If you’re eating all the “safe” foods but your belly still blows up like you’re 5 months pregnant after every meal, there’s a reason no one’s told you about.
Because what you think is bloating might actually be a gut-muscle issue. It has nothing to do with what you ate, and everything to do with how your body is reacting to digestion.
There’s a hidden condition where your abdominal wall and diaphragm stop working in sync, and instead of creating space during digestion, your body does the opposite: it pushes out when it should be pulling in.
Most doctors don’t test for it. Many have never even heard of it. But if you’ve tried restrictive diets, probiotics, or gut protocols — and your symptoms still haven’t improved — this could be the missing piece.
Here is a video we made, otherwise there is a written version underneath.
What Most People (And Doctors) Get Wrong About Bloating
Let’s start with something most people — including a lot of doctors — get wrong: Bloating and distension are not the same thing.
Bloating is the feeling of fullness — like there’s a balloon inside your gut — but there’s no visible change to your body.
Distension is when your belly actually expands. You can see it in the mirror. Your waistband tightens. Your posture might even change.
You can have one, the other, or both — and knowing which you’re experiencing matters. Because different symptoms point to different root causes.
Now, some distension after a big meal? Totally normal. That’s just your body making space for digestion. But if you’re seeing major distension after small meals or your stomach expands even when you’ve eaten safe foods, that’s a red flag.
It tells us your digestive muscles — especially your diaphragm and abdominal wall — might not be coordinating the way they’re supposed to.
This condition is called abdominophrenic dysynergia.
And it has nothing to do with what you ate, and everything to do with how your body responds during digestion. It doesn’t usually show up on its own; in fact, we often see it alongside IBS, SIBO, food intolerances, or pelvic floor dysfunction.
But for many people, this is the missing piece of the puzzle — the one thing nobody has explained to them… until now.
Understand What Abdominophrenic Dyssynergia Is
When your digestion is working properly, your diaphragm moves up to make room for your gut to expand, and your abdominal wall gently pulls in to support that process.
But with abdominophrenic dysynergia, those muscles fall out of sync. Your diaphragm pushes down, and your abdominal wall fails to engage, so instead of adapting, your belly bulges outward.
Let me give you a visual: Imagine a balloon.
Now squeeze it from both sides and the front and the back — the pressure moves upward. That’s how digestion should work — your core adapts, and the pressure is controlled.
But now imagine the top of the balloon has a lid on it — that’s your diaphragm pushing down. And the front of the balloon is soft or weak — that’s your abdominal wall relaxing when it shouldn’t.
What happens?
The only place left for the pressure to go… is straightforward. That’s distension — and it’s not caused by what you ate…it’s caused by your body’s muscles reacting the wrong way.
Summary: Bloating and distension are not the same thing and need to be identified. If your diaphragm and abdominal wall aren’t in sync, then the culprit could be Abdominophrenic dyssynergia. Which is a breakdown in core muscle coordination that causes visible bloating. It can coexist with IBS or SIBO, but needs its own targeted solution.
How To Fix Abdominophrenic Dyssynergia — 3 Proven Approaches
Okay, so what if this is what’s happening in your body? What can you actually do about it?
There are a couple of approaches that help retrain these misfiring muscles and improve coordination:
1. Physical therapy, also known as physiotherapy (depending on where you are in the world)
Working with a pelvic floor physical therapist can make a huge difference, not just for pelvic issues, but for the way your abdominal wall and diaphragm coordinate. These therapists are trained to assess and retrain the reflexes involved in digestion.
2. Diaphragmatic breathing
This one’s more powerful than it sounds — but only if done correctly and consistently. We’re talking 5–10 minutes before meals, and 20–30 minutes after meals or during flare-ups.
The goal here isn’t short-term relief — it’s to retrain your diaphragm to expand and release fully. But most people who say “I already know how to breathe properly”… don’t. Their breathing is shallow or braced.
This is why working with a specialist — even just once — can be a game changer.
What About Diet?
Reducing FODMAPs or intolerances can help by decreasing the amount of gas, which reduces the workload on your gut muscles. But let’s be clear:
That’s symptom management, not root cause resolution.
It might ease pressure, but it won’t fix the muscle coordination issue causing the distension.
Summary: While diet can temporarily lower abdominal pressure, it won’t fix the underlying muscle coordination issues—which is why symptoms often return when foods are reintroduced. To truly address gut distension, you need to retrain your gut’s motor reflexes through diaphragmatic breathing and pelvic floor therapy.
If you’re just getting started, download our free Low FODMAP food list to get clarity on common gut triggers
Tap the blue button below to download our “Eat This, Not That” list as well as additional resources for bloating (it’s free!)
Can You Fix This On Your Own?
At this point, you might be wondering: “Can I treat this myself?” This is a common question, and the answer isn’t as straightforward as you might think.
Self-treatment is possible but comes with important caveats. It can sometimes be treated or managed on our own through diaphragmatic breathing consistently. That can be one of the best treatment options for fully resolving or retraining our diaphragm as long as we’re doing it properly.
However, here’s the critical issue: many people think they’re doing diaphragmatic breathing correctly when they’re actually making the problem worse.
Physical therapists often say they notice people are perceiving that they’re completing the diaphragmatic breathing properly. They’ve been doing it for years, they say. And then, when the physical therapist has them do it in the office with them palpating, they notice that the diaphragm isn’t properly contracting and releasing.
This creates a frustrating cycle where well-intentioned self-treatment can exacerbate the problem. And they’ve been exacerbating the problem because they’ve been diaphragmatically breathing improperly consistently for a long time.
That’s why a single session with a gut-savvy physical therapist can be a game-changer. And the rest? That’s where we come in.
Our team helps you figure out whether your bloating and distension are caused by a muscle issue, a bacterial imbalance like SIBO, a food intolerance, or even a gut-brain dysfunction that no test can measure.
From there, we guide you step-by-step — using expert testing, nutrition, and gut therapy — so you’re not guessing anymore.
In fact, one of the first things we do is help you determine if you even need a physical therapist, or if your symptoms are being driven by something else entirely.
Summary: Self-treatment through diaphragmatic breathing is possible, but most people unknowingly perform it incorrectly for years, which can actually worsen symptoms. A single session with a gut-savvy physical therapist can be transformative, especially when you get personalized guidance from a gut health dietitian.
Addressing the Real Cause of Persistent Distension
If your belly expands after every meal — and no diet, supplement, or protocol has helped — it might be time to shift focus.
Because this isn’t about food…it’s about how your body processes food. We help clients figure out exactly why their distension happens — whether it’s:
- Muscle coordination issues
- Bacterial overgrowth (like SIBO)
- Nervous system dysfunction
- Or yes, actual food triggers
From there, we build a step-by-step plan to address the root cause and retrain the gut — so you can live with less fear, fewer symptoms, and way more confidence.
What Should Your Next Steps Be?
If you’ve been stuck in the cycle of restrictive diets, daily bloating, and conflicting advice, it’s important to know that you can finally get relief for good.
With the right support, you’ll start to notice how meals don’t come with anxiety, your belly doesn’t swell after every bite, and you stop second-guessing every food choice.
If this feels like the piece you’ve been missing — if you suspect muscle coordination, breathing mechanics, or nervous system tension could be playing a role — we’re here to help you figure it out.
To learn more, I invite you to apply for a nutrition assessment call with us. We’ll help you make sense of what’s happening and map out the next steps to get you feeling better, not just temporarily, but for good.
