Here are the most common things I look for when a patient complains of being bloated:
Provisions
1. Intestinal proliferation of yeasts
2. Food intolerances
3. Gluten sensitivity or celiac disease
4. Insulin resistance
5. Bad food combinations
6. Irregular meal times
7. Deficiency in digestive enzymes (including lactose intolerance)
8. Other causes of dysbiosis – small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or parasites
Some of these factors can be tested for – food intolerance, gluten sensitivity, celiac disease, insulin resistance, and in other cases we treat based on symptoms and history.
1. Intestinal proliferation of yeasts
Intestinal yeast overgrowth is extremely common, and is usually caused by frequent or long-term antibiotic use. The most common scenarios are – lots of antibiotics as a child for ear or tonsil infections, use of long-term antibiotics for acne (tetracycline or minocin), or antibiotics for frequent infections of the urinary tract. Antibiotics modify your digestive flora, allowing yeast, which is an opportunistic organism, to take over.
When there is too much yeast in the body, you will be bloated. This is because yeast ferments food, causing flatulence. Some people will also experience strong cravings sugar or carbohydrates, tendencies to binge eating, brain fog, fatigue, vaginal infections, and possibly fungal skin infections.
The good news is that this can be treated by rebalancing your gut flora with a yeast cleanse: a sugar-free diet, taking supplements to kill yeast, and replenishing gut flora with probiotics.
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