While bloating can often be caused by medical conditions like kidney failure or celiac disease, it can also be aggravated by bad or unhealthy habits.

You can minimize your bloating symptoms by changing some of your habits. The following are six common mistakes to avoid that could be causing or aggravating your bloating:

Drinking carbonated beverages

When you drink carbonated beverages, you swallow gas. Gas in your gut will cause you to become bloated. Simply cutting carbonated beverages out of your diet can improve your health in many ways. However, it's especially advantageous for patients who are dealing with bloating on a regular basis.

Overeating

While overeating itself shouldn't make you bloated, it can definitely aggravate the symptoms of bloating. You should train yourself to stop eating right away once you start feeling full. 

A lot of the symptoms of bloating are more sensory than actually involving expansion of the stomach. Overeating is, therefore, a big no-no if you're trying to make dealing with bloating issues more comfortable.

Consuming foods that are known for causing gas

Any food that is known to produce gas as it is digested could create problems for you. Foods in particular to avoid include bread and pasta with heavy wheat content, beans, onions, broccoli, and dairy products.  

Using a lot of sugar substitutes

If you try to avoid consuming sugar because you're diabetic or because you want to reduce your calorie consumption, you should know that consuming sugar alcohols typically found in sugar substitutes can cause gas and bloating.

One sugar alcohol and sugar substitute that won't create as many bloating issues is Stevia, so you may want to try Stevia rather than using xylitol- or sorbitol-based sugar substitutes. 

Not consuming enough water

Using your water intake might reduce the amount of bloating you're experiencing. Water can help to cleanse your system and reduce the occurrence of constipation, which tends to aggravate bloating. 

Having a diet that's low in fiber

If you're not consuming enough fiber in your diet, you're more likely to experience constipation and therefore bloating. Foods that are high in fiber include bran cereal and berries like blueberries and strawberries. 

Failing to exercise enough

Being active can help the body to push gas through the system more quickly. Simply taking a short walk when you feel bloated can make it so that you feel a lot better quickly. In particular, you might want to focus on working your abdominal muscles if you're trying to exercise with bloat relief in mind.