Goodbye Gas and Bloating

All the gassy ladies,

All the gassy ladies,

All the gassy ladies,

Now put your hands up!

Have you ever felt, after eating a big dinner, like you’re carrying a food baby that’s due any minute?

Has a muffin break at your desk had you fall straight into a food-induced coma?

Do mysterious tummy aches and pains bother you after a particular meal?

If you’ve ticked yes and you’re tired of constantly feeling gassy, bloated and like your tummy is on the constant gurgle, I have some news for you.

One of the common signs of poor gut health and digestion is bloating, noticeably after meals. If you experience bloating on a regular basis and feel like it is out of hand, it could be a sign that something else is going on. Being bloated is not the same as carrying an extra tyre around your middle or being overweight.

Being bloated is most often a result of gas and wind trapped in your digestive system, which makes your stomach protrude, your waistband become tighter and your digestion sluggish. This can arise due to inadequate protein digestion, where some foods remain in the gut and start to ferment, or an inability to fully break down sugars and other carbohydrates if you’re lacking in digestive enzymes, or imbalances in gut bacteria.

There are many different reasons why your tummy is playing up — it could be related to a food allergy or intolerance, irregular bowel movements, overconsumption of inflammatory foods or artificial sweeteners, too much alcohol, certain medications, hormonal imbalances, indigestion, leaky gut, microbiome imbalances, or gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), coeliac disease, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

IBS is common; research shows it affects around one-third of us, and despite almost 75 per cent of sufferers saying it severely impacts their work, relationships and sex lives, 60 per cent of those have never sought professional help due to embarrassment.

If you’re keen to get to the bottom of things (pun intended!), taking a clinically-proven probiotic can help improve your gut health, reduce your gas, bloating and tummy rumbling (the troubling threesome).

Bioxyne today has announced the results from its clinical trial into the effects of taking progastrim a daily probiotic supplement containing the bacteria strain Lactobacillus fermentum VRI-003, with participants who consumed the probiotic reporting a consistent reduction in gas and bloating compared to those on placebo. Interestingly, women appeared to benefit more from taking the probiotic than men.

Lactobacillus fermentum VRI-003 has been shown in laboratory studies to inhibit the growth of a range of "unfriendly" microbes, including enterotoxigenic E. coli, Salmonella, and Clostridium, which are some of the major organisms responsible for food poisoning and traveller’s diarrhoea.

This latest clinical trial indicates it can help reduce gas and bloating when consumed daily, particularly in women, and may therefore be effective in providing symptomatic relief in some cases of gut microbiome dysbiosis disorders.

The double blind, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial examined the effect of taking Lactobacillus fermentum VRI-003 (minimum of 2 billion cfus) for six months on the microbiome composition, gut health and quality of life of healthy participants. A total of 47 participants completed the study, with an average age of 35 and an almost even split of men and women.

While the study associated a range of health benefits with taking 2 billion CFU of
Lactobacillus fermentum VRI-003, including less antibiotic use, the most notable impact was in relation to the reduction of gas, bloating and general stomach rumbling.

“Your gut microbiome is very important for gut health. It can be disrupted by a range of things, including antibiotic use, stress, travel and a poor diet. It’s recognised that gas and bloating can be signs of an unbalanced gut microbiome, which is why we asked the trial participants to report these, amongst other symptoms, during the six-month trial.

“The participants who took the probiotic on a daily basis reported consistently lower incidence of both gas and bloating starting from around six weeks. There was also a consistently lower incidence of stomach rumbling. The women in the study appeared to benefit more from the probiotic treatment – it is recognised that probiotics can affect women and men differently due to sex hormones.

Commenting on the results, Bioxyne’s scientific advisor, cell and molecular biologist Dr Peter French, PhD, suggested health practitioners working with patients where they suspect symptoms are caused by gut microbiome dysbiosis consider whether supplementation with Lactobacillus fermentum VRI-003 may be appropriate.

“It is likely that the beneficial effect of Lactobacillus fermentum VRI-003 is due to effects on a small number of key friendly and unfriendly species or strains of gut microbes, as has been seen in laboratory studies of this organism. An effect on specific strains could explain the beneficial effects on some self-reported gut symptoms seen in the trial,” Dr French said.

In clinical trials, Lactobacillus fermentum VRI-003 has demonstrated positive effects on the gastrointestinal and immune systems, including reduced susceptibility to respiratory tract infections, improvement in eczema (atopic dermatitis) symptoms, and boosting of the immune response to the flu vaccine.

Lactobacillus fermentum VRI-003 is of human origin, exhibits superior survival to other probiotics in the acidic (pH 2-4) environment found in the stomach and large intestine, colonises the human intestinal tract and stimulates the areas of immune tissue in the small intestine.

If you’re looking to supplement with probiotics, fortunately, the lovely folks at Bioxyne have offered Supercharged Food readers a special 20% discount. All you need to do is go here and enter SUPERCHARGED once you hit the shopping basket!

You can read more about Lactobacillus fermentum VRI-003 here.