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 woes¹, with Irritable² Bowel³ Syndrome⁴ (IBS), acid reflux and plain old constipation three of the most common causes.

无论是节假日的大肚腩、大餐后的胃灼热，还是偶尔感觉腹胀，消化不良都是我们看医生的五大原因之一。数据表明，70%的人时常感到腹部不适，而肠易激综合征（IBS）、胃酸回流和便秘则是三种常见原因。

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.

很多人都不愿谈及肠道问题，无论是由于食物导致的问题，还是其它更严重、延误我们得到帮助的问题。了解导致腹胀的原因会有所帮助--但也请记得：全科医生的建议最重要。

Here are the common causes behind why you have a bloated stomach. What are the symptoms of a bloated stomach?

以下是腹胀的常见原因。那么腹胀的症状有哪些呢？

1. Irritable bowel syndrome

1. 肠易激综合征

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 functional⁵ disorder⁶, which means there's nothing wrong with the structure of the bowel itself, but the way the gut⁷ works is abnormal.

如果你长时间腹胀，而且伴随着疼痛、便秘和/或腹泻等症状，那么肠易激综合征可能是导致腹胀的原因。肠易激综合征是一种常见的肠道疾病，是一种功能性疾病，也就是说肠道结构的本身没有问题，但肠道的运行方式出现了异常。

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.

曼彻斯特大学医学和胃肠病学教授彼特·霍威尔（Peter Whorwell）说道："我们认为，肠易激综合征患者的肠道异常敏感，所以正常的过程也会导致问题。"腹胀是肠易激综合征最具破坏性的副作用之一。有些女性的腰围会因此变粗，甚至需要穿不同尺寸的衣服--这就看她们是否腹胀了。

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.

对许多人而言，夜晚的情况更为糟糕，所以会破坏你的社交生活。肠易激综合征并没有治疗方法，但你可以管理这些症状。"减少谷物纤维的摄入量能缓解大多数患者30%至40%的症状，"霍威尔教授说道。

This means avoiding -wholemeal bread, oats, muesli, digestive biscuits, cereal bars and all breakfast cereals other than Rice Krispies, but white bread, cakes, cream crackers⁸ 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.

这意味着不吃全麦面包、燕麦、麦片、消化饼干、谷物棒和所有的早餐燕麦（除了Rice Krispies），但白面包、蛋糕和大多数饼干都是可以吃的。试着做三个月吧，看看是否有所帮助。益生菌也可以缓解症状--霍兰和巴雷特正囤积这些咀嚼益生菌片呢。