Cultured Check: Do Bloating "Hacks" Actually Work?

Written by Emma Loewe: Writer, author, and editor of Cultured. Her writing explores the intersection of nature, climate, and human health. Emma is the author of “Return to Nature” and “The Spirit Almanac.”
Reviewed by Jennie O’Grady: Senior SciComms Specialist at Seed Health

Welcome to Cultured Check, where we put wellness hacks under a microscope to help you decide if they’re worth your time. The internet has a way of stripping health topics of critical nuance. At Cultured, it’s our job to add it back. Join our team of science communicators as we dig up the citations you won’t see on social media, provide context where it’s lacking, and clearly share our findings so you can walk away knowing the whole truth behind the trends. 

To bloat is to be human (and microbe). Abdominal tightness, swelling, and gassiness are a byproduct of microbial fermentation in the gut microbiome, so getting to the bottom of bloating requires tending to this unseen ecosystem. 

The internet is filled with “hacks” that claim to help you do so quickly and painlessly—from the improbable (just put your feet up on a wall) to the downright odd (a spoonful of sea moss makes the bloating go down!). But how helpful are they, really? 

Join us as we critically analyze the research on what bloat is, why it happens, and how to debloat for good.

The Claim: “You Can Hack Your Way Out of Bloat”

Take a scroll through the distended stomachs and pained expressions of the #bloattok TikTok tag and you’ll quickly see that bloating affects people of every shape, size, background, and health history. 

According to the latest data, roughly one in five people around the world get the feeling at least once a week.¹ Most of them don’t seek out care for bloating, opting to just let it happen or trying to self-soothe with one of the many fast bloating “hacks” on the internet, including:² 

• Eating superfoods like avocado, turmeric, peppermint, ginger, or sea moss
• Drinking a greens powder or peppermint tea after meals
• Doing a yoga flow that features spinal twists, cat-cows, or feet up the wall
• Giving a self-massage with specific hand motions to release gas

The Context: Bloating Is Complicated

To understand whether or not these hacks help with bloat, we need to unpack what bloat actually is and why it can happen so often.

Typically, bloating refers to a feeling of fullness, tightness, or swelling in the abdomen that is caused by the buildup of gases in the large intestine—namely carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane.^3,4 (The colon is a mostly anaerobic environment, meaning it’s very low in oxygen, but otherwise, it features many of the same gases as the air we breathe.)

At any given time, the average person has 100–200 cubic centimeters (cc) of gas within their GI tract, meaning that as you read this, you are roughly half as carbonated as a can of Coke (355 cc).⁵ 

Over the course of a day, people typically pass about 700 cc of gas through the (very demure and mindful) process of farting and burping.⁵ When the volume of gas outpaces our ability to clear it, bloating can happen. 

Gas tends to build up after we eat a meal—especially if we eat too quickly and don’t properly chew our food.^5,6 It can also form when we swallow air (a common occurrence if you’re a gum chewer, smoker, or someone who drinks through a straw). Finally, certain foods can lead to more gas creation (in some people) due to the way they are broken down in various compartments of the gut. These include:

Foods That Can Cause Bloating: 

• Beans and legumes: Beans, lentils, peas, chickpeas, etc. contain high amounts of a complex sugar called raffinose, which the small intestine cannot digest.⁷ Once raffinose makes it to the large intestine undigested, the colon’s resident gut bacteria feed on its sugars and produce gas as a byproduct of the fermentation process. 
• Carbonated beverages: Sipping fizzy drinks can cause gas and abdominal bloating.⁵ Drinking them out of straws can also cause you to swallow more air, further adding to gas buildup. 
• Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts also contain large amounts of raffinose. They are also high in fiber—a complex carbohydrate that is difficult to digest. Fiber can lead to bloating and flatulence when it’s broken down in the gut.⁵
• Dairy products: Lactose is a natural sugar in milk and milk products (like cheese and ice cream), and it can also be found in some processed foods.⁸ Many people (particularly those of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian descent) have low levels of the enzyme needed to digest lactose, called lactase. As a result, lactose can travel to the large intestine undigested, where it contributes to carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane production during fermentation. 
• High-FODMAP foods: These foods contain certain types of carbohydrates (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, or polyols) that are not easily absorbed in the small intestine and must travel to the large intestine to be fermented, causing gas as a byproduct. Wheat, garlic, apples, blackberries, Brussels sprouts, honey, avocado, and dairy products with lactose are all examples of high-FODMAP foods that may cause bloating and discomfort in some people.⁹
• Sugar alcohols: Certain fruits, vegetables, and artificial sweeteners contain sugar alcohols, including sorbitol, erythritol, and mannitol, that may cause bloat in some people.¹⁰
• Salt: Sodium increases water retention, which could explain why diets high in salt have been associated with bloating.¹¹

These foods and drinks might be especially triggering for those with underlying food intolerances or digestive disorders. However, even if you avoid them entirely (which we don’t recommend unless it’s under the guidance of a health professional), you may still have issues with bloating.

That’s because there are a few other non-dietary factors that contribute to uncomfortable gas buildup.

Other Causes of Bloating:

• Bloating can be a sign of a microbial imbalance in the gut. Your gut has its own unique assortment of microbiota. Different bacteria produce different gases during the fermentation process, which helps explain why certain foods trigger bloating in one person and not the next.⁵ It’s not necessarily the foods that make a difference; it’s the resident microorganisms that you have (or don’t have) to break these foods down in the gut. If you feel bloated after eating no matter what was on your plate, it could be a sign that your gut microbiota is in a state of dysbiosis—it’s too low or too high in certain bacteria, causing a buildup of gases that leads to discomfort.^5,12 Expelled gas that has a uniquely strong odor (in other words, smelly farts) can also be a sign that your gut bacteria is not balancing out the gas in your gut as it should.⁵
• Stressing about bloating only makes it worse: It’s safe to say that nobody likes to feel bloated. Once bloating starts, it’s human nature to want it to go away—and to worry about it sticking around. But, as infuriating as this may be, stressing about bloating only makes it worse. Psychological stress can trigger digestive concerns (and vice versa) via the gut-brain axis, which explains why people who struggle with moderate-to-severe bloating also tend to have more frequent anxiety.^13,14 Chronic stress can negatively affect digestion by causing us to eat too quickly, delaying the emptying of stomach contents, and speeding up the passage of material through the intestines.^13,15 So, when you do find yourself bloated, do your best to relax and trust your gut to do its job properly.
• There is a hormonal element to bloating: It’s not a coincidence that most bloating hack videos are posted by young women. Women are more than twice as likely to report feeling bloated than men, and symptoms may be worse during reproductive years.¹ That’s because, during menstruation, high levels of estrogen can cause the body to retain water, which contributes to stomach swelling.¹⁶ Estrogen can also slow down the movement of food through the intestines, causing gas buildup.¹⁷ Increased levels of progesterone (after ovulation, about a week prior to menstruation) can relax the smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract, further slowing digestion and leading to bloating and constipation.¹⁸ 

The Cultured Check: Debloating Takes Time

After digging into the various causes of bloat, one thing becomes very clear: There is no fast fix for it. 

Quick “hacks” don’t take into account the myriad causes of bloat—from food intolerances to lifestyle habits to gut imbalances. They may ease discomfort in the short term, but they won’t lead to significant improvements in gut function in the long run.

Let’s say you feel your stomach expanding after you eat broccoli salad, for example. You might assume that broccoli is the culprit and vow to stop eating it. That’s logical thinking, but it doesn’t account for the many other reasons you may have had a negative response to the salad.

(Just to name a few: You might have eaten it too quickly and not chewed enough; your microbiome might be in a state of dysbiosis because of a recent round of antibiotics or a night out drinking; your digestion might be erratic due to the stress you’ve been feeling at work; your impending period may be making things sluggish in the digestion department…the list goes on!)

While avoiding broccoli may help in the short term, it won’t completely solve your issue or be the best choice for your overall health, seeing as the plant is filled with nutritious fiber and micronutrients. Long-term bloating relief requires more consistent, comprehensive changes.

Long-Term Strategies to Debloat:

1. Enjoy meals slowly.

Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly at every meal to reduce swallowed air. Do your best not to rush through meals when you’re feeling stressed. Doing a short mindfulness exercise before digging into your food and/or taking meals away from your computer screen can help.

2. Eati plenty of fruits and vegetables.

As we’ve already covered, certain foods may cause bloat in some people and not others due to the composition of their unique gut microbiome. However, a high-fiber diet that’s rich in fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods is typically considered the gold standard for gut health. (Though heads up, increasing your fiber intake too quickly can make gas and bloating worse temporarily.)

3. Watch the sodium, dairy, soda, and other “trigger” ingredients.

Pay attention to how your (unique and amazing) body reacts to the foods listed above to get a sense of the types of ingredients that contribute to gas buildup for you—not the influencer you see on Instagram.

4. Stay active.

Getting gentle exercises throughout the day—particularly after meals—can help keep gas and stool moving (and maintain a healthy gut microbiome).^19,20 Get in the habit of walking after you eat, even if it’s just for a few minutes. 

5. Manage your stress.

Techniques like yoga, meditation, and deep breathing can help reduce stress levels that contribute to bloating. Laying down in a supine position seems to increase gas retention, so try to stick with seated or standing postures.²¹ 

6. Take a daily probiotic.

Your gut microbiome is very much alive, with resident bacteria that are constantly changing. This is super empowering: It means that every day is an opportunity to promote a more balanced, diverse ecosystem in the gut—and a probiotic with clinically validated strains can help you do just that.

Select strains in Seed’s DS-01^® Daily Synbiotic, L. plantarum LP01 and B. breve BR03, have been shown to significantly ease abdominal bloating (as well as promote easier, more consistent bowel movements) in a 30-day double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.²² Like all Seed products, DS-01^® is science-backed, with over 20 studies demonstrating strain-specific benefits, and several clinical trials supporting the benefits of the entire formulation. Learn more about how it compares to other options on the market here.

The Key Insight

One Pubmed dive, 22 citations, and hours of research later, this Cultured Check is complete: While bloating hacks can be effective for short-term relief, they won’t deliver meaningful changes in gut comfort or function. More consistent habits like thoroughly chewing your food, staying active, managing your stress, taking a probiotic with effective strains, and visiting a doctor when something feels off will be much more effective than one yoga flow or lymph massage. 

You have a uniquely intricate gut microbiome, so debloating tips that work for other people won’t necessarily work for you. All the more reason to listen to your own body through this process—not the ones on your For You Page.