4 Uncommon Reasons You Might Be Bloated

We all know about some causes of bloating. We think about eating a food we know doesn’t agree with us, we think about eating too much broccoli (maybe) or cauliflower or sparkling water. We think about where we’re at in our cycle, and we google everything from SIBO to IBS to “if I have a dairy intolerance”. Before you jump to eliminating every food you’re eating, consider these possibilities. Are you eating too fast?  Are you using non-sugar sweeteners? Are you drinking a lot of coffee? Do you chew a lot of gum? Let’s jump in to how these four things might be causes of your bloating. 

You eat too fast

Always eating on the run or working while you eat? When you eat quickly you may not know that you also tend to gulp down air. This can lead to some of that bloating. What you may also not know is that eating quickly also decreases your stomach acid. This slows down how quickly food is digested and, as a result, leads to more bloating than if you were to take your time. 

You’re trying to make healthier choices 

And we are SO proud of you! But there is a subsection of the population who cannot digest some of the artificial sweetness that are touted as “healthy”. Aspartame, saccharin, sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol, mannitol, cyclamates and sucralose have all been studied in conjunction with the most common symptom of IBS – bloating. Check what you’re eating and try removing it for a few days. This might help you out! 

You drink a lot of coffee

We’re all lovers of coffee over here at Cornerstone. And, we’re usually pretty good at keeping it to a healthy level (1-2 cups of high quality coffee per day). Check your coffee intake, because if you’re consuming 3-5 cups per day, the acidity (or even the milk if you happen to choose cappuccinos or lattes) may be responsible for some of that gas. 

You regularly chew gum 

It might help your breath (or coffee breath maybe?), but it can cause a lot of air to be swallowed throughout the day. If you’re a lover of gum, you might want to rethink that habit before considering other, more complicated, causes of your bloating.