Whether you feel overly full for hours or simply can’t pull your tummy in or zip your jeans, when you could with ease just a day before, you probably are bloated. There are several ways to approach the problem and even help prevent it. One way is to eat foods that help with bloating. There are two types of bloating. One may occur overnight and may be related to your menstrual cycle. The other occurs immediately after a meal. The first is normally from retaining fluid, while the second is more about the digestive process, the build up of gas and sometimes liquid build-up in the digestive tract.
Maybe the problem isn’t eating foods to reduce bloating, but not eating certain foods.
If the bloating is severe and is followed by diarrhea, maybe you need to identify what caused the issue. You might have a food intolerance or allergy, such as lactose or gluten intolerance. Both of which can lead to sudden gas and digestive upset. Try removing milk products from your diet for a few days or cut out products with gluten and see what happens. Foods high in fructose can also cause bloating. Finally, high fiber foods, while good to prevent bloating, must be increased slowly. If you don’t, you’ll be faced with the problem you’re trying to eliminate.
Make it simple and drink more water or consume more fluid, like chamomile tea.
Sometimes, bloating can occur because you don’t have enough fluid to match the fiber you ate. Drinking more water, particularly before a meal can help. If it’s water retention that caused the bloating, water also helps. It balances out the amount of fluid and sodium in the body and helps flush out the extra sodium. Dandelion tea is also a natural diuretic. Ginger tea helps relieve stomach and digestive issues, such as gas. It increases the movement of food through your system and relieve bloating.
Increase your greens, especially spinach.
Spinach is a good source of magnesium. In fact, one cup of cooked spinach gives almost 40% of the daily recommended amount. Magnesium is important for activating enzymes that help with digestion. It also helps keep the muscles relaxed in the bowels and keeping stool soft. Celery, another anti-bloater, is high in water and also has potassium. Potassium is good to relieve bloating from water retention and the fiber and fluid helps relieve gas. Another salad topper that can help is cucumbers. It is an anti-inflammatory food that can help prevent intestinal inflammation caused by food allergies and gut imbalances.
- Toss away those straws, that chewing gum and even cigarettes. They tend to cause you to swallow air that can add to bloating. Even eating fast can be one of the bloating culprits.
- Try some yogurt for bloating. It can provide beneficial bacteria to normalize your digestive system. Kefir, sauerkraut and other probiotic foods also help.
- Just like the potassium in celery can help reduce bloating, so can the potassium in bananas. One medium-sized banana provides 422 mg of potassium, plus resistant starch. That helps eliminate constipation and gets rid of trapped gas.
- Chew on a fennel seed or two after a meal. Fennel is a folk medicine for digestive issues. It also has diuretic properties to eliminate both types of bloating.
For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training