A bloated stomach usually comes down to one of three things: excess gas in your intestines, water retention from too much sodium, or food that ferments in your gut before it’s fully absorbed. The good news is that most bloating responds well to straightforward changes in what you eat, how you eat, and a few targeted remedies. Here’s what actually works.
Quick Relief: Abdominal Massage
When you’re bloated right now and need relief, an abdominal massage called the ILU technique can help move trapped gas through your digestive tract. The whole routine takes 5 to 15 minutes and follows the natural path of your colon.
- “I” stroke: Start just under your left rib cage and slide your hand straight down toward your left hip bone. Repeat 10 times with gentle pressure.
- “L” stroke: Start below your right rib cage, move across your upper stomach to the left rib cage, then down to your left hip. Repeat 10 times.
- “U” stroke: Start at your right hip, move up to your right rib cage, across to your left rib cage, then down to your left hip. Repeat 10 times.
Finish with small clockwise circles around your belly button, keeping your fingers about 2 to 3 inches out, for one to two minutes. You’re essentially pushing gas along the route it naturally travels through your large intestine.
Stop Swallowing So Much Air
A surprising amount of bloating comes from air you swallow without realizing it, a habit called aerophagia. Common culprits include eating too fast, talking while eating, chewing gum, sucking on hard candy, drinking through a straw, and carbonated beverages. Smoking also increases air swallowing significantly.
These are small habits, but they add up. If you’re someone who eats lunch in 10 minutes while talking, then sips sparkling water through a straw, you’re funneling air into your stomach from multiple directions. Slowing down your meals, putting your fork down between bites, and switching to still water can make a noticeable difference within days.
Identify Your Food Triggers
Certain carbohydrates are poorly absorbed in the small intestine. When they reach the large intestine, gut bacteria ferment them and produce gas. These are collectively known as FODMAPs, and they’re the most common dietary cause of bloating. The main offenders include:
- Dairy: milk, yogurt, ice cream (if you’re lactose intolerant)
- Wheat-based products: bread, cereal, crackers
- Beans and lentils
- Certain vegetables: onions, garlic, artichokes, asparagus
- Certain fruits: apples, cherries, pears, peaches
You don’t need to eliminate all of these permanently. The standard approach is to cut them out for two to six weeks, then reintroduce them one category at a time to figure out which ones actually bother you. Many people find they’re fine with most of these foods and only react strongly to one or two groups.
The Fiber Trap
Fiber is essential for healthy digestion, but it’s also one of the most common causes of bloating when people increase their intake too quickly. The recommended daily amounts are 25 grams for women 50 or younger (21 grams over 50) and 38 grams for men 50 or younger (30 grams over 50). Most people fall well short of these targets.
The key is to increase your fiber intake slowly over a few weeks rather than jumping from 12 grams a day to 35. A sudden increase overwhelms the bacteria in your gut, leading to gas, bloating, and cramping. Add one new high-fiber food every few days, drink extra water alongside it, and give your digestive system time to adjust. Once your gut bacteria adapt, the same amount of fiber that initially caused bloating will actually help prevent it by keeping things moving.
Watch Your Sodium Intake
Bloating isn’t always about gas. Sometimes your abdomen feels swollen because your body is holding onto extra water, and sodium is typically the reason. A study using the DASH diet found that high-sodium versions of both test diets increased the risk of bloating by about 27% compared to low-sodium versions. Sodium causes water retention, and that fluid can accumulate in your abdominal area.
Processed foods, restaurant meals, canned soups, and deli meats are the biggest sources of hidden sodium. Potassium-rich foods like bananas, sweet potatoes, and spinach help counterbalance sodium’s water-retaining effects. Simply cooking more meals at home and reading labels for sodium content can reduce water-retention bloating noticeably.
Over-the-Counter Options That Work
Two types of supplements address bloating through completely different mechanisms, so choosing the right one matters.
Alpha-galactosidase (sold as Beano) is an enzyme that breaks down non-absorbable fiber found in beans, root vegetables, and some dairy products before it reaches your intestines. You take it with the first bite of a trigger food, and it prevents the fermentation that would otherwise produce gas. It’s specifically useful when you know you’re about to eat something that gives you trouble.
Enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules work differently. Peppermint oil relaxes the smooth muscle in your digestive tract, which can ease the cramping and pressure that comes with trapped gas. Standard dosing is 0.2 to 0.4 mL of oil three times daily. The enteric coating is important because it prevents the capsule from dissolving in your stomach, where peppermint oil can cause heartburn, and delivers it to the intestines instead.
Probiotics: Which Strains Actually Help
Not all probiotics are equal when it comes to bloating. Specific strains have been tested in clinical trials and shown to reduce bloating scores compared to placebo. The best-studied strain is Bifidobacterium infantis 35624, which at a dose of 100 million colony-forming units significantly relieved abdominal pain and bloating in a clinical trial. Heat-inactivated Bifidobacterium bifidum MIMBb75 also improved bloating and overall gut symptoms in a separate trial.
Multispecies formulations containing combinations of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains have shown benefits too, particularly for people whose bloating comes alongside constipation. Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM8610 specifically helped people whose bloating accompanied diarrhea. The takeaway: look for products that list specific strain numbers on the label rather than just genus and species names. A probiotic labeled “Bifidobacterium infantis 35624” is backed by evidence. One that just says “probiotic blend” is a gamble.
When Bloating Points to Something Else
Persistent bloating that doesn’t respond to dietary changes can signal an underlying condition. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is one of the more common causes. It happens when bacteria that normally live in the large intestine colonize the small intestine, where they ferment food too early in the digestive process. SIBO is diagnosed with a breath test that measures hydrogen or methane levels after you drink a glucose solution. A rapid rise in either gas suggests bacterial overgrowth.
Other conditions that cause chronic bloating include celiac disease, ovarian cysts, gastroparesis (slow stomach emptying), and in rare cases, ovarian cancer, where persistent bloating is often the earliest symptom. Pay attention if your bloating gets progressively worse, lasts more than a week, is persistently painful, or comes with fever, vomiting, bleeding, unintentional weight loss, or anemia. These are signs that something beyond diet is going on and that testing, not just lifestyle changes, is the next step.