Bloating is one of the most common digestive complaints, affecting up to 30% of the population worldwide, and 96% of people with IBS. While occasional bloating can be normal after a big meal, persistent bloating and abdominal distention may reflect how your gut microbes, diet, and even your breathing patterns interact with your digestive system.
The science shows there are practical, evidence-based steps to reduce bloating, improve digestion, and support your microbiome long term. This blog will equip you with science-backed strategies, from dietary tweaks to mindfulness practices, for lasting relief.
How Do We Define Bloating?
Bloating is more than just an inconvenience -it’s one of the most common digestive concerns women talk about, yet it’s often brushed off or minimised. In medicine, doctors use the Rome IV criteria to define conditions like primary abdominal bloating and distention. What this means is that your symptoms are real, even if scans or scopes don’t show anything structurally “wrong.”
This matters, because so many women have been told to “just live with it.” The science now confirms that bloating is a recognised medical condition with clear pathways for support. And the even better news? There are practical, evidence-based strategies that can help ease discomfort and restore balance to your gut.
1. Chew More Than You Think You Need
Digestion starts in the mouth. Poorly chewed food increases the workload on the gut, leading to incomplete breakdown, excess fermentation, and bloating.
• Chewing more thoroughly has been shown to slow eating, reduce hunger, and enhance digestion.
• If you are eating quickly or talking lots while eating there is a greater chance of swallowing some extra air as you eat. Mindful eating may reduce symptoms of functional bloating by lowering swallowed air and even reducing meal size.
Practical tip: Aim for 20–30 chews per bite and put your fork down between mouthfuls. It feels slow at first, but your gut will thank you.
2. Harness Your Gut’s Cleaning Waves
Between meals, your gut switches on the migrating motor complex (MMC)—a rhythmic contraction that sweeps away undigested food and bacteria. Constant grazing interrupts this process, contributing to fermentation and distention.
• Studies show impaired MMC function is linked to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), which causes bloating in up to 78% of affected individuals (Pimentel et al., Am J Gastroenterol, 2003, PMID: 12738455).
Practical tip: Leave 3–4 hours between meals to allow the MMC to complete its cycle and see if this helps reduce bloating.
3. Rule Out Hidden Triggers
If bloating has been disruptive and persistent, do talk with your GP or specialist as several conditions should be excluded with persistent bloating:
• Carbohydrate enzyme deficiencies (like lactose intolerance) can be assessed through dietary restriction or breath testing.
• Coeliac disease affects about 1 in 70 Australians and should be ruled out with serology, followed by small bowel biopsy if positive. A dietitian trained in gastroenterology can play a key role in managing both coeliac disease and non-coeliac gluten sensitivity so work with an Accredited professional.
• Alarm features such as unexplained weight loss, rectal bleeding, or recent symptom worsening may require abdominal imaging or endoscopy.
4. Choose Fibres That Feed, Not Overwhelm
Not all fibres behave the same way. Some are rapidly fermentable and can trigger gas and bloating, while slower fermenting prebiotics feed microbes more gently.
• Microbiome Essentials delivers a blend of proven prebiotics that are fermented in a uniform rate of digestion throughout the colon, which can reduce bloating and improve bowel regularity.
• Cacao Latte delivers gentle prebiotic fibre that ferments slowly in the gut, rather than causing excess gas.
Practical tip: Cooked and cooled potatoes deliver slowly fermented fibre so say yes to potato salad. For a clinically studied synbiotic blend that is low FODMAP and reduces bloating enjoy your daily Cacao Latte.
5. Train Your Gut Like a Muscle
Your microbiome adapts to what you feed it - but it needs time. Jumping from 15 g of fibre a day to 35 g overnight will almost guarantee bloating.
• Most women need at least 25–30g of fibre per day, but the average Australian woman is getting only 15–17g.
• Studies show a gradual increase in fibre fosters microbial diversity without excess symptoms.
Practical tip: Add one new high-fibre food every few days -chia seeds, legumes, wholegrains - and always pair with water. Read our blog on upping your fibre intake safely.
6. Address Constipation and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
In women whose bloating is linked to constipation or incomplete evacuation (not feeling like you have had a complete poo), this may reveal pelvic floor dysfunction.
• Biofeedback therapy for pelvic floor disorders has a 70–80% success rate in improving evacuation and reducing bloating
Practical tip: Conditions like endometriosis and hypermobility are associated with pelvic floor dysfunction. If you struggle with constipation, a pelvic floor physiotherapist will assess how your muscles are working, identify any issues with coordination or strength, and guide you through targeted exercises or biofeedback techniques to improve bowel function and reduce bloating and discomfort.
7. Retrain Your Breath
Your diaphragm plays a surprising role in bloating. In some women, abdominophrenic dyssynergia occurs - the diaphragm contracts instead of relaxing, pushing the abdomen outward.
• Clinical studies show diaphragmatic breathing improves bloating and abdominal distention in functional gut disorders
Practical tip: Try 5 minutes of belly breathing before meals. Inhale deeply through the nose, letting the belly rise, and exhale slowly through the mouth.
8. Mind -Body Therapies Are Not “All in Your Head”
Because the gut and brain are tightly connected, psychological therapies can be very effective when bloating is persistent. This includes hypnotherapy, CBT, and other brain–gut behavioural therapies.
• Meta-analyses show gut-directed hypnotherapy reduces symptoms in 70–80% of patients with IBS, including bloating
Practical tip: If stress worsens your bloating, consider stress-reduction strategies such as yoga, CBT, or gut-focused hypnotherapy. These therapies retrain the brain–gut connection, lowering visceral hypersensitivity.
9. What Doesn’t Work: Probiotics Alone
Despite popular belief, probiotics alone are not recommended for treating bloating and distention by the American Gastroenterological Association. Evidence for general probiotic blends is inconsistent, and benefits are strain-specific.
Instead, a dietitian-guided approach with dietary change, fibre optimisation, and mind–body strategies can provide a great foundation for addressing bloating.
If you are taking a probiotic ensure it is combined with prebiotic to feed it, and that there are clinical studies supporting its effectiveness and the delivered dose (we deliver synbiotic combinations with Lactospore® in Cacao Latte and Unique-IS2® in Gut + Hormone clinically studied to reduce bloating and enhance digestive comfort).
Build a Foundation
Bloating is not something you need to “just live with.” Science confirms that small, intentional changes like chewing thoroughly, spacing meals, choosing the right fibres, gradually increasing intake, and retraining your breath can reduce symptoms significantly. When needed, further investigation (serology, imaging, motility testing, or anorectal physiology studies) can help pinpoint underlying issues.
Uncover more secretes to a happier digestive system here.
References
Cherpak CE. Mindful Eating: A Review Of How The Stress-Digestion-Mindfulness Triad May Modulate And Improve Gastrointestinal And Digestive Function. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2019
Damianos JA, Tomar SK, Azpiroz F, Barba E. Abdominophrenic Dyssynergia: A Narrative Review. Am J Gastroenterol. 2023
Dukowicz AC, Lacy BE, Levine GM. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth: a comprehensive review. Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2007
Häuser W. Gut-directed hypnosis and hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome: a mini-review. Front Psychol. 2024
Heymen S, Scarlett Y, Jones K, Ringel Y, Drossman D, Whitehead WE. Randomized, controlled trial shows biofeedback to be superior to alternative treatments for patients with pelvic floor dyssynergia-type constipation. Dis Colon Rectum. 2007
Longstreth GF, Thompson WG, Chey WD, Houghton LA, Mearin F, Spiller RC. Functional bowel disorders. Gastroenterology. 2006
Miquel-Kergoat S, Azais-Braesco V, Burton-Freeman B, Hetherington MM. Effects of chewing on appetite, food intake and gut hormones: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Physiol Behav. 2015
