Five Tips That Can Reduce Your Abdominal Distress

Here are five tips that can reduce your abdominal distress.

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Bloat and its common cousin, abdominal distention (when the belly actually swells, making clothing and belts uncomfortable), are often triggered by food, but it’s not the only reason for those symptoms. If you continually suffer with gas and bloating, see your doctor to explore other potential causes.

Below are some strategies used to treat food-related gastrointestinal distress.

1 Pinpoint Problem Foods

Your doctor or registered dietitian may recommend a temporary elimination diet, called the low FODMAP diet. If your symptoms improve in a couple of weeks, you’ll be directed to slowly add foods that contain FODMAPs back into your diet. That way you can better know which foods you may be able to eat without triggering symptoms.

FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols) are foods that contain short chain carbohydrates and sugars that the gut can’t digest well. Examples include: