The Bloat-Busting Solution Your Doctor Never Told You About

If I had to name one of the most common symptoms plaguing my patients and followers, it’s the “bloat.” You know that feeling — your pants start feeling too tight, and you find yourself loosening your belt buckle by one hole to make more room for your expanding belly. Bloating can happen at any time of day, but the most common times are afternoon into evening and after meals. Unfortunately, most conventional doctors will wave chronic bloating off as a minor inconvenience — not something that really deserves their attention because well…it’s just bloat, right? It’s not like it’s life-threatening. But it’s certainly life-disturbing.

 

As someone who’s struggled with digestive health issues for over two decades of my life, I can relate to how uncomfortable bloating feels. And I know firsthand how backwards and damaging that dismissive thinking is. Bloating might just be “bloat” but it can greatly affect your quality of life, including your confidence, your energy levels, and your level of engagement in the world.

As a functional medicine doctor, I spend a surprising amount of time convincing my patients that their concerns are valid and that they deserve to feel their best. So, let’s talk about bloating, what causes it, and what you can do about it. After years of treating this tricky condition, I’ve found there’s one bloat-busting solution that stands out above the rest.

Understanding Chronic Bloat and Slow Digestion

Considering I’m America’s Gut Doctor, you won’t be surprised when I say that the underlying cause of chronic bloating is almost always an issue with the gut. But unlike so many other health conditions, the culprit behind bloat isn’t necessarily the composition of the gut microbiome. Instead, bloating has more to do with the speed at which your food is digested, and the efficiency with which your body releases stomach acid and digestive enzymes, which break down that food into nutrients that your body can absorb.

The symptoms of chronic bloating — like a distended belly, chronic gas, and pain and discomfort around the midsection — tend to occur when your digestion is too slow .

As a result, the food doesn’t get broken down and ends up in your intestines, where it gets fermented by your gut bacteria. And just like a bottle of kombucha or beer, the process of fermentation creates bubbles and gas, which end up causing your uncomfortable bloating, pressure, gas, and pain.

 

So, now onto the most important question: What can you do about it? The good news is that after years of treating chronic bloat, I’ve found that there are ways to reverse this issue and get you back to feeling your best.

Digestive Enzymes: The Best Bloat-Busting Solution

If chronic bloating is caused by slow, inefficient digestion, then it stands to reason that the best treatment would be one that helps bolster digestion for a more seamless experience. Enter: digestive enzymes. You produce digestive enzymes on your own, but in those with chronic bloat, you often don’t produce them quickly enough or in large enough quantities. Luckily, you can supplement with these enzymes from external sources. For example:

• Carbohydrate-digesting enzymes : amylase, glucoamylase, cellulase, hemicellulase, diastase, beta-glucanase, and invertase
• Protein-digesting enzymes : protease, acid protease, alpha-galactosidase, protease SP
• Fat-digesting enzyme : lipase

Taking a diverse range of digestive enzymes — which help to break down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats — can have a big impact on not just bloat but your body’s ability to absorb the nutrients in the food that you eat.

How to Know if Digestive Enzymes Are Right for You

So, how do you know if digestive enzymes are something to add to your wellness routine? A few questions I ask my patients include:

If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, there’s a good chance you’ll benefit from digestive enzymes. But here’s something else to consider — not all digestive enzyme supplements are created equal. In fact, some completely miss the mark by not providing a diverse range of enzymes, or additional ingredients that can improve digestion. For example, many people who struggle with bloating also have low stomach acid (check out my blog on acid reflux and low stomach acid ), which can cause acid reflux, bloating, burping and other symptoms.

 

For years I struggled to find a high-quality, comprehensive digestive supplement — so I decided to formulate my own! Here’s what you need to know about my Activate Plus supplement.

When my patients have chronic bloat or slow digestion, I recommend taking Activate Plus before their meals or after eating. One of the great things about digestive enzymes is that unlike other supplements, which can take months to start making an impact, digestive enzymes start working the first time you use them. They’re the perfect supplement to keep in your car or bag at all times and can be great for the holiday season, vacations and trips, and parties when you tend to eat foods you wouldn’t eat in your day-to-day life.

 

But probably the best thing about digestive enzymes is that it’s not only digestion that tends to improve. In my practice, I find that once digestion is optimal and a patient is absorbing the nutrients in their food, other conditions tend to improve as well. This can be anything from chronic headaches to fatigue to nutrient deficiencies to a weak immune system.

At the end of the day, the first step on any health journey is healing the gut and optimizing digestion and nutrient absorption.

After years of treating chronic bloat — and struggling with it myself many times during my own gut-healing journey! — I can say for sure that Activate Plus is one of the best tools at your disposal. But don’t take my word for it, try them out for yourself today!