Probable Causes

1. Carbs – Eating carbs spikes insulin and insulin causes an inflammatory response in your digestive system.

2. Eating Frequently – 

• Food passes from our stomach to our small intestine in around 4-5 hours
• Food passes from our small intestine to our large intestine in around 5-6 hours
• Large intestine to stool can take anywhere from 10-40 hours

3. Sweeteners & Sugar Alcohols – A Lot of sweeteners are hard to digest, they ferment in our stomach. If you’re making your own fat bombs, go with stevia which does not cause bloating.

4. Dairy – They contain lactose which is hard to digest, almost everyone is slightly lactose intolerant to some degree or another. Lactose is simply a form of sugar in milk.

5. Fiber – Fiber has a strong wrap for helping out your stool however too much fiber can cause bloating. We don’t have the enzymes to metabolize fiber so that just sits in our digestive track and helps push the food forward.

6. Vegetables – Most vegetables are unfortunately hard to digest because of fiber and an indigestible sugar such as raffinose, they also contain FODMAP carbs, which can’t be digested they have to be fermented in the colon.

7. Sodium – This is tricky because during keto and fasting, sodium is an essential mineral which we secrete a lot of however having too much can retain water.

8. Dehydration – When you’re dehydrated you actually hold on to water. It is important to stay hydrated also for a proper bowel movement.

9. Carbonated drinks – Swallow gas in the form of carbon dioxide will sit in your stomach causing you to feel bloated.

10. Beer – Fermentable carbs such as barley and mase along with the carbonation

11. Gluten – Gluten is a general name for the proteins found in wheat. It provides the structure in food so the dough in bread can rise. The yeast allows it to rise but without the gluten the bread will just collapse. That same reaction that happens there, happens in the intestinal tract. Gluten is hard to break down.

12. Fructose – Sugar in fruits. This is usually absorbed in the small intestine, but for those with fructose intolerance, some travels to the colon, where bacteria ferment the fructose. This causes the release of hydrogen and methane gases, which cause pain, bloating, flatulence, and diarrhea.

13. Alcohol – Alcohol is an inflammatory substance, it tends to cause swelling in the body. This inflammation may become worse when mixing the alcohol with sugary and carbonated liquids, which can result in more bloating.

Remedies

1. Staying Hydrated – Flush all the excess fiber, improve bowl movements and have your body not retain water.

2. Sweat – Sweat out everything, have a tough workout or go to the sauna. This will circulate the blood sugar, increase your metabolism and speed up the digestive process.

3. Eat less & eat easy to digest food

• Dairy free low carb milkshakes
• Bone Broth / Pho
• Salmon

4. Fasting – Fasting will cause your digestive system to take a break however it is easy to get bloated after breaking a fast because insulin is sensitive, you have less digestive enzymes in your body and your body will want to hold on to water. Break your fast slow.

5. Mindful eating – Everything that you eat has to be digested and broken down. When you eat to fast your body doesn’t have enough time to properly digest the food that you just ate. When you take down food without chewing it properly you place extra stress on your gut.

6. Probiotics – These can help to promote good bacteria in the gut

7. Peppermint Tea / Extract / Oil – Helps with the digestive tract. Peppermint has this effect because of the menthol in it. It relaxes the muscles in the intestinal tract by blocking the calcium channels. It also stimulates enzymes such as bile and other digestive enzymes.