Is my bloated stomach due to little exercise over 40 or meds (aygestin) to reduce my periods?
Unfortunately, without meeting you, talking with you and learning about your diet history and your symptoms, I have no way to give you an informed answer to that question. When I meet with a patient to give them a personalized assessment, we sit together for a full hour and I ask dozens and dozens of questions and gather loads of info about your medications, diet, symptoms, weight, everything. Just knowing your age, exercise patterns and one medication doesn’t give me enough data to go on.
What’s the difference between the stomach and the gut?
Gut refers to your intestines, where nutrients are absorbed and waste is handled. Stomach refers to your stomach—the ‘blender’ that liquifies your food with acid and squeezing so that its liquid enough to pass into the intestines (gut ) on its digestive journey.
My stomach is bloated every morning…is there a reason why?
There’s always a reason why. Take the free quiz on my website (www.thebloatedbellywhisperer.com) to see if it helps you narrow it down. Some people wake bloated because they’re constipated and full of poop. Some who use a CPAP machine for sleep apnea may swallow lots of air when they sleep. Some people may have slow stomach emptying and still be full from eating a lot the night before. My quiz should help you narrow down the more likely possibilities.
Do different types of sugar/sweeteners affect the body differently and cause bloating? For example honey, raw sugar, agave, brown sugar?
They definitely can, but not for everyone. The main difference between the sweeteners you list is that honey and agave are high in fructose compared to sugar and brown sugar. A certain percentage of people have something called fructose intolerance (which is like lactose intolerance, but for fructose) in which they don’t absorb fructose very well. In these cases, about 4-8 hours after consuming fructose, they may find themselves gassy, bloated and/or subject to loose stools or diarrhea. There is a breath test available that can diagnose fructose intolerance.
How can I cure bloating if I have had gastric bypass surgery?
Make sure you’re not overeating for starters. Avoid sugar-free products sweetened with sugar alcohols like sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol (anything that ends with “ol”) or that use an added fiber called inulin (chicory root). If you find that many foods still give you bloating/gas, ask your doctor whether you might have something called SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), which is a common side effect of gastric bypass surgery, as bacteria can overgrow in the blind loop of bypassed bowel. This is treatable with antibiotics.
Does taking iron help swelling? I hear watermelon has iron, is that true?
Iron does not help “swelling”, by which I think you mean fluid retention? Potassium is what helps reduce fluid retention, and it can be found in coconut water, bananas, avocados, oranges/citrus, potatoes/sweet potatoes, tomatoes, dried apricots, lowfat dairy products (milk, yogurt) and a variety of other foods.
If you actually need more iron in your diet due to anemia, then watermelon has no iron. Iron-rich foods include red meat, some fish (shrimp, sardines…), beans/lentils, instant/fortified oatmeal and other cereals (Cheerios etc), tuna, prunes, dark chocolate (hooray!) and blackstrap molasses. Taking some Vitamin C or eating Vitamin C rich foods WITH iron-rich foods can help improve absorption. Among these are red peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, strawberries, kiwi and citrus fruits.
I have breast cancer and with the chemo and the medication that I’ve been taking my stomach blew up. Did it come from the medications?
I can’t say for sure, but certainly if the belly “blew” up coinciding with the medications, it seems like a reasonable guess. From this question I can’t tell if you’re referring to belly fat gain or a digestive bloating, though… I imagine your doctors have seen many people use this medication and can give you some better insight as to how it affects weight and/or digestive function.
Do you recommend summer savory to cut the gas in food?
No–I have never recommended summer savory for this purpose. The only herb I know of that *may* have a mild anti-gas effect is fennel seed, but this is more of a folkloric derived benefit than an evidence-based one.
I have hypothyroidism is there something I can do to encourage weight loss?
First, to make sure your medications are calibrated properly to maintain balanced hormone thyroid hormone levels. Second, I typically recommend people try to front-load their calories to the first part of the day (pre- 4pm) with a substantial breakfast and make lunch the main meal of the day—balanced with lots of veggies, some protein and a small portion of a carb.
If dinner is to be late, a small 4pm snack is a good idea so that you don’t arrive starving to the dinner table. Making dinner a smaller, LOW CARB meal (just protein and veg) and no more eating after dinner helps align the day’s intake with your metabolism’s normal daily rhythms and encourage weight loss. I call this the “circadian synced diet.”
Are there any probiotics without lactobacillus? Do onion and garlic powders cause bloating?
There are many probiotics without Lactobacillus. One national brand is called Florastor. Onion and garlic powders can cause bloating from excess gas to susceptible people—as onions/garlic contain a type of carbohydrate called a “fructan” which is poorly digested by people but well digested by the bacteria living in our guts.
Tamara Duker Freuman is the author of The Bloated Belly Whisperer: See Results Within a Week and Tame Digestive Distress Once and For All Freuman, a Registered Dietitian (RD) and New York State Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist (CDN) who holds a Master of Science degree in Clinical Nutrition from New York University, is a nationally-known expert in digestive health and medical nutrition therapy for gastrointestinal diseases.
Freuman graduated summa cum laude from Duke University, has a Master’s of Science degree in Clinical Nutrition from New York University, with her clinical training completed at Mount Sinai Medical Center. She also holds Master’s of Science degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
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