Bloating is an uncomfortable symptom to experience regardless of the cause. Abdominal cramps, excess gas, and weight gain can make your pants pinch and your guts churn. Bloating can be caused by either air or water weight.
Teas that are good for bloating reduce water weight or help the body comfortably absorb excess gas. These teas include peppermint, chamomile, ginger, lemon balm, and fennel tea. Caffeinated teas can also help with bloating by reducing water weight and improving digestion.
If you have a problem with bloat, several tea options may help you alleviate the condition. Read on to learn more about which teas are best for bloating and which one you should choose the next time you have it.
How Does Tea Help with Bloating?
There are a few different causes of bloating that can be addressed through medicinal teas. Here are the two major reasons you might experience bloating:
- Excess gas: Excess gas in the intestinal tract is one of the most common causes of bloating. This can be caused by drinking carbonated drinks, swallowing a lot of air while eating, and certain types of food such as beans or onions.
- Water retention: An excess of sodium in the diet can cause a person to retain water weight in response. This often results in a bloated appearance and can lead to temporary weight gain.
Whether your bloating issues stem from gas or water, tea is a good holistic remedy to try before you start looking at over-the-counter medications. Many issues with bloating can be resolved with a simple change in diet, and taking herbal teas can help.
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Herbal Teas to Treat Bloating
When you’re looking for tea that is good for bloating, the first place you should look is at the herbal tea section. Many herbs are known to be good for alleviating bloat and a variety of other digestive problems.
Here are a few of the best herbal teas you can drink to alleviate bloating:
- Peppermint tea: Peppermint tea is a good tea for bloating because the oils in peppermint are effective at removing excess gas from the intestinal tract and relaxing the muscles of the stomach and small intestines. Not only does this help remove excess bloating, it also helps prevent the abdominal cramps associated with it.
- Chamomile tea: Chamomile tea is a tea made from the flowers of the chamomile plant, and this tea is used to treat various stomach-related ailments, including bloat. The botanical oils in chamomile have a carminative effect, which means that they help to break up excess gas in the digestive tract.
- Ginger tea: Ground ginger has long been used as a home remedy for curing digestive problems such as bloating, nausea, and indigestion. Ginger tea can help to treat bloating as well as the secondary symptoms that cause discomfort in people who experience bloat.
- Lemon Balm Tea: Lemon balm tea has traditionally been used for centuries to help cure stomach ailments like bloat and indigestion. It’s also useful for inducing relaxation during periods of stress.
- Fennel tea: Fennel is a lightly licorice-flavored herb that is commonly included in herbal tea blends to aid with digestive problems like bloating, nausea, and sour stomach. Fennel tea can also help alleviate the gastric spasms that cause bloat and the discomfort associated with it.
Herbal teas that are good for bloating come in a wide range of flavors. You should be able to find at least one or two that you like. You can also drink an herbal tea mix which contains a combination of herbs designed for digestive health, as these herbs typically help with bloating issues too.
Which Herbal Tea is the Best for Bloating?
Of the teas listed above, peppermint tea is probably the best tea you can find to help fight bloating. Here are some of the reasons why peppermint stands above the rest:
- Taste: Some people may find the flavors of fennel, ginger, or other anti-bloating teas to be too strong for their tastes to drink on a regular basis. On the other hand, peppermint is a pleasant flavor that is favored by many people. Along with its use as a medicine, peppermint is also used in sweetening drinks, desserts, and toothpaste.
- Flavonoids: Peppermint is full of flavonoids, botanical chemicals responsible for calming the GI tract and the beneficial bacteria that reside there. Regulating these bacteria can help prevent a wide range of digestive problems such as bloating and constipation.
- Diuretic: Along with helping the body absorb excess gas and preventing the build-up of it in the first place, peppermint tea is also known as a diuretic. This property helps prevent bloating from water weight by reducing water retention.
The only major downside of using peppermint tea as a home cure for alleviating bloat is that this type of tea can sometimes have adverse effects on the digestive system in other ways.
The oils in peppermint have been shown to increase the production of stomach acids in some people and can also relax the stomach sphincter to the point that acid backs up into the esophagus, causing acid reflux. If peppermint tea gives you heartburn, be sure to discontinue use and try some other type of herbal tea to remedy your bloating.
Caffeinated Teas for Bloating
Caffeinated teas such as black tea and green tea can be used for general digestive issues, but any tea that contains caffeine may cause temporary bloating. This is because caffeine excites the GI tract and can lead to an accumulation of gas in the intestines.
When to Drink Tea for Bloating
For best results, it’s a good idea to drink tea for bloating before bloat occurs. Drinking anti-bloating tea first thing in the morning before taking food or right after your evening meal can help settle your digestive system and prevent excess gas.
Herbal Tea is Best for Bloating
When it comes to drinking tea for bloating, caffeinated teas like black and green tea aren’t the best choice. The caffeine they contain can actually make bloating worse. But there are plenty of herbal tea options for you to choose from that can help reduce bloating and improve your digestion.