I eat clean and avoid junk food but still experience bloating often. What could be causing this despite a healthy diet
Bloating despite a “clean” diet is common and usually functional rather than pathological. Many whole foods — legumes, cruciferous vegetables, onions, garlic, artificial sweeteners, even large amounts of fiber — are highly fermentable and can increase gas production, especially if gut motility or microbiome balance is sensitive. Other contributors include eating quickly, swallowing air, stress-driven autonomic imbalance, mild lactose or FODMAP intolerance, constipation, or irregular meal timing. Clean eating does not automatically mean low-reactivity eating — sometimes the issue is fermentability load, portion size, or gut–brain signaling rather than food quality.
