This is an integrative approach as a GP to the abdominal symptom of bloating, otherwise known as a bloated tummy.
The first thing to point out is that as in all abdominal complaints especially chronic abdominal complaints we need to find out exactly what the cause of that is and it’s important to rule out serious causes such as cancer so for that I would strongly advise that you consult your health professional to get a diagnosis.
In terms of causes there are a number of different causes for abdominal bloating and primarily the number one cause that we see in integrative practice is irritable bowel syndrome. This is followed by food allergies or sensitivities, then by complaints such as small intestinal bowel overgrowth. I’ve mentioned the more serious complaints such as cancer as these need to mentioned.
I usually take a history perform an examination and then recommend to other investigations such as colonoscopy or ultrasound in order to rule out any serious complaints and then in an integrative setting we may perform tests such as fecal microbial analysis or breath testing for lactose and fructose intolerance
Usually people have already had a lot of these investigations done and so in terms of treatment in my experience bloating is most commonly related to food and also stress which is why I recommend a grain free diet and then healing with the gut with supplementation.
I also recommend meditation because stress is also related to irritable bowel syndrome and then using certain other remedies such as peppermint or nutritional supplementation such as glutamine or probiotics but my number one approach to bloating is fundamentally diet and lifestyle
So there you have it an integrative approach to abdominal bloating