Do any of those prebiotic drink things work for the dreaded bloating?

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Since being diagnosed with coeliac disease and going gluten free, I'm no longer bloated all the time. But I can now see that I start my day with a relatively deflated belly and as the day goes on I'm more and more bloated. I don't have lactose, as I noticed I react instantly to that. I've tried cutting out dairy but that hasn't made a difference. I eat majority of foods that are cooked from scratch.

Is there anything I can take or drink that will help? I don't have any pain or anything else going on, just a stomach that grows two dress sizes from morning to night.

Little bump for the Saturday morning crowd. 😊

I drink them every morning and haven’t noticed a difference in bloating unfortunately.

Have you been diagnosed recently? Your gut is probably still settling down and healing.

It is certainly worth a try, I'd probably take for at least 2 weeks to see if it helps at all. I don't know if you can get a lactose free version?

If that makes no difference, I'd look at increasing fermented food to help your gut microbiome. Foods such as kefir (though that tends to be dairy yoghurt), kombucha, kimchi and saurkraut (but it needs to be from the fridge, not a jar on a shelf to be good for your gut).

This is very Mumsnet of me but I've been making fermented milk as my dd was on antibiotics so many times and her doctor recommended it.

I bought some freeze dried grains and it's really easy. She has it with puréed mango from a tin.

So does the fermented milk then have lots of live thingies in it. And is it then like a sort of sour smoothie mixed with fruit? It sounds nicer than sauerkraut.

Yes, my dd loves the sourness. She has it with just the mango and dh and I make it into a smoothie if there's some left.

I have it in a jar in the kitchen. Then you pour the fermented milk out and replace it with real milk leaving the grains behind in the jar.

I put in another clean jar (you don't wash the one with the grains in) and put the fermented milk in the fridge and dd puts the mango in when. She's ready to drink it and she has it straight from the jar.

OP, don’t waste your money on expensive probiotics. If are actually ok with dairy, just buy a plain yogurt, a supermarkets own brand, can be Greek, but full fat, and have a little of that every day. This definitely helped m to debloat a little. Also things like Sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers etc are very good for you, in terms of probiotics. But you need to get the ones that are fermented, pickled in salt brine, and not vinegar. Also miso is excellent for this.

If you react to lactose, then do not drink the probiotic drinks - they are milk.

Fermented foods such as live yogurt and unpasteurised sauerkraut are probiotic.

You may be able to tolerate live yogurt, as it is low in lactose, but I would not try it yet. Not until you have resolved the bloating.

Unpasteurised sauerkraut (check the ingredients: must NOT have vinegar) is IMO delicious. I would eat it in small portions, as a relish, rather than as a vegetable IYSWIM.

The easiest way to take probiotics when you are not sure what you can tolerate, is to take capsules. I use Biokult capsules. Not cheap, but when my gut biome has been disrupted by antibiotics (or by me frequently eating foods that I know make me ill) it only takes one packet of the capsules to bring me back to equilibrium. Then I revert to yogurt and sauerkraut.

Charcoal tablets or capsules are brilliant at absorbing gas. They don't solve the problem of the gas being created, but they solve the problem of the unpleasant symptoms. The instructions on the bottle generally say to take with food, but IME they are much more effective when taken between meals.

More things to consider are your sugar and fibre intake. Sugar feeds the batteries in your gut, and if the helpful : unhelpful ratio is disrupted, then the sugar increases the unhelpful bacteria. Can you try cutting down as much as possible on sugar and on simple carbs? Try also increasing your fibre intake by taking milled flax. You can sprinkle it on your food or mix some in a drink and gulp it down. I like the Linwoods one with sunflower seeds and goji berries, purely because it is tasty.

RitzyMcFee
So these freeze dried grains, which ones do you use? I googled and rice and barley stuff came up. Am I looking for something that makes kefir? Cos I found that .

Most of them might have lactose. You could just take a probiotic in capsule form.

It may not help you but I have found that intermittent fasting has reduced bloating with the added bonus of losing weight .

My DH suffered with excessive bloating a while ago and has certainly got a sensitive digestive system thats getting worse as he gets older. His GP recommended taking peppermint supplements to see if they had an impact- they have made a massive difference! He takes 1 a day from Holland & Barrett. (This is a man who is avidly anti supplements BTW)

If you are looking for prebiotics and pro biotic then you are much better off introducing inulin into your diet and eating natural fermented live foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir etc. sauerkraut is incredibly easy to make. All you need is cabbage, carrots and onions, salt and water. You finely slice the cabbage, rub the salt in and leave it to sit. Then finely slice the causes and onions, mix it all up and put it in a jam jar. Make sure the veg is covered with water and cap it off with a clean tea towel and an elastic band. Leave it on the side for 2-3 weeks. Then eat it, refrigerate what's left over. I add in gochugarang, garlic and ginger, whole pepper corns and it's delicious on a bowl of noodles.

IBS OP? Have you tried a low FODMAP diet? Onion and garlic are the worst for me. I often take an all round enzyme formula from H and B if I'm having something 'bad' and that really helps.

Those Wild Dose capsules are quite good

I have kefir (fermented milk) every day and feel much better for it. Mine has been lab tested and has 31 species of beneficial yeasts and bacteria. The lactose in milk is consumed by them producing lactic acid.

Peppermint tea or peppermint oil capsules are very good for bloating.

Are you eating GF breads? Some of the fibres they use (psyllium and inulin in particular IIRC) can be quite bloaty!

Biomel is really good. Ive been using it a few months and its helped a lot

Thank you.

Yes, I was diagnosed 6 months ago. I've read it's typical to be lactose tolerant for about a year afterwards so it makes sense that other things going on in my gut might take time to improve.

I'm happy with any and all recommendations. Tell me .ore. what do you mean by freeze dried grains?

Thank you. I actually do have greek yoghurt most days for breakfast ( as it's fairly low lactose and I don't react to it)

I like the sound of the pickled cucumber . Thanks for the heads up in what to look for.

I've just completed a three month trial of Symprove (probiotic) and my bloating has 95% gone. I have Ulcerative Colitis, with diarrhoea, pain and an often rock hard, swollen belly and have been lactose and low gluten for a few years. The pain is much less too, though the diarrhoea is not reduced.

Symprove tastes terrible and is expensive but I'm amazed at how much its helping.

I got my grains from 'freshly fermented'.

You need a big-ish jar.

I strain through a fine mesh sieve and that's all you need really.

This is the mango. The tin is massive so you need another big-ish jar to keep the rest of that in.

On a day to day basis there is very little to do.

freshlyfermented.co.uk/product/organic-milk-kefir-grains/

You only need the smallest packet as they grow like wildfire.

This might be useful for my DS who has digestive problems
Excuse my ignorance but do you then reuse the strained grains for the next batch as they grow?