Fish and Stomach Bloating
Health ConditionsDigestive Health

Fish and Stomach Bloating

Fish and Stomach Bloating
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Updated on August 6, 2025
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Fish and shellfish are low in saturated fat and have a high omega-3 content. They are commonly considered part of a healthful diet, but it’s possible to be allergic to or intolerant of fish.

Bloating is an uncomfortable feeling when your stomach distends and feels full and tight. It can leave you wary of eating fish again, but there are steps you can take to reduce the bloat and keep this healthy food in your diet.

Is It an Allergy or Intolerance?

The difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance is that a food allergy affects your entire immune system, but a food intolerance only affects your digestive system.

If you experience bloating or other digestive issues after eating fish, it could be a food intolerance. But if your symptoms also include skin irritation or anaphylaxis, it’s more likely to be a food allergy.

Types of Fish

Seafood is classified into three categories:

  • Fish like salmon and tuna
  • Mollusks like clams, snails, mussels, oysters, octopus, squid, and scallops
  • Anthropods like crab, lobster, shrimp, prawns and crayfish

You may be allergic to one category but able to eat from another without any symptoms.

Other foods containing fish may cause symptoms of an allergy or intolerance. For example, Caesar salad, fish-based sauces — including Worcestershire sauce and some pasta sauces — fish oils, seafood dips, and prawn crackers may cause a reaction in susceptible individuals.

Treatment for Bloating After Eating Fish

With a food intolerance, you don't need to completely eliminate the offending food from your diet. Food intolerances are dose dependent — you may be able to enjoy a few bites of fish, but you may develop symptoms if you eat an entire piece of fish.

If you believe that fish is causing you to feel bloated or have other gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, talk with your doctor to rule out other possibilities and learn ways to reduce the effects of a food intolerance.

Strategies include avoiding fried fish or using a lot of butter when cooking it. When you reduce your fat intake, this may reduce bloating and other GI symptoms.

The Takeaway

  • Fish can be part of a balanced diet, but some people may experience bloating and other GI symptoms after they eat it.
  • If you experience bloating after eating fish, it may be a food intolerance to the fish or the ingredients used to prepare the fish. But if bloating is accompanied by more serious symptoms, it’s potentially due to a food allergy.
  • Food allergies are dose dependent and might not appear if you eat only a small piece of fish.
  • Talk with your doctor about any side effects you experience after eating fish.

Resources We Trust

EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Food Allergy or Intolerance: What’s the Difference? International Food Information Council. May 16, 2019.
  2. Food Intolerance. Cleveland Clinic. August 11, 2021.
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Yuying Luo, MD

Medical Reviewer

Yuying Luo, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She aims to deliver evidence-based, patient-centered, and holistic care for her patients.

Her clinical and research focus includes patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia; patients with lower gastrointestinal motility (constipation) disorders and defecatory and anorectal disorders (such as dyssynergic defecation); and women’s gastrointestinal health.

She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology and received her MD from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was also chief resident. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and was also chief fellow.

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Michelle Fisk began writing professionally in 2011. She has been published in the "Physician and Sports Medicine Journal." Her expertise lies in the fields of exercise physiology and nutrition. Fisk holds a Master of Science in kinesiology from Marywood University.

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