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Tired of feeling the pain and heaviness that comes from being bloated?

Dr. Robynne Chutkan, founder of The Digestive Center for Women and author of The Bloat Cure: 101 Natural Solutions for Real and Lasting Relief, joined Roland Martin on NewsOne Now to break down the most common culprits of bloating.

“There are a lot of things that we do on a daily basis that conspire to bloat us,” Dr. Chutkan said.

One of the first culprits is coffee, which is a “big bloater” and a “diuretic.” According to Chutkan, coffee can dehydrate us and “the dehydration can lead to a lot of backups and bloating.”

“If you’re drinking coffee, more than a cup a day, and you’re bloated, you might want to think about cutting down to just a cup or less a day,” Dr. Chutkan said.

Next on the list: soda. The sugar in soda can cause “bacterial overgrowth and cause imbalance in the bacteria in your gut and that imbalance can lead to a lot of bloating.” Dr. Chutkan made special mention of diet soda: “The artificial sweeteners in diet soda destroy gut bacteria…they also get fermented in the colon and can lead to a lot of gas and bloating.”

One or more alcoholic beverages a day can double the risk of reproductive cancers in women. The consumption of alcohol is also a major cause of bloating in both men and women and can result in inflammation of the stomach, otherwise known as gastritis.

Dr. Chutkan also mentioned foods with high sodium content, i.e. canned vegetables, pasta sauce, salad dressing, and foods with a lot of sugar can contribute to bloating.

Chutkan said the sugar in those foods “feeds the wrong kind of bacteria in your gut.” So not only are snacks like cookies a risk factor for diabetes, they also pose a “major risk factor for bloating.”

Watch Dr. Robynne Chutkan list the foods you should avoid to reduce bloating in the video clip above.

TV One’s NewsOne Now has moved to 7 A.M. ET, be sure to watch “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.

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