Today's topic
Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I take a look at why getting a bloated belly and experiencing gas are common perimenopause symptoms.
I get lots of questions on this topic on a regular basis, so I thought I would take a closer look at it and explain what can cause it and what you can do to help yourself.
Difference between belly bloat and belly fat
The first important thing is to differentiate between bloating or weight around the middle or what is known as belly fat.
Now, weight gain around the middle tends to start just under the bust line and it will go out the way and then stop under the belly button. Bloating tends to occur under the belly button. This is where it starts but obviously, if you bloat enough, it can move further up the stomach.
Weight gain around the middle can start to add extra pounds gradually around your belly but it doesn't change shape quickly, no matter what time of day it is, no matter what time of the month it is, whereas bloating can change quite dramatically.
You may find you get up in the morning, you get your jeans up, and you think, "Yes, I can do the zip," But by teatime, you can feel so bloated and so cramped that they become too tight to wear.
You might find it's worse at certain times of the month. Normally, this would be just before your period is due. It can also change at different times of the day.
After meals, some women find that they get bloated quite quickly, and then it subsides later on during the day. This can also be accompanied by wind. You're either passing a lot of wind or else, you find that after meals, you're burping, and it can be really quite uncomfortable at either end.
What causes bloating and excess gas during perimenopause?
So, what causes this?
Most of it is to do with the hormonal shift. Falling oestrogen, especially, can affect the whole digestive tract. So, it can affect the digestion in the stomach and lead to things like indigestion.
If you're not digesting your food properly in the stomach, it will start to ferment. And that fermentation process will carry on right through the digestive tract. And by the time it gets to the lower gut, there's a lot of gas being produced by your food and that just swells your tummy up and then makes you feel the need to pass wind.
Falling hormones can also slow down your transit time so you might find that you're not as regular in your bowel habits as you used to be. You might find you're only going either once a day or once every two days, or even worse sometimes. So, constipation can be a really big factor in the bloating issue too.
I've mentioned before, that some women find their digestion slows down and gets a bit weaker just before periods are due every single month.
It can also be other health issues. So, if you are approaching perimenopause and you already have digestive problems like IBS, or celiac disease, or Crohn's disease, or things like diverticulitis, then very often, these can be irritated further as your hormones start to change. So, your symptoms can start to get worse at this point.
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What can help ease bloating and excess gas during perimenopause?
So, what can you do to help yourself? Here's a few things I recommend:
Support your good gut bacteria
Friendly good gut bacteria are so important for your digestion and also, for hormone balance. So, make sure that you're either taking a probiotic supplement on a regular basis, I tend to recommend a course of probiotics every 6 months. You could also look at our Molkosan Fruit to help give your digestion some daily support.
Ease any constipation
t's really important, not only just for the bloating and the gas issues, but if you are constipated, you are not eliminating your deactivated hormones and that can then contribute to all the hormonal imbalances going on in the body. So, constipation is a really big no-no in perimenopause and menopause and needs to be addressed.
Tackle stress
Stress will affect your digestion really quickly to it's important to try and ease stress as much as possible. The minute you feel stressed or anxious, your digestive tract switches itself off. So, if you've got food anywhere in the digestive tract and you start to get anxious or stressed, it's going to sit there, it's going to ferment, and it's going to cause bloating and gas.
Agnus castus for PMS bloating
If your periods are still regular and you get PMS bloating, you could look at the herb Agnus castus. It's known to help with all sorts of PMS symptoms, including bloating menstrual cramps and mood swings.
Walk more
Even just a brisk 15-minute walk a day will do wonders for your digestive tract. When walking, you contract your abdominal muscles which massage the whole of your digestive tract. This helps stimulates the digestive system, and aids the passage of food, helping the transit time and elimination too.
Yoga to aid digestion
There are some great yoga poses you can Google online or go on to YouTube. You can find yoga poses for aiding digestion which can be really helpful, and they will only take a few minutes a day.
Chew well
When we're busy, what do we do? We chomp chomp and rush our eating, often while running about. Our digestion can't cope, and your stomach can't cope with big lumps of food.
So, mealtime should be sacred. They should be times when you're sitting down, you're relaxed, and you are not disturbed.
Then, chew really well! The process of chewing not only helps to break down food into digestible particles but also produces digestive enzymes through saliva. The more you chew, the easier it is for your stomach to digest your food, avoiding unpleasant symptoms, like bloating.
Don't drink too much while eating
If you are drinking cups of tea, or cups of coffee, or juice, or whatever when you're eating, you are going to dilute your digestive acids and enzymes and that's going to affect your digestion as well.
So, if you must drink anything whilst you're eating, make it just a small amount of plain water. I've been doing this for years and I find now I can't actually have a lot to drink when I'm eating because it just feels so utterly uncomfortable.
I know I'm always going on about drinking water, but just not to much at mealtimes.
Bitter herbs
You can look at bitter herbs. The Mediterranean diet is known to be really good for digestion and health. And in the Mediterranean diet, they include lots of bitter herbs like fennel, endive, and chicory. These bitter foods stimulate your digestive juices and aid digestion.
If you're not too keen on eating these, you can look at our herb Centurium or if you're getting a lot of wind of flatulence, then our licensed product, Digestisan, can be taken.
Identify and eliminate food triggers
Unfortunately, carbs are a really big factor here. So, if you're eating high-carb foods, such as white rice, white pasta, or white bread, they could be the culprits. So, some women find going on a low-carb diet reduces the bloat really, really quickly.
Other foods and drinks can contribute to bloating and gas such as fatty foods, carbonated drinks, and dairy. Cruciferous vegetables are also known to cause excess gas such as Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower.
When should you consult your doctor about bloating?
According to the NHS, you should consult your doctor if:
- You are bloated continually for more than three weeks
- You get bloated regularly, so that's practically every single day
- You have tried to change your diet and you haven't noticed any difference
- You're getting any swelling, any lumps, any discomfort in the tummy area
- The bloating is being accompanied by nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, sudden weight loss
- You're finding blood in your stools
- You're finding that you just can't do the things that you do because the bloating is so bad (1)
If you are getting any of these, please get these checked out by your doctor first just to rule out any other issues that may be going on here.
So, I hope you found this one helpful. It's quite a big subject as you can see. So, if any of you have found something that's really helped your belly bloating and wind, please share it with us because we would love to know.
Until next week, take care
