IBS is one of the causes of bloating. But it can also be caused by insufficient bile, so that fats are not properly digested. Or if you are eating new foods, your body has not developed sufficient enzymes to digest these newcomers, so the food hangs around in the gut for overlong and gases develop.

You may have tried probiotics. But according to the Glenn Gibson, professor of microbiology at Reading University, nearly 50 per cent of the probiotic yoghurts, powders and capsules sold in their millions every year simply do not have the minimum of 10 million bacteria per dose necessary to have any impact on our digestive systems.