As we head towards festivities, it becomes imperative that I discuss abdominal discomfort. What with a plethora of abdominal questions – examples

  •1)”Doc, whenever I eat bread, I stay for 3 days without going to toilet? “. 2) “Doc, I thought everybody is supposed to go to toilet once a day, sometimes I stay two to three days before going to the toilet. Is this normal?” 3) “Doc, beans is my favourite food, but an enemy to my stomach. Anytime I take beans my stomach is filled with gas?” 4) Doc, I always have constipation, even when I consume a lot of fruits as you suggested etc, etc etc.

   Those were my patients and some responders variously telling me about abdominal discomfort. I have just scrolled through my emails and discovered that I have more than 50 people complaining about their stomach discomforts. So I decided to oblige them and discuss general abdominal problems.

   In VeryWell magazine, Babara Bolen, PhD as reviewed by Emmy Ludwig, MD went to town to tell us “How to get rid of intestinal gas and bloating” He said that isolating the cause of abdominal discomfort, can help improve your symptoms.

   • We all know the feeling of an “upset stomach”, usually shortly after eating a delicious meal. Your belly inflates like balloon. You have gas and intense intestinal discomfort (tenesmus), doing war in your stomach. The food feels like a rock and a time bomb waiting to explode in your tommy. And if you are in public or travelling, you are fighting the urge to burp, belch, pass gas or enter a clean isolated toilet or bush and explode.

• Gas, bloating and distension are not pleasant symptoms, and they cannot only ruin an evening out or a journey, but they can also be embarrassing, uncomfortable and if very severe, downright painful.

• If you deal with these symptoms on a chronic basis, they may interfere with activities of daily, and perhaps even cause you to seek out medical help to beat the bloat.

• Be rest assured, this is an extremely common problem. It is usually related to 1) too much air 2) carbonated drinks 3) poisoned food 4) gas causing food such as beans, cabbages.

• Stomach bloating often occurs due to the fermentation of undigested food in the small intestine. While diarrhoea occurs due to excessive sucking of water through osmosis in the large intestine.

What are the sciences behind bloating, intestinal gas and constipation?

1) Gas producing foods.

   • Certain foods contain substances which are poorly digested – therefore are not absorbed into the blood stream during digestion.

• These undigested components are fermented by intestinal bacteria, causing intestinal gas, bloat, constipation or diarrhoea.

• This fermentation is actually good for our health, but causes problem when it becomes excessive. Example i) lactose, ii) fructose, iii) raffinose(found in some vegetables), iv) sorbitol (found in fruits and some sugar free products).

• To avoid such foods, try elimination by substitution of certain diets, because these foods are good for you, it is important to eat them at measured regularity, but you may skip or limit them on days that trapped gas could pose a big problem – like when travelling or attending a gathering or conference.

2) Small intestinal bacteria over growth.

• It is absolutely necessary and crucial to health, to have a lot of bacteria in the colon (large intestine), however it is not necessary to have such bacteria living in the small intestine.

• This is called Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth – SIBO. These bacteria begin to feast on the food you eat, not only stealing nutrients, but also creating symptoms such as bloating, distension, burping, belching, flatulence, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

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   • If you suffer from above symptoms, whenever you eat gas producing foods like beans, groundnuts, cabbage etc, then you have SIBO.

   • Treatment is antibiotic called rifaxan, that stays locally in the small intestine – also talk to your doctor, he/she knows what to do.

3) Swallowed air or eating too quickly.

a) Another contributor to intestinal gas is swallowed air. Do you tend to eat or drink too quickly? Reverse yourself today, and learn to eat slowly.

b) Do you chew gum, or frequently suck hard stick-sweets and candies? Cut it out today.

c) Are you a smoker – cigarettes, cigars, pipes? Make a quit-plan now.

d) All these habits can cause you to take too much air into your digestive tract. So modify these habits.

4) How to manage a bloated stomach.

   • i) Change or modify the foods that regularly give you stomach discomfort.

   • ii) Make some behavioural changes. Like avoiding any gathering or journey that are not necessary.

• iii) Use heat – hot water bottle can help relax your tommy and the muscles responsible for movement within your large intestine. This may help to move any trapped gas out of your system.

   • iv) Take a hot cup of lemon/tea/water in the morning, as soon as you rise. The warm liquid can help stimulate peristalsis – the contraction responsible for elimination of gas. Regular elimination is important as constipation can cause intestinal gas and bloating.

   • v) Mild laxatives as prescribed by your doctor to get things moving.

   • vi) Move your body – walking or some simple yoga twists, may help to ease trapped gas.

• vii) Wind relieving pose in yoga is designed to help release gas.

• viii) Sip some tea, green-tea in particular has a reputation for easing gas and bloating.

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