Intestinal bloating has a number of causes and includes things like sluggish bowels or constipation. When you don’t have a bowel motion regularly, undigested food particles, bacteria and general waste products accumulate in your intestines and begin to produce gas.  As the problem builds, the less frequent elimination of waste means more gas is being produced and bloating increases. Constipation on the other hand has the system backed up and once again a source of excess gas production.

Less common causes of gas or bloating can be related to other problems such as low or insufficient pancreatic enzymes, sluggish gall bladder or intestinal bacteria overgrowth. These last few examples are not that common but need to be ruled out if the problem you suffer isn’t resolving.

A more common cause (particularly in females) is the overgrowth of a yeast called Candida Albicans. Candida is a fungus, or yeast, that lives naturally in all our bodies. When it is in the right balance with our good gut bacteria there are no problems – it is when things get out of balance that the trouble starts. For many people, the initial imbalance occurs when we take our very first round of oral antibiotics (that is those we swallow not those we are given in hospital via an IV drip).

Unfortunately, the good bacteria in our intestinal tract are an innocent casualty of the sweeping effect of antibiotics. The job of antibiotics is to kill the bacteria that are making us sick however, because there are so many species of bacteria present in our intestines, both good and bad, antibiotics will not just kill the bad bacteria but will indiscriminately kill the good ones too. This leaves more room for the Candida that lives in our gut to grow and over-populate the intestinal tract causing a whole raft of seemingly unconnected symptoms including gas and bloating.

Once you have an imbalance in your gut bacteria there are several things that can contribute to its over growth including:

• Excessive consumption of sugar
• Oral birth control
• Pregnancy
• Oral steroids
• Stress
• Food sensitivities

Candida Cleansing

As Candida is so often found to be the culprit when people visit their healthcare providers with seemingly unrelated untreatable symptoms, a cleansing program is often the first course of action and includes;

• Eliminating the foods that cause the yeast to grow
• Kill off the yeast
• Repopulate the intestine with healthy bacteria

When you treat the Candida, your gas and bloating, as well as other symptoms such as skin rashes, toenail fungus, brain fog, food allergies and leaky gut should all disappear.

Why should I treat Candida if its natural in the body?

Chronic yeast overgrowth in the intestines will lead to increased leaky gut syndrome. This is where the cells of the intestinal wall, that should be tightly packed, swell up causing tiny gaps to appear in the tight junctions. These gaps allow food particles that are not properly digested and broken down to be absorbed into the blood. Any food particle in the blood shouldn’t be there and is therefore considered an antigen and the immune system will trigger an immune response, attacking the foreign body just as it would for a virus that was making you ill. This is a vicious cycle that will lead to more leaky gut, more food reactions and more Candida overgrowth and more unpleasant symptoms.

Herbal options?

As part of the treatment or cleansing plan; you may consider use of effective herbal medicines which contain numerous herbal ingredients that help the body to rebalance the overgrowth of Candida back to a steady state. Look for products which contain St Mary’s Thistle, Echinacea, Pau D’arco, Golden Seal and Cats Claw. These powerful herbs are commonly recommended by natural health therapists for supporting the body to overcome excess Candida growth. Since Candida also causes things like dry and inflamed skin; herbal medicines can aid the body to relieve such symptoms.

Always speak to your healthcare provider if symptoms persist or worsen

Be safe and stay healthy