bloating specifically can be prompted by three other issues in your body, “Excess gas, trapped gas, or a problem with your gut-brain axis, which is how your brain communicates with your stomach and is the underlying mechanism behind conditions like irritable bowel syndrome”.

Distension meanwhile is usually the result of overeating or gas-related bloating, but in persistent cases there can be other causes too. “One is diastasis recti, where the abdominal muscles separate, which lots of women experience after pregnancy and don’t always fully heal from,”

“This means that whenever they eat, their stomach bulges out and causes a change in the size of their abdomen.”

Another cause is a disorder of the gut-brain axis, called abdomino-phrenic dyssynergia. “Normally after eating a meal, your diaphragm relaxes and your abdomen contracts, to prevent a distended stomach,” says Dr Rossi. “Someone with this condition experiences the opposite, meaning that they can become very bloated even after one glass of water.”

What causes bloating and how to fix it

1. Not enough fibre, or too much of the wrong kind

Constipation causes a lot of bloating cases, and a major cause of constipation is a diet that’s low in fibre – or too high in it, after a period of low fibre intake. “Insufficient dietary fibre can lead to bloating through constipation, on the contrary eating too much or the wrong type of fibre can also lead to bloating through excess bacterial fermentation,” he explains.

Fibre is food for your gut bacteria, which produce gas as they feed on it. “Going from a diet that’s low in fibre to one that’s high in fibre suddenly causes bloating, as your gut isn’t used to it, and there’ll suddenly be a lot of bacterial activity,”. “This can produce excess gas, or the gas can get trapped in your stomach if you’ve been constipated for some time already.”

For this reason, gut health experts like dietitian Divya Singh won’t tell constipated patients to crack open a tin of prunes: “If you suddenly increase your fibre intake, constipation and bloating can become worse,” she explains. Instead, fibre should be introduced slowly and titrated upwards, alongside an increase in fluid.

Foods containing natural probiotics like kefir and kimchi can contribute to the health of your gut over time, but “as with other dietary interventions, slow introduction is advisable to prevent unwanted side effects,”

Rather “I’ll advise someone to add a small amount of soluble fibre to their diet, to get things moving, as this can’t be fermented by your gut,”. “I’ll commonly suggest that people add a teaspoon of flax seeds to their diet, building up slowly to two tablespoons per day, added to breakfast yogurts, soup or salads, along with more water. The clinical benefits are not seen overnight but if patients are consistent then they should start to notice a difference in several weeks.”

Psyllium husk, a type of soluble fibre made from Plantago ovata seeds, a kind of plant found in the Mediterranean, “is also very laxating,” being found in many anti-bloating teas and sold as a dietary supplement. Gentle massages and yoga can help, as “this can help to relieve pressure from the bowel”.

2. Food sensitivities

Bloating can be so frustrating “because it can seem to happen for such mysterious reasons,” explains Dr Rossi. “People will notice that they get bloated after eating a specific food, often one that’s high in fibre, like chickpeas, and cut it out. We really don’t want them to do that, because they’re good for us. It’s just a case of getting your gut used to them.”

It is often those foods that are best for us that can cause sensitivity-related bloating. “Onions, garlic, chickpeas, leeks, mushrooms, celery, lentils, sweetcorn – all are really healthy and promote the growth of good gut bacteria,”. “These are readily fermented and can increase gas and bloating in some people, but it’s important not to cut these out entirely in the long term, as this can cause a bacterial imbalance.”

them gradually, such as by having a tablespoon of chickpeas a week and building up”.