Menopause Bloating: Causes & Relief

Many women experience menopausal bloating that often leaves them very uncomfortable and irritated.

The two main reasons are water retention in the abdomen and gas retention in the abdomen. However, bloating can happen in perimenopause because there’s a change or increased sensitivity in our gut due to our hormone changes and this leads to the likelihood of pain with bloating. Kind of like how women experiences with their monthly hormone changes in their reproductive years when you’re going through your cycle. Other menopausal symptoms, like sleep disruptions, worsen your gut symptoms, like bloating. And also you can have bloating as a side effect of oral hormone therapy. For me personally, stress and trigger foods are the common aggravators.

So what can you do to remedy the bloating you’re experiencing?

You want to remove those trigger foods and sensitivities. They’re creating that bloating. Take time to relax. Eat mindfully. That means chewing your food very slowly. So this already is aiding in digestion of your food because digestion starts at the mouth with the saliva mixing with your food. Make sure you don’t overeat. For me, I notice too that I get bloated and don’t feel good when I overeat, so make sure you’re also regular with elimination.

If you’re not eating enough raw foods and getting those digestive enzymes, then maybe you’re backed up. So you want to make sure that you are eliminating at least once a day, and preferably after each meal. Um, you can also take digestive enzymes. These are helpful if you have difficulty breaking down foods that are problematic. And often if I eat something that I know I’m sensitive to, I’ll take a digestive enzyme before to help remedy that. And it’s not that you should do this all the time and rely on the digestive enzymes. You should probably get rid of that food that that is reacting reactive, reactive to your gut. Also, probiotics – it can help balance your gut flora. And exercise is really good because it’ll help you with your motility, help to get that digestion going and movement through an elimination.