爲什麼你的肚子如此之脹?

Whether it's about of holiday tummy, heartburn after a heavy meal, or just occasionally feeling bloated, digestive trouble is one of the top five reasons we visit our GP. Figures show 70 per cent of people suffer regularly from belly woes, with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), acid reflux and plain old constipation three of the most common causes.
無論是節假日的大肚腩、大餐後的胃灼熱，還是偶爾感覺腹脹，消化不良都是我們看醫生的五大原因之一。數據表明，70%的人時常感到腹部不適，而腸易激綜合徵（IBS）、胃酸迴流和便祕則是三種常見原因。

Not many of us are comfortable with talking about our bowel issues, whether it's food baby related or something more serious which delays us getting help. It can help to know what is the cause of your bloating - though remember nothing replaces a GP's advice.
很多人都不願談及腸道問題，無論是由於食物導致的問題，還是其它更嚴重、延誤我們得到幫助的問題。瞭解導致腹脹的原因會有所幫助--但也請記得：全科醫生的建議最重要。

Here are the common causes behind why you have a bloated stomach. What are the symptoms of a bloated stomach?
以下是腹脹的常見原因。那麼腹脹的症狀有哪些呢？

1. Irritable bowel syndrome
1. 腸易激綜合徵

Could be the cause if: You've been bloated on and off for a long time and have also experienced symptoms including pain, constipation and/or -bouts of diarrhoea. A common bowel condition, IBS is a functional disorder, which means there's nothing wrong with the structure of the bowel itself, but the way the gut works is abnormal.
如果你長時間腹脹，而且伴隨着疼痛、便祕和/或腹瀉等症狀，那麼腸易激綜合徵可能是導致腹脹的原因。腸易激綜合徵是一種常見的腸道疾病，是一種功能性疾病，也就是說腸道結構的本身沒有問題，但腸道的運行方式出現了異常。

Peter Whorwell, professor of -medicine and -gastroenterology at the University of Manchester, says: "We think the gut is over-sensitive in IBS sufferers so its normal -processes cause the symptoms." Bloating is one of the most disruptive side effects of IBS. Some women go up a couple of dress sizes and even need different clothes -depending on whether or not they are -bloated.
曼徹斯特大學醫學和胃腸病學教授彼特·霍威爾（Peter Whorwell）說道："我們認爲，腸易激綜合徵患者的腸道異常敏感，所以正常的過程也會導致問題。"腹脹是腸易激綜合徵最具破壞性的副作用之一。有些女性的腰圍會因此變粗，甚至需要穿不同尺寸的衣服--這就看她們是否腹脹了。

For many, it tends to worsen towards the evening, so it can disrupt your social life. There's no cure for IBS, but you can -manage the symptoms. "Cutting out cereal fibre eases symptoms by between 30% and 40% in the majority of -sufferers," says Professor Whorwell.
對許多人而言，夜晚的情況更爲糟糕，所以會破壞你的社交生活。腸易激綜合徵並沒有治療方法，但你可以管理這些症狀。"減少穀物纖維的攝入量能緩解大多數患者30%至40%的症狀，"霍威爾教授說道。

This means avoiding -wholemeal bread, oats, muesli, digestive biscuits, cereal bars and all breakfast cereals other than Rice Krispies, but white bread, cakes, cream crackers and most biscuits are fine. Try doing this for three months to see if it helps. Probiotics may also ease symptoms - Holland and Barrett stock these chewable probiotic tablets.
這意味着不吃全麥麪包、燕麥、麥片、消化餅乾、穀物棒和所有的早餐燕麥（除了Rice Krispies），但白麪包、蛋糕和大多數餅乾都是可以吃的。試着做三個月吧，看看是否有所幫助。益生菌也可以緩解症狀--霍蘭和巴雷特正囤積這些咀嚼益生菌片呢。