The big BLOAT! My top 10 hit list.. - Gluten Free Guerr...

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The big BLOAT! My top 10 hit list..

FionaGFG profile image
FionaGFGAdministrator
9 Replies

We've all been there. You go GF. Then you keep bloating. You feel like a whale. Spanx hold in pants don't help. You can't even get into them. You ask your coeliac nurse and she just smiles and says 'some people get this. It'll settle'. But who wants a wardrobe of clothes two sizes too big. Women don't want to look pregnant. Men don't want to either.

Here's my top 10 hit list on the common culprits and things to explore with your GP to identify and rid yourself of it...

1. Avoid gas producing foods

Yes baked beans and their ilk. Avoid fizzy drinks. Be wary of salads in the early days. Healthy but often hard for your damaged villi to process. Always made me bloat without fail. Try cooking food before eating - often gentler than raw veg etc. You get the drift

2. Have a follow up endoscopy

1 to 2 yrs after diagnosis. Check your villi are healing. If not the bloat will continue as your villi have trouble helping digest food. It can take 3 yrs GF for villi to heal. Be patient

3. Go lactose free!

Well for at least a year after diagnosis. As the damaged villi can't process the lactose protein in dairy products. So consider this and monitor how it works. Use your phone to track when you bloat and what you've eaten. Spot any patterns. Hey presto! I felt nauseous every time I had any dairy initially after diagnosis and now I can tolerate dairy as long as I don't go wild have lots in one go

4. Watch the alcohol

Yes. Not a popular one but alcohol is inflammatory and it strains the liver and can be harsh on the intestines. So bear in mind your bloat maybe from that. Even GF deglutenised beers can set off bloating. The fizz and low levels of barley can affect some coeliacs even though they're well within the less than 20ppm to be called and labelled GF!

5. Get moving!

Another common sense one. But even if you're bloated like a whale and think you'll get laughed out of the gym, simple gentle exercise can get the bowel moving and help reduce bloating. So start with walking or get a pedometer and slowly build up to more steps a day. Then try pilates or gym or swimming. I always find that I bloat more when I'm sat at a desk and against a busy deadline. Just as long car journeys can slow and crush your intestines a bit sitting at desk is no good. Get moving. Ideally every 20 mins. Set a reminder on your calendar and see if that helps improve the bloat.

6. Try the FODMAP Diet

A harder one to master but useful if you've tried many other pointers and had no luck. Ask your coeliac clinic or GP for a referral to a dietitian that is an expert in this. In a nutshell it involves cutting out long chain sugars, carbs, dairy, fructose that can irritate people with irritable bowel or inflamed bowels. It began in Oz and has been adopted by researchers at Kings College and many other hospitals. You'll need support trying it so don't do it on your own as it's complex and needs monitoring for example you may not be able to tolerate a whole apple but half an apple may be fine and a dietician can guide you through the diet and food diary and reintroducing food. Search the forum here with 'FODMAP' for more tips. Or visit: kcl.ac.uk/lsm/research/divi...

7. See your GP

Get a once over for other conditions. And for the ladies see if you can get endometriosis, adenomyosis and ovarian cancer excluded. Many gynae conditions can cause bloating and it could be something simple that can be identified that's causing it. Remember that IBS isn't a diagnosis itself and is a diagnosis of exclusion. Google the NICE guidelines so you can ensure you're not fobbed off with this catch all umbrella diagnosis!

8. Cut the crap

Literally. Cut out all processed foods. Hard when you've switched from processed foods to GF processed foods. But believe me it can really work. I found as did other coeliacs that after a while my body became very sensitive to even GF versions of foods e.g. those GF breaded chicken pieces from M&S - bloated after. Those oven chips. Nope bloated after. Read the labels not just for gluten (!) but also for artificial additives, preservatives and any funny long words that aren't natural. My sister and I have both ditched GF bread and found we don't bloat any more in the mornings. It seemed the cellulose added to most GF bread was bloating us up. Try and switch your diet and see if eating less processed stuff works for you too. A lot of coeliacs often switch to a Paleo diet and find that works well for them. For inspiration see this Paleo blog round up paleomagonline.com/top-10-p... Also consider pre and probiotics. Pop into your local health shop and ask about good gut bacteria. Most of those shop bought drinks that aim to help your stomach bacteria are packed full or sugars. But eating bananas and good bacteria foods can help. And avoid oily, fatty food. Again hard to process and often causes a bloat. Anything too heavy or rich to digest seems to put my digestion to the test. Which is positive as it means cooking and eating good food is essential.

9. Cut the sugar

Another toughie for some I know. But honestly, it's amazing what is put into Free From aisle products. Sadly far too much salt, fat and sugar. I bloated loads after taking calci-chew supplements prescibed as my Vit D levels were severely low at diagnosis (15 when they should be 75 and over!). Luckily after moaning on my coeliac nurse sent me to the dietitian who quickly spotted that my calci-chew contained a lovely cocktail of fake sugars e.g. Mannitol, sorbitol and beyond. As soon as I cut these out my bloat disappeared. So read all the fine print on labels - after all we're already hunting for gluten in all it's forms (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt etc) what's a few more names to check eh! And if you need some cold turkey avoiding sugar inspiration I can highly recommend Sarah Wilson's book and blog. All focused on her 'IQS aka I quit sugar programme'. Read her blog here: sarahwilson.com/ Remember most natural sugars from fruits etc are find. But try and eat them as fruit not as smoothies as doing so increases your sugar intake and messes with how your body absorbs them.

10. Ditch the spices and embrace H2O

I found that I couldn't tolerate chilli or anything spicy after going GF. And that remains now 7 yrs on. So learn to use other great herbs and spices instead of chilli. Another common sense bit of advice is drink lots of water. We rarely do as we lead busy lives. But around 2 litres a day is good for digestion and skin and hydration generally. If you hate water try adding sliced cucumber or lemon and lime. And grab a re-suable bottle and just use good old tap water to be more environmental.

So there's my top ten. It's not full proof. As I type this I'm bloated like a whale. It could be a slight bit of cross contamination or it could be the oven chips I had last night that I really shouldn't have had as I find them hard to process. Either way you're not alone. I find tonic water can help reduce the bloat as can some herbal teas when it strikes. But mostly it comes and goes at will. So learn how to master a varied fashion wardrobe and remember, coeliac or not - everyone bloats. We're all human.

What are your top avoid the bloat tips?

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FionaGFG
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9 Replies

Hi Fiona, excellent advice here, apart from what you have listed I'd add fried foods especially whilst the gut is settling down.

I have cut out milk but eat butter as it is very very low in lactose and most margarines contain chemicals that are alien to our bodies and these chemicals end up being stored in our bodies.

I also avoid antibiotics as they kill all the bacteria in our guts and unless replaced can make us ill and long term use can lead to stomach ulcers. They also give me the runs big time.

I also had trouble with Calcichew and was not surprised when I read the ingredients as they list Manitol which's also used as a baby laxative and like sorbitol could also be a wheat derivative and contain 3 or 4 ppm of gluten. The other problem with Calcichew is it is calcium carbonate (chalk) whose molecules are around 100,000 x larger than calcium in food so our bodies have to work really hard to remove the majority of them in fact 97-99% of the calcium is not absorbed so our poor old kidneys work overtime.

I think the morale of this is to eat ourselves healthy and get to know our own bodies and it's limitations. So thanks for listing all these things very comprehensive.

As for the free from aisles it's free from what...

FionaGFG profile image
FionaGFGAdministrator in reply to

So true Jerry. And luckily I detest most fried foods. But certainly pay for it if I get dragged out to GF burger places and have fried GF onion rings!

hgrimmer profile image
hgrimmer

Thankyou! I'm going to look at all the sites/resources you suggest. Very helpful - many thanks.

FionaGFG profile image
FionaGFGAdministrator in reply tohgrimmer

Great shout if you need help as many members have had the same issues!

Regalbirdy profile image
Regalbirdy

Oh wow - you have access to a Coeliac nurse? I'm envious....!

(Great advice by the way).

ianwoowoo profile image
ianwoowoo

Great advice Fiona,

I have real problems when I drive ( and I drive a lot ! ). I find if I eat me salad type lunch during a journey I will generally end up creased with stomach pains and bloating. Maybe it's a combination of the raw salad and hunched position.

Thanks for sharing.

Ian

I don't buy any processed foods including the oven chips. i bought a Tefal actifry and my ownn chips using less than atablespoon of rapeseed oil. tey are lovely and crisp. Sidebar i have also found cooking faux roast potatoes this way is a lot easier.

Never eat GF bread and do all my own baking.

elasticated waistbands and long tops. Glutenzyme pills in my handbag for possible contaminated environments and emergency use, good bacteria to build gut resilience. Helpful article, thanks

kaspa profile image
kaspa

I'm still working on this but my food diary shows my BIG BELLY Bloats seems to be coincide with eating ALPRO soya yogurt. Which as I can't have dairy was my favourite "go to" and I'm shocked as i'd no idea. And a bit gutted as it is now so easily obtainable too. Gonna try KOKO yogurt now......

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