Is Low Stomach Acid Causing Your Bloating? (Plus What You Can Do About It)

Do you feel bloated after eating? Even with healthy meals? Foods can trigger discomfort if your digestion is not working well. I often find low stomach acid being one of the underlying reasons for bloating. Have you ever suspected that the underlying reason for your bloating could be low stomach acid?

Common Signs Of Low Stomach Acid

• Bloating after meals

• Burping or Gas

• Undigested food in stool

• Feeling full to quickly

• Reduced appetite

• Acid reflux!

Do any of these signs resonate with you? Have you ever sat down to eat a delicious meal only to find that you could not finish it because you became over full quickly. Do you feel you are feeling full for long after eating or just do not feel hungry as you used to. These may indicate low stomach acid.

What Causes Low Stomach Acid?

There can be many reasons for low stomach acid but here are some major causes of low stomach acid that may be contributing to your bloating:

• Stress

• Ageing

• Certain medications

• Nutritional Deficiencies

Lets break this down a bit. When we are stressed our digestion shuts down as the body intelligently directs its resources to protect you from danger. It pumps blood to your muscles so you can run away from danger (just like we used to thousands of year ago). The impact this has on digestion is that you may experience bloating or gut ache due to not having the resources to digest your food well. I elaborate on this in my blog post YOUR DIGESTION AND STRESS - ARE THEY CONNECTED?

With age our digestive ability is naturally reduced this means you can not digest certain foods as well as you used to when you were young. These may be proteins, fat digestion, carbohydrates. The solution is to put some digestive support in place to help you digest the foods better. This way you are less likely to experience uncomfortable bloating after eating.

Certain medications are used specifically to reduce stomach acid secretions, these are prescribed by doctors if you are experiencing for example, acid reflux or to protect the stomach lining while using other drugs. Proton pump inhibitors also known as PPI's Long term use of PPI's can have a big impact on your digestion and limit your ability to digest your food properly. They can also cause nutritional deficiencies such as Vitamin B12, folate, iron, calcium, and magnesium.

Nutrients needed to optimise stomach acid production are vitamin B1, B6, and zinc. Quite often people can be deficient in these nutrients.

Natural Ways to Support Healthy Stomach Acid to Reduce Bloating

• Eat bitter foods

• Apple cider vinegar before eating in some water

• Digestive Bitters

• Take action to manage stress

• Mindful eating

We all need to eat more bitter foods. A typical Western diet is highly refined and carbohydrate heavy. The food manufacturing process favours the use of sugar and refined ingredients to produce food for the population. Over century's we have forgotten what natural foods actually taste like. Our ancestors ate foods in their natural state and in season. Bitter foods are important in our diet because they naturally stimulate digestive juices to flow. They also support a healthy liver function which is key for a healthy detoxification function.

Another simple strategy could be to drink a small amount of apple cider vinegar in some water before your main meal to encourage natural stomach acid production. This may not be appropriate if you have ulceration or inflammation in the stomach or oesophagus.

In addition to this most people can not change their circumstances but can learn to manage their stress load by incorporating stress management techniques, practicing mindfulness and taking time out while eating.

When to Seek Help?

• Ongoing discomfort

• Food avoidance

• Fatigue, nutrient deficiencies

If you are experiencing on going gut discomfort and bloating that is not resolved with with self help strategies I would encourage you to book a personalised gut nutrition session with with me to uncover the root cause. Contact