Woke Up Bloated? Here's What Your Body's Trying to Tell You

Especially if you're a night owl, mornings are rough enough as it is. Add a bloated, gassy stomach into the mix and it's no wonder if you don't feel like a ray of sunshine in the a.m.

Some of your evening habits, including your nightly dessert or glass of wine, may be to blame for that less-than-bushy-tailed feeling.

Read on to learn why you're waking up bloated, and what you can do to solve the problem for good.

Eating the wrong foods before bed is usually the reason you're waking up feeling puffy, gastroenterologist Niket Sonpal, MD, tells LIVESTRONG.com.

Many of us like to enjoy a sweet treat after dinner, but this may not be the best decision for your digestive system. Too much sugar can cause bloating for some people, but artificial sweeteners (think: aspartame, sucralose) can be even more problematic.

When eaten in large quantities, these can cause digestive unrest, including bloating, trapped gas and even diarrhea, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Eating high-sodium foods or snacks before bed can also make your body retain extra water, causing bloating the morning after, says Frances Largeman-Roth, RD, dietitian and author of ‌Feed the Belly: The Pregnant Mom's Healthy Eating Guide.‌ Chips and salsa, popcorn and soy sauce are just a few foods that may cause unwanted all-over and upper abdominal bloating even hours after you've eaten them.

Alcohol is another common culprit when it comes to bloating. When you drink a glass of wine (or two) before bed, the alcohol is absorbed by the stomach and small intestine and can cause inflammation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The next morning, this alcohol-induced inflammation may present itself as some unwanted swelling, including a distended abdomen.

The timing of your meals matters just as much as the ingredients. You may like to hit the hay soon after your p.m. meal, but your stomach may not be as fond of that plan.

Your body needs time to digest, which is why you feel bloated after eating later in the night.

This can also be experienced as upper abdominal bloating, causing issues like pain or heartburn, Dr. Sonpal says.

Sometimes, too much of a good thing is not a good thing. The same is true for fiber.

A macronutrient needed for a healthy gut and movement of your stool through your intestines, eating foods high in fiber or taking fiber supplements is a great way to ensure digestive health.

However, if you eat too much fiber, too much bulk can be added to your stool, making it harder to move through your system and causing constipation, bloating and cramping, per the Mayo Clinic.

This could easily be a reason why you're feeling end-of-day bloating, or bloating in the morning — especially if you've treated yourself to a high-fiber bowl of cereal before bed.

Your body is wiser than you probably give it credit for. Every part of your system needs water to function properly, and your body is excellent at balancing the amount of water that goes in and out, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

You're constantly losing fluid by breathing, sweating and (of course) peeing. But when your body doesn't have enough water coming in to balance the amount it's losing, you begin to retain or hold onto the water in your system (which is why you may find yourself using the restroom less often, or experience bloating and constipation).

So, if you don't hydrate enough throughout the day, you may feel the effects in your midsection the following a.m.

Taking a break from exercise may be another reason you're waking up bloated, Dr. Sonpal says. Exercise is part of an overall healthy lifestyle and can help encourage proper nutrition and hydration.

"While exercise cannot, alone, fix the issue of bloating, it can help keep your system functioning at its best while also physically helping move gas for easier passage," he explains.

While it may not seem like stress could have that much of an effect on your gut, it can.

Besides having a "nervous stomach," where you're more prone to diarrhea or loose stool when anxious or stressed, you could also experience bloat during stressful times, too.

In fact, a March 2019 review in ‌Advances in Therapy‌ found that stress may be associated with an increased perception of abdominal bloat, and that those assigned female at birth (AFAB) with bloating frequently reported a history of depression and anxiety.

Bacteria? Good? That's right — your gut in its healthy state should have plenty of good bacteria that make up what's called your gut's microbiome.

If the amount of good versus bad bacteria is off kilter in your gut, you may experience that bloat when you first wake up (or any time of day, really).

This kind of imbalance can occur if you're sick with a bacterial infection, if you've recently taken antibiotics or if you have an illness called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), per the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Sometimes, the cause of morning bloat can be due to a food intolerance, like lactose or gluten intolerance.

Additionally, if you are bloated every time you eat certain fruits or sugars, you could be sensitive to foods high in FODMAPs, or small chain carbohydrates like lactose or fructose.

A common symptom of a food intolerance is almost-immediate bloating and the need to go to the bathroom, or conversely, bloating and constipation.

If you've tried the above suggestions to reduce morning bloat (including natural remedies for bloating like peppermint oil, or a gentle laxative to relieve constipation) and still feel puffy, you may want to talk to your doctor.

They can help you narrow down the cause of your bloating, and even help you differentiate between natural and unnatural bloat (because it ‌is‌ normal to bloat every now and then!).

If your bloat is accompanied by pain, cramping, gas and diarrhea or constipation, it's likely the result of an underlying condition like irritable bowel syndrome, which can be treated with medication and lifestyle changes.