Feeling Bloated?

We've all been there, bloated and sluggish after a little over indulgence. As women we tend to bloat for a lot of different reasons - if you never get bloated then there is something very strange and wonderful about you :-) So you wake up one morning and for whatever reason you have an uncomfortably puffed out belly. It happens to us all, and we all want rid of it ASAP right? well, in this post I'm going to give you 5 of my top tips for beating that bloat in about 24 hours.

So aside from some of the obvious culprits, salt, and certain veggies like broccoli that can cause gas here are some ways you too can beat that bloat...

1. Swap all beverages for water

because the body often holds on to water so it doesn't get dehydrated, if you are constantly throwing back the good stuff this gives your body the permission to let go of what it is storing as it reads this as no danger of dehydration. So the very first thing you are going to want to do is to start knocking the H2O back. I would stick with still water as carbonated water can irritate your stomach in this instance. The whole point here is to calm the system.

2. Fiber Intake

Pay attention to this one! it's a comer stone for a healthy digestive system. Fibre is necessary for weight loss however going from too little to too much can and will upset your digestion and cause bloating. To ease the process ensure that you are drinking plenty of water along with the fibre intake to help the body digest it more easily.

3. Reduce your Carb intake

So let me spell it out here - Carbs are NOT the enemy - but when trying to beat that bloated tummy you will want to lay off the good stuff for a short while. The way carbohydrates work in our bodies rely heavily on water and the process involves holding on to that water. So the more carbs you eat the more water you can hang on to leading to feeling bloated. But it works the other way too, say, for example you've had way too much pizza the night before and you've got that food baby going on, it would be a great idea to lay off the carbs that day.

**as a nutrition coach it is my obligation to state that you need a balanced diet and long term deprivation of any nutrient will lead to future issues**

4. Chewing

how much you chew your food will sometimes be a culprit in how well you digest, see digestion really begins in our mouth, we have teeth for a reason. To chew and break down the food before sending it to our stomach. And a by-product of not chewing enough is that you can allow more air in your digestive tract along with your food. So chew slowly and really be mindful about it.

This one is tricky and it does require you to be very mindful about it at the beginning, but it is a good idea to start out by counting how many chews food gets before you swallow - aim to start at 10 and try work up to 20.

5. Portions

It's simple really, the more food you have in your stomach the more likely you are to be bloated. As a society we've gotten very used to having giant portions of food all the time, so this is a great learning opportunity to be more mindful about portions.

If you have any tips and remedies that have worked for you, I'd love to hear about them. Always so handy to have those kind of tips to come to your aid.

Disclaimer ~

this information is not intended for treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment or medical advice. Please seek a licensed medical practitioner if you believe you are affected by anything mentioned here.