Has Christmas excess left you troubled by bloating? - Try cutting down on salt and salty food.

Here are two definitions of bloating:

1. Swollen or distended beyond normal size by fluid or gaseous material.

2. Bloating is any abnormal general swelling, or increase in diameter of the abdominal area. As a symptom, the patient feels a full and tight abdomen.

Very commonly, the 'fluid material' is what I refer to as 'fluid retention', and can be thought of as salt water. When people whose blood vessels are weaker than the norm eat salt, the result is weight gain and bloating (because of excess sodium and water held in the blood vessels and elsewhere). This condition is also known as sodium retention, water retention, salt sensitivity or oedema. If these people reduce their salt intake they lose some of the excess sodium and water, and so lose weight, and if they eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables they lose weight faster, because the potassium in the fruit and vegetables displaces some of the excess sodium from the body.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

and see Sodium in foods and

vulnerable groups

Bloating associated with PMT

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Associated health conditions