Bloating
What Bloating Actually Is
Bloating is one of the most common digestive symptoms, and one of the most multi-layered.
It’s often described as fullness, pressure, distension, or a sense that the abdomen feels tight or swollen. While food can play a role, bloating is rarely just about what you eat. More often, it reflects how digestion is functioning, how gas is being moved through the gut, and how the body is responding more broadly.
Bloating is a signal, not a diagnosis, and it always has a reason.
A Common Bloating Experience
Many people notice that bloating follows a pattern. It may be worse at certain times of day, after meals, or around hormonal shifts. Some days feel manageable, others uncomfortable or unpredictable.
This happens because bloating is influenced by several factors that change day to day, including:
how quickly food is moving through the gut
how well digestion is breaking food down
shifts in stress, sleep, or nervous system state
hormonal changes across the cycle
tension in the abdomen, diaphragm, or pelvic area
When these patterns are understood, bloating starts to feel less random, and more informative.
The Nervous System and Bloating
Bloating is closely linked to the gut–brain connection.
When the nervous system is under pressure, whether from stress, emotional load, or long-standing tension, digestion often slows. Gas moves less efficiently, sensitivity increases, and the abdomen can feel tight or distended.
This is why bloating often worsens during stressful or emotionally charged periods, even when diet hasn’t changed. It’s not imagined, it’s a physiological response to how safe or settled the body feels.
What’s Often Missed
Bloating is frequently treated as a food intolerance or something to “cut out.” While food sensitivities can play a role, they’re often not the full picture.
Common contributors that are often overlooked include:
slowed gut motility
low stomach acid or digestive enzymes
microbial imbalance or SIBO
inflammation
hormone-related changes
chronic tension in the diaphragm or core
long-standing stress patterns affecting digestion
When these layers aren’t explored, bloating can persist despite restrictive diets or supplements.
A More Supportive Way Forward
Sustainable relief from bloating usually comes from understanding why it’s happening, rather than trying to suppress it.
Support often involves working across multiple layers, gently and in the right order. This may include improving digestion, supporting motility, addressing microbial balance, reducing inflammation, and working with the nervous system to reduce reactivity and tension.
The goal isn’t to eliminate foods indefinitely, but to rebuild confidence in digestion and help the gut function more comfortably over time.
This Page in One Sentence
Bloating isn’t just about food, it’s a digestive pattern shaped by motility, digestion, microbial balance, and nervous system regulation, and it improves most when these layers are supported together.