How to Reduce Bloating Naturally
You’re feeling bloated and uncomfortable. Maybe you’re generally okay in the morning, but as the day goes on, you feel the gas and pressure build. By the end of the day - misery. You’re putting on stretchy pants or pajama bottoms because your pants can’t button. You start looking through your drawer of OTC medications and supplements you’ve bought over the years desperate for relief. While the onset of new and significant symptoms may require a visit to the doctor’s office, dietary and lifestyle modifications can make a BIG difference when it comes to bloating! Let’s talk about how you can reduce bloating naturally.
The quick answer? Eating slowly, supporting stomach acid and digestive enzyme production, supporting motility, choosing gut friendly foods, improving hydration, managing stress, getting good quality sleep, removing overgrowths of problematic microbes, and supporting your gut microbiome and hormones with balanced meals and targeted supplements can all help to reduce bloating. Gentle movement, consistent routines, and mindful eating can also make a significant difference within a few days.
Let’s break it down.
Why Bloating Happens in the First Place
Bloating is usually related to how well your gut can digest foods. Bloating most often appears when the gut microbiome is unbalanced, food moves too slowly through the digestive tract, and/or stress levels prevent your body from digesting foods normally.
In normal digestion, food moves through the GI tract at a pace that allows for the breakdown of food and absorption of nutrients. When you chew your food, the food mixes with an enzyme called amylase in your mouth and begins the digestion process. Food then goes down through your esophagus and into the stomach, where it combines with stomach acid and the primary stomach enzyme, pepsin. Food leaves the stomach and enters the small intestine, where the pancreas and the walls of the small intestine secrete numerous enzymes, and your gallbladder releases bile, a greenish-yellow fluid that helps break down fats and acts as an anti-microbial agent against various bacteria. Most of your nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine. Finally, bacteria in the large intestine finish up the job of digesting your food, water and electrolytes are absorbed, and waste is eliminated through a bowel movement.
The bacteria and other organisms living in your large intestine make up the gut microbiome. A natural part of digestion is when the bacteria use whatever your body did not absorb to feed themselves. This process is called fermentation, and the natural result of fermentation is gas. Excess gas, air, and fluids can often lead to the sensation of fullness and pressure in the abdomen, which is what we call bloating. When the excess gas pushes out our abdomen, it’s called distention. Distention is what most people are referring to when they feel like they look pregnant!
Multiple factors can lead to too much gas, boating, and distention:
Eating too quickly
Eating large portion sizes
Irregular eating times
inflammation
Food sensitivities (often due to inflammation)
Low stomach acid
Insufficient enzyme production
Insufficient bile production
Slow motility
Elevated stress levels
Poor sleep
Hormone fluctuations
Visceral hypersensitivity
Understanding how your daily habits impact your digestion is the first step to reducing bloating naturally.
Step by Step Ways to Reduce Bloating Naturally
Eat More Slowly and Reduce Portion Sizes
Eating quickly traps air in the digestive tract, often leads to overeating, and forces the digestive system to work harder to break down the food you’ve eaten. Poorly digested food particles arrive in the intestines ready for the bacteria to ferment, producing excess gas, bloating, and distention.
Taking the time to chew your food allows your digestive system to produce enough stomach acid, enzymes, and bile to work properly, naturally reduces portion sizes, and signals to your nervous system that your body is in rest and digest mode.
Try these habits to reduce gas buildup and ease the overall digestive load:
Take a deep breath before starting your meal
Sit in a calm environment where you can focus on eating your meal
Limit distractions like phones and television
Put your fork down between bites and chew your food
Chew your food until it reaches an applesauce consistency
Choose Gut-Friendly Foods
When your gut is in a flare, some foods digest more easily and can help your gut recover
Gut friendly food examples:
Soft-cooked vegetables such as carrots and zucchini
Lean proteins such as chicken, turkey, fish, and lean cuts of beef
Low FODMAP fruits and vegetables
White rice, quinoa, potatoes, and oats
Bone broth
Eggs
Hot teas such as peppermint, dandelion, ginger, or chamomile
While in a gut flare, choosing to eat more gut-friendly foods can help in the short-term, but it’s important to understand why your gut is reacting, address the underlying cause, and slowly work more foods back into your diet.
Increase Hydration Throughout the Day
Drinking water helps food move more smoothly through the digestive system. Dehydration often slows digestion and can worsen bloating.
Aim for steady hydration throughout the day rather than drinking large amounts at once.
Avoid using straws to limit swallowing air and prevent more gas later.
Consider adding in gut-friendly warm herbal teas throughout the day, such as dandelion, chamomile, peppermint, and ginger teas.
Add Gentle Movement After Meals
Movement improves digestion by stimulating the muscles in your gut to contract and move food and gas through the digestive tract. Even a slow ten-minute walk can reduce bloating significantly.
Other helpful options:
Light stretching
Deep breathing
Yoga twists
Pelvic tilts
Reduce Stress to Calm Your Gut
Your gut and your brain communicate with each other all day on a “highway” called the Vagus nerve. When your gut is bloated or struggling with digestion, it sends stress signals to your brain. When you’re managing all the stressors in your life, your brain sends stress messages to your gut. If these stress signals between your gut and brain occur regularly, bloating can develop more often.
Simple stress-reducing practices:
Box breathing for one minute 4-5x/day
Download an app such as Nerva or Insight Timer to practice mindfulness exercises
Light journaling
Gentle outdoor walks or movement
Eating meals in a calm and peaceful environment
If your job or daily routine is stressful, supporting your nervous system becomes essential to reduce bloating.
Get Good Quality Sleep
You might not immediately link bloating to your sleep cycle, but your gut depends on good-quality sleep to function. At night, your body shifts to rest and digest mode, allowing your gut lining to repair and beneficial bacteria to thrive. Without enough sleep, inflammation rises, and your gut/brain communication gets fuzzy. This often results in constipation, heavier bloating, and that uncomfortable “off” feeling after meals.
Simple sleep hygiene habits:
Go to bed and wake up around the same time every day
Create an evening wind-down with a cup of hot tea and a good book
Reduce evening screen time, particularly scrolling on your phone
Eat foods rich in magnesium (ie, spinach, almonds), tryptophan (ie, turkey, eggs), and complex carbohydrates (i,e oats and quinoa) to promote better sleep
Get morning sunlight to reset your circadian rhythm and boost serotonin
Limit your intake of caffeine and alcohol
Keep your room cool, dark, and quiet
When To consider Gut Health Coaching
If gas and bloating happen frequently and are accompanied by pain, fatigue, food sensitivities, anxiety, irregular bathroom habits, and/or are limiting your ability to live your life, it may be time to explore deeper gut support.
A professional gut health program can help you:
Improve your symptoms with structure.
Understand your body’s unique patterns
Reset your gut gently.
Identify food triggers
Remove any overgrowths of bacteria, yeast or parasites
Rebuild your microbiome
Identify the role of hormones in your gut health
Give you the freedom to live your life without worrying about everything you eat
If you’re ready for personalized support and a structured plan to heal your gut, visit Balanced Gut Coaching to reduce bloating, have more energy, and take control of your life again.
Quick Summary
Reducing bloating naturally is possible through:
Eating slowly
Eating smaller portion sizes at one sitting
Choosing gut-friendly foods when in a flare
Increasing hydration throughout the day
Adding in gentle movement after meals
Managing stress levels
Getting good quality sleep
Remember, small daily shifts can make the biggest difference. Your gut responds best to simple, predictable routines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I feel bloated after every meal
Bloating after meals can often happen for many reasons, including eating too quickly, eating large portion sizes, inadequate stomach acid and/or enzyme production, an unbalanced microbiome, high stress levels, poor sleep, and hormone fluctuations.
What is the fastest natural way to reduce bloating
If bloating symptoms are starting, try taking a slow walk, gentle breathing, and gut-supporting teas like dandelion, ginger, chamomile, and peppermint to reduce symptoms.
Can bloating be related to stress
Yes! When you are feeling stressed, the brain sends messages to the gut that something is not right. As a result, your body does not produce enough stomach acid or digestive enzymes to digest your food, and motility can either slow down (constipation) or speed up (diarrhea). In this way, stress directly leads to bloating.
Do probiotics help bloating
While some people feel better taking a probiotic, other people feel worse or neutral/have no change when taking a probiotic. It is important to consider your personal gut microbiome landscape when deciding whether or not to take a probiotic, as well as proper dosing.
How can a gut coach help with bloating
A health coach who specializes in gut health will work with you to find the root cause of your symptoms, create a personalized plan to address those symptoms, and equip you with the right tools to handle any future unexpected digestive symptoms.
