Do Probiotics Help with Bloating?

Why Do I Feel So Bloated All The Time?

If you’re not pregnant but tired of looking like you are because you’re so bloated, you’re not alone!

Bloating is a super frustrating issue that we see quite often.

One out of seven people experiences bloating weekly (1). Over half of the people who experience bloating do NOT seek care or treatment, partially due to being embarrassed to discuss it with their provider.

Keep reading to learn…

How to address the root cause of your bloating
Which probiotics help with bloating
Which probiotics to avoid if you’re bloated
Lifestyle tips to relieve bloat

Bloated Meaning

Bloating is a condition that occurs due to excess gas, air, water, or waste being stuck in the gut. It can feel like you’re full even if you haven’t had anything to eat.

Everyone can feel bloated occasionally as a result of eating certain foods. Occasional bloating is not typically a cause for concern.

Have you ever eaten a huge plate of cruciferous vegetables (think broccoli and cabbage, for example) and watched your stomach expand? That sort of bloating is perfectly normal and expected.

What’s not normal and should be addressed is the type of bloating that becomes frequent, extreme, or painful.

For example, our clients typically describe their bloating as feeling six months pregnant or having to unbutton their pants to relieve some pain.

People with food intolerances, dysbiosis (unbalanced gut bacteria), visceral hypersensitivity (overly sensitive stomach), and/or reduced abdominal space (such as after bariatric surgery) are more likely to experience bloating.

Reasons for Bloating

Occasional bloating

Occasional bloating is temporary, typically subsiding within a few hours or days.

Common causes of occasional bloating include:

Bubbly or carbonated drinks
Big meals
Food sensitivities
Eating too quickly
Sudden changes in fiber intake
Eating a lot of fermented foods
Changes in progesterone and estrogen
Stress

Stress is often overlooked as a common cause of bloating, so we’ll give that one a little extra attention. While they might seem unrelated, the body functions as a single unit, so we shouldn’t look at the body as isolated systems.

Stress causes bloating by lowering the production of digestive enzymes and stomach acid.

Digestive enzymes are responsible for breaking down food so that the nutrients in the food can be absorbed. If food isn’t broken down and absorbed well, bloating occurs.
Stomach acid helps break down your food and reduces the growth of unwanted microorganisms (like harmful bacteria).

Also, chronic stress puts you in a state of fight or flight which is the opposite of what we want when eating (ever heard of rest and digest?).

When you’re in fight or flight, the sympathetic nervous system is on high alert, pumping out extra hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to prepare the body to move.

On the other hand, when you’re relaxed and the parasympathetic nervous system is in control, the body is primed to produce digestive enzymes and stomach acid so that you can efficiently absorb nutrients from your food.

If you think stress is underlying your digestive issues, here are a few resources that may help:

Practicing deep breathing before meals can help you reduce bloating from chronic stress.
For more tips to reduce the impact stress has on you, check out these 15 Ways to Destress.

Chronic bloating

Chronic bloating lasts for several weeks or months and can be caused by:

Dysbiosis
SIBO
H. pylori infections
Yeast overgrowth
IBS
IBD
Constipation
Celiac disease
Lack of digestive enzymes
Lack of stomach acid
GERD

Other more serious and less frequent conditions that can cause bloating, such as ovarian cancer or bowel cancer, should be ruled out by a doctor.

Bloating and Your Microbiome

The microbiome consists of trillions of microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses) living in your digestive tract.
It supports the immune system, energy metabolism, and absorption of nutrients.
When your body is digesting food, gas is released by the microbiome (this is totally normal). However, if the bacteria in your gut aren’t well balanced, too much gas can be produced. This excess gas can create bloating.
Probiotics support the microbiome by boosting good bacteria and controlling the growth of opportunistic bacteria.

We recommend getting more probiotics by adding fermented foods to your diet. Foods that contain probiotics:

Kimchi
Kombucha
Sauerkraut juice
Miso
Natto

Why do probiotics help with bloating?

Probiotics help reduce bloating by positively changing the microbiome and reducing gas production in the gut. When the gut becomes populated with good bacteria, bad bacteria have a harder time surviving – here’s why:

Probiotics compete for food in the gut, starving out the bad bacteria
They also take up real estate in the gut, crowding out the bad guys
Probiotics create an acidic environment that drives out bad bacteria
They also produce antimicrobial peptides that help kill pathogenic bacteria
Bloating after taking probiotics can also be a sign of SIBO. Check out our SIBO Diet and Breath Test Program if this happens to you!

Tips for taking probiotics to help with bloating

Probiotics will most likely work for you if your bloating is related to dysbiosis.
Everyone’s microbiome is unique, so you might need to try multiple probiotics to find your best fit.
Probiotics won’t work if your bloating is caused by these other common reasons for chronic bloating.
Remember to go low and slow when beginning a probiotic supplement beginning at 1/4 label dose rather than starting at the goal dose on the label.
It’s necessary to take probiotics long-term to continue to get the benefit of them.

Why you may experience bloating from probiotics

Adding in probiotic supplements can cause temporary bloating as your body adjusts.
- We recommend starting at 1/4 of the recommended total dose (as stated on the label) and slowly increasing to the full dose over a couple of weeks as your body adjusts.
- If bloating persists after being on the probiotic for a full month, then it could be time to try a different probiotic or look for other root causes of your bloating.
If you’re taking a special type of probiotic, known as a synbiotic, you may be more likely to experience bloating.
- Synbiotics are probiotic supplements containing prebiotics. These can worsen bloating in some people. The excess bacteria consumes the prebiotic fibers, resulting in gas and bloating.
  - We DO NOT recommend synbiotics until you address the root cause of your bloating.
  - You’ll know you’re taking a synbiotic if it contains prebiotics such as fructooligosaccharides (FOS), inulin, or galactooligosaccharides (GOS).

How to Get Rid of Bloating

If probiotics don’t seem to be helping your bloat, try these tips below to optimize digestion and support gut health.

Diet tips for bloating

If your bloating is caused by IBS or IBD, a low-FODMAP diet can reduce your bloating (6, 7, 8, 9). You can read more on the low-FODMAP diet and get low-FODMAP snack ideas here.
Diets high in added sugar will feed the bacteria that produce more gas – cutting down on added sugar can help to create a healthier microbiome.
Eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and beans to feed your good bacteria and promote a diverse microbiome. Count how many different plants you ate last week to check in on this. The goal is to eat more than 35 types of plants every week!
Common gas-producing foods include beans and vegetables in the cruciferous family (i.e., broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc.). This isn’t to say you shouldn’t eat those things but rather to bring awareness to what foods will normally create more gas.

Drinks That Cause Bloating

If you’re lactose intolerant and are drinking regular cow’s milk, you will continue to bloat. Using digestive enzymes containing lactase or drinking Lactaid milk can help.
Alcohol promotes bad bacteria and will negatively impact the health of your gut over time.
Bubbly and carbonated drinks can cause bloating. If these are a staple in your diet, consider cutting them out for one week to see if your bloating goes away.

Mindful Eating to Reduce Bloating

The digestive process begins in your mouth with chewing your food.
- Try chewing each bite 20-30 times before swallowing to give your gut time to prepare for digesting.
- If you notice you’re always the first one done eating, this is especially important for you to try!
As we previously mentioned, stress plays a role in bloating.
- Practice deep breathing at the beginning of each meal to calm your body. It’s much easier for your body to digest food when relaxed.

Exercise and Bloating

Try moving your body more to reduce your bloating.
- Just 20 minutes of aerobic exercise (i.e., jogging, using a rower or an elliptical, etc.) three days a week for eight weeks significantly reduced bloating in women with PMS (10).
- In people with IBS, exercising helped reduce gas, which reduced bloating (11).

Supplements to Reduce Bloating

Peppermint oil + Asafoetida
- Should be used with caution if you have acid reflux or constipation (12, 13).
- Works by relaxing muscles and expelling gas.
Activated charcoal
- Not to be used for extended periods (6 weeks max) because it can bind to important nutrients, making them difficult to absorb.
- Works by getting gas out of the system.
Prokinetics
- Promote the movement of food and gas through the digestive tract. Learn more about prokinetics here.
- Please note: these should NOT be used if you have an intestinal obstruction.
Immunoglobulins or colostrum
- The exact mechanism is poorly understood, but we know that colostrum can promote a healthy immune system and fight off infections.
- Please note: these should NOT be used with a milk allergy, history of organ transplant, during pregnancy, or while trying to get pregnant.
Atrantil
- Multiple studies have shown a reduction in bloating after two weeks of taking Atrantil by improving constipation and reducing excess bacteria (103, 104).

Bloating and Probiotic FAQs

Should I Take a Probiotic If I’m Bloated?

Probiotics are strain-specific, meaning you’ve got to take the right one (containing the right strain of bacteria) to get the benefits you’re looking for.

The right strain of probiotics CAN help with bloating for some people. For others, probiotics can make bloating worse.
For more information on probiotics, read 11 Signs Probiotics are Working and Do Probiotics Make You Poop.

What Probiotic is Best for Bloating?

We recommend choosing one of the following probiotics to help with bloating:

All of the probiotics above are available for purchase in our online dispensary and contain the research-backed strains listed below.

The following strains of bacteria are helpful for bloating:

Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus (2)
Bifidobacterium longum (3)
Bifidobacterium bifidum (3)
Bifidobacterium lactis (4)
Lactobacillus acidophilus (4)
Streptococcus thermophilus (3)
Bacillus coagulans (5)

How Long Does it Take For Probiotics to Reduce Bloating?

You should notice some improvement within 3-4 days. It could take several weeks for some people to see bloating resolve completely.
Remember to go low and slow when beginning a probiotic supplement – being with 1/4 the label dose rather than starting at the goal dose.
Probiotics typically need to be taken long-term to continue to resolve symptoms. So you’ll need to stay on the probiotic to keep the bloating at bay.

Conclusion

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that help maintain a healthy balance of microorganisms in the digestive system. Certain probiotic strains can reduce bloating caused by an imbalance of microorganisms.

Probiotics will not solve bloating for everyone. Depending on what’s brewing in the gut, some probiotics can make digestive problems worse!

If you’ve tried several probiotics without symptom relief (and/or if they seem to make things worse for you), we recommend doing a comprehensive stool test to get to the root cause(s) of your digestive problems.

For more individualized support, work with one of our dietitians!