Foods That Reduce Bloating

No one enjoys the feeling of being uncomfortably bloated. Whether it’s causing you pain, constipation, embarrassing belching, or feeling like you look eight months pregnant, you might be looking for ways to beat the bloat—and fast. 

While eating more food can sound counterintuitive to reducing bloating, some foods and drinks are actually thought to relieve bloating symptoms. 

In this article, learn more about the top foods and drinks that reduce bloating and some information about what causes bloating in the first place.

Foods and Drinks That Reduce Bloating

1. Ginger

Bloating often results from too much sodium intake without enough water or other electrolytes. 

In these cases, increasing your consumption of natural diuretics can help. Diuretics are foods or beverages that increase urine output, helping rid the body of excess fluid and sodium. 

Ginger is a natural diuretic and can be consumed in its whole form (ginger root) in cooking recipes, added to smoothies or soups, juiced, or taken in supplemental form. Ginger tea is also thought to be very helpful for minimizing bloat. 

Another reason ginger may help with bloating because of its anti-inflammatory properties, which may help with some of the pain or discomfort associated with it. It also increases gastric emptying—the rate at which food moves through the digestive system—which can relieve abdominal pain and pressure.¹

2. Celery

Celery is a water-filled vegetable that also acts as a diuretic, helping to flush the body of excess fluids and reducing bloating related to water retention. 

This crunchy veggie is also a source of potassium, which can help with water and sodium retention and is high in apigenin, a flavonoid that benefits the gut microbiome.²

In addition to being 95% water and providing diuretic properties, celery also contains mannitol—a sugar alcohol that softens stool by pulling water into the digestive tract. This could help with bloating if you are experiencing symptoms related to constipation or slow bowel motility.³  

That said, overeating celery can cause unwanted digestive system effects, as excessive mannitol intake can cause diarrhea.

3. Cucumbers

Cucumbers are another natural diuretic vegetable. They contain 96% water, which can help reduce bloating caused by water retention or dehydration.

However, like celery, eating excessive amounts of cucumbers can have the opposite effect, leading to indigestion and bloating. This is due to a compound called cucurbitacin, which is found in the skin of cucumbers and gives a bitter flavor.

While these cucurbitacin compounds are beneficial for health (including having anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic properties), they can cause bloating or indigestion in some people.⁴

If you know that raw cucumbers hurt your stomach more than help it, you can try cucumber water instead.

4. Asparagus

Yep, another diuretic, water-rich vegetable—not only does asparagus make your pee smell, it just makes you pee, period!

Asparagus is also rich in the prebiotic fiber inulin, which is thought to support a healthy gut microbiome and prevent constipation.⁵ 

Having too much inulin (which typically only occurs with inulin supplements) may cause adverse digestive effects, however, so be mindful of your intake if you’re sensitive.

5. Lemons and Lemon Water

Lemons are a classic way to support digestion, as their acidic properties stimulate the production of bile and gastric juices that promote digestion and prevent gas production.

Research published in the European Journal of Nutrition found that drinking water-diluted lemon juice after a meal significantly increased gastric emptying rate. This helps food digest faster and may help with bloating—especially if it’s due to overeating or constipation.⁶

If you like sucking on straight lemons, more power to you—but adding some freshly squeezed lemon juice to hot or cold water may be easier for most. (You may want to drink it with a straw to avoid tooth enamel erosion.)

6. Parsley

Parsley is a highly nutritious herb loaded with antioxidants and vitamins. It also acts as a diuretic, reducing retention-related bloat.

The seeds of the parsley family (which also includes coriander, fennel, and caraway) are known for their gas-suppressing properties. Making tea from parsley seeds is an easy way to consume them.

You can also make parsley tea with the fresh leaves, add copious amounts of the herb to your next meal, or blend it into a smoothie.

7. Dandelion Tea

Although most known as a garden weed, dandelion is another excellent plant for reducing bloating.

Dandelion roots and leaves contain gut-protective compounds like inulin, caffeic acid, chicoric acid, luteolin, terpenoids, and more. These compounds have been shown to help with indigestion, acid reflux, ulcers, ulcerative colitis, and other digestive disorders.⁷

In addition to being a diuretic that can directly relieve retention-related bloating, dandelion is anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant that benefits gut health in the long run.

8. Bananas

Moving away from the diuretic vegetables that relieve bloating, other foods that reduce bloating are fruits and vegetables rich in potassium.

Potassium is an electrolyte used to manage your body’s sodium levels. If you have too much sodium and not enough potassium, your body will hang on to more water, which can cause bloating. Research also backs this up. In a study of 34 healthy overweight women, eating a banana twice a day as a snack led to significantly lower bloating levels than a control group.⁸

9. Papaya

Papaya contains papain, a naturally occurring digestive enzyme that helps with bloating, indigestion, constipation, and gastric ulcers.⁹

Papain helps break down proteins and provides antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity, which are beneficial for healthy digestion. One study found that taking a papaya supplement for 40 days reduced bloating and constipation more than a placebo in people with chronic digestive issues.¹⁰

10. Avocado

Avocado is another potassium-rich fruit. Although bananas typically get all the credit, avocados actually have more of the mineral.

Avocados’ rich potassium content helps balance sodium levels and reduce water retention. 

However, avocados are also high in fiber, making them a bit hard on the stomach in people who aren’t used to eating much fiber. They are also high in polyols (the “P” of FODMAPs), which some people have difficulty digesting properly.

11. Pineapple

Pineapple is rich in a natural digestive enzyme called bromelain, which breaks down proteins, reduces inflammation, and treats indigestion and diarrhea.¹¹ 

The pineapple’s core has the highest concentration of bromelain, so you can try extracting some juice from the core before throwing it away.

Bromelain has also been studied for its antibacterial, anti-cancer, antiviral, pain-relieving, and cardioprotective properties.¹²

12. Turmeric

Turmeric is well-known for its primary bioactive compound, curcumin, which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. 

These qualities may translate to gut health and digestion, including reducing bloating. In a 2021 systematic review, researchers concluded that turmeric or curcumin significantly reduced irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms, especially with abdominal pain and quality of life.¹³

13. Rhubarb

Rhubarb is best known for its starring role in pies and desserts. However, it may also prevent bloating due to a compound called sennoside A, which is used clinically as a laxative to treat constipation.¹⁴ 

If you have bloating related to slow bowel motility or constipation, eating rhubarb may be beneficial. Conversely, if you’re prone to diarrhea, you might want to avoid it—at least in large quantities. 

Rhubarb has also been used for centuries in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where it’s known as Da Huang and utilized for its antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and immunomodulatory properties.¹⁵

14. Kiwi

Kiwifruit may help with bloating because it contains potassium and actinidin—another digestive enzyme that breaks down proteins.

They also have fiber (both insoluble and soluble), which can promote regular bowel movements and less hard stools. 

Research with 79 people with chronic constipation found that eating two kiwis per day for four weeks significantly improved stool consistency and frequency and reduced constipation.¹⁶ 

Although the study didn’t look specifically at bloating, constipation can significantly cause feeling bloated.

15. Fennel Seeds

Fennel seeds are often used to treat a variety of digestive problems, including bloating, constipation, and gas. In many cultures worldwide, including Iran, India, Afghanistan, and more, fennel seeds are chewed after a meal to aid digestion.

This is because fennel seeds contain an antispasmodic compound called anethole, which relaxes the intestinal muscles and relieves constipation.¹⁷ 

Fennel seeds are also anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial, helping to promote a healthy gut microbiome.¹⁷ 

You can crunch on fennel seeds after a meal, make fennel seed tea, or grind them into powder.

As a side note, while the bulbed vegetable fennel is incredibly nutritious in its own right, it does not appear to have the same bloat-busting effects as its seeds.

16. Green Tea

Green tea has seemingly neverending health benefits. Minimizing bloat is one of them.

In addition to being a liquid with a slight diuretic effect, green tea also provides antioxidants and polyphenols that reduce inflammation in the gut.

Drinking green tea has also been shown to benefit the gut microbiome, including boosting healthy gut bacteria and hindering the growth of pathogenic ones.¹⁸

Plus, its moderate caffeine content (about 30-50mg per cup) can mildly stimulate the bowels without causing a laxative effect, as some strong espressos might.

17. Peppermint

Peppermint contains menthol, an antispasmodic compound that helps the muscles of the bowel wall relax, reducing abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and cramps.

It is also thought to increase bile flow, which is needed to digest fat. 

In a 2007 study published in Digestive and Liver Diseases, people taking peppermint oil capsules saw significant improvements in their abdominal symptoms, including bloating and pain. Up to 75% of the patients who received peppermint oil reduced their symptoms by half or more, compared to 38% in the placebo group.¹⁹

All forms of peppermint are beneficial for bloating, including peppermint candies, oil, tea, and capsules.

18. Chamomile Tea

Although chamomile tea is not as well-studied as peppermint, it’s thought to help with bloating and gas. This is due to chamomile containing volatile oils that are considered carminative, meaning they break up gas in the intestines.  This tea from Traditional Medicinals combines chamomile and peppermint (in addition to caraway, coriander, and lemon balm) for an ideal bloat-busting beverage.

What Causes Bloating?

Although most people are intuitively familiar with what bloating is, let’s define it first. As described in the World Journal of Gastroenterology in 2014, bloating is characterized by a distended abdomen, abdominal tension, excessive gas in the stomach, or a subjective sensation of increased pressure in the abdomen.²⁰ 

The most common cause of bloating is excess intestinal gas, which can be due to the foods you eat, digestive issues, unhealthy gut microbiome, swallowing air, or water retention. 

Here are some factors that can contribute to bloating:

• Carbonated drinks
• Dairy products: If you are lactose intolerant or sensitive to dairy
• Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc.
• Fermented foods: Typically only if you are not used to eating them regularly; otherwise, they can benefit gut health and reduce bloating
• Impaired gut microbiome: Dysbiosis can cause trouble digesting and processing some foods (like fermented foods and cruciferous or fibrous veggies), leading to gas and bloating 
• FODMAPs: Standing for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols, FODMAPs are short-chain carbohydrates that are incompletely absorbed in the small intestine and enter the colon with subsequent fermentation by bacteria, causing gas and bloating
• Eating too fast: Causes increased air swallowing and prevents you from realizing you are getting full 
• Gastrointestinal disorders: Celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, food intolerances, malabsorptive conditions, or chronic constipation
• Other diseases: Liver disease, infections, or inflammatory conditions
• Mental health conditions: Stress, anxiety, or depression
• Dehydration 
• Medications and supplements: Aspirin, antacids, diarrhea medications, pain medications (opioids), fiber supplements, antidepressants, sedatives, sleeping pills, iron pills, and multivitamins.

Foods That Reduce Bloating FAQs