What causes bloating?
Mostly
overeating, eating foods which do not agree with you thus producing
excess gas, and constipation. Other causes include menstruation, food
allergy/food intolerance and irritable bowel syndrome.
Suffering
from belly bloat is a common but annoying disorder. You feel
uncomfortable, lethargic, unmotivated, embarrassed because of your
bulging belly and the rumble it makes, and are sometimes in pain.
Let
us look at how to stop bloating and the basic lifestyle changes you
can
implement which are especially effective if you feel bloated after
eating.
Stop overeating
Eat smaller, more frequent meals for better health and a bloat-free waistline.
Change your eating habits
Eating
quickly increases pressure on your stomach and produces more gas. Sit
down, chew your food well, and eat your meals in a leisurely manner,
giving the food plenty of time to digest.
Drinking tea or coffee
on the run is equally bad with excess air accompanying each sip and
gulp. Savor your beverages by drinking them slowly.
Limit sugar substitutes
Sodas,
sweets and chewing gum contain huge quantities of artificial
sweeteners, especially sorbitol and xylitol which many people find
difficult to digest, resulting in bloating, gas and diarrhea. Rather
have real sugar than substitutes.
Cut out sodas
The bubbles in fizzy drinks cause bloating. Also refrain from drinking excessively hot or cold beverages.
Stop eating junk and processed food
Fried, oily food and high salt content cause bloating.
Abstain from carbohydrates at night
Bread and pasta cause you to retain water. Avoid eating them at night to be puff-free the next morning.
Early morning water and lemon juice
Start
your day by drinking a glass of warm water with the juice of half a
lemon; it speeds up waste elimination and removes toxins.
Eat potassium rich foods
Bananas,
cantaloupe, mangoes, spinach, tomatoes, nuts, asparagus and fresh
chopped parsley regulate the fluid balance in your body and stop
bloating.
If you suffer from constipation, eating sufficient
fruit, vegetables and high fiber, such as oatmeal, will improve your
digestion and remedy your bloating problem.
Drink water
Water flushes out your system and aids digestion. Instead of alcohol, caffeine and colas, drink plain water and natural teas.
Limit excess air
Do
not eat and talk at the same time, drink out of a straw, chew gum nor
smoke because the surplus air accompanying these activities causes you
to bloat.
Eat foods easily digested by your body
Bland foods, such as fish, chicken, soya based foods, yogurt and rice do not tax your digestive system.
Limit gas producing foods
Notice
which raw vegetables cause you to bloat, then either boil them or do
not eat them at all. The cellulose in cabbage, peas and beans is hard to
digest and may cause you to puff up.
Other common gas producing foods are cruciferous vegetables, root vegetables, lentils, prunes and garlic.
Menstruation
Bloating,
together with water weight gain and mood swings, are associated with
premenstrual tension. Ensure you get 1200 milligrams calcium and 200 to
400 milligrams magnesium daily. Both nutrients help relieve PMS
symptoms, including bloating. If you wish, take Midol which contains a
mild diuretic.
Natural remedies
Add turmeric, coriander, caraway and cumin when cooking.
Naturists
claim teas made of ginger, savory from the mint family, lime from a
linden tree, peppermint, rosemary, and caraway are effective for
bloating relief.
They may be right because ginger tea helps with
stomach upsets and peppermint oil in tea or warm water after a big meal
aids digestion.
Exercise
Walking for 15 to 20 minutes
a day moves food through your digestive tract, thereby reducing
bloating and combating constipation. Other benefits include less severe
menstrual cramps, eliminating toxins by perspiring, and shedding body
fat.
Apply pressure
Massaging your abdomen helps
evacuate gas and reduces bloating. Start by pressing your fingers near
your right hip, slide up towards the ribs, move across and down in a
circular motion.
Supplements and home remedies
Taking a digestive enzyme
with each meal provides relief, especially when bloating results from a
problem with your digestive tract, such as diverticulosis. Obtain
digestive enzymes with the active ingredients lipase, protease and
amylase, from any health store. Restaurant owners should actually hand
out digestive enzymes instead of after-dinner mints to all patrons who
selected anything other than raw foods from their menus.
Probiotics
are 'good bacteria' which help keep you regular and bloat-free. Your
intestinal tract has loads of bacteria, some beneficial, some harmful,
which play an important role in the functioning of your digestive and
immune systems.
Probiotics encourage the growth and replenishment
of healthy microflora. They crowd out the bad bacteria which cause
disease, yeasts and parasites in your intestines, they help digest and
absorb your food, eliminate wastes and toxins by restoring normal and
regular bowel function, and maintain a healthy intestinal function.
Ideally
85% of your bacteria should be friendly with 15% unfriendly. Probiotic
supplements can be found in capsule, powder or liquid form, or in foods
such as kefir and yogurt.
If you do not consume enough fruit and vegetables, take nutritional supplements that contain dietary fibers especially during the holidays or when celebrating to better handle the foods that cause you to swell up.
Apple cider vinegar helps ease digestive symptoms and gets rid of bloating and gas pain.
Lactobacillus supplements also help maintain intestinal health.
Bismuth,
the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol, is an element on the periodic
table. 100% natural, taken before or directly after a meal reduces
swelling caused by food allergies and neutralizes the odor of your
flatulence.
Medication
If you take antibiotics, which destroy your friendly bacteria, take B complex vitamins too.
Some oral contraceptive pills cause your stomach to distend, in which case ask your physician to prescribe a different one.
Once you incorporate these lifestyle changes, they should cure you or at least relieve bloating.
If your condition persists, let us look at what else it might be and what you can do about it.
Food allergy
If
you bloat after eating certain foods, keep a food journal where you
write down everything you eat, together with any symptoms which appear.
Rotate foods until you identify which foods trigger bloating and avoid
them.
Although you may not test positive for food allergies, you
may have a food intolerance. Common culprits include yeast, wheat, where
the gluten causes excess gas to be produced, and milk.
Lactose intolerance
This
means your body does not produce the enzyme lactase and your digestive
system cannot digest the lactose in dairy foods. It then ferments and
forms gases which overstretch your bowel.
How do you know if you
are lactose intolerant? Drink a glass of milk. If you experience gas,
bloating or diarrhea, avoid dairy products or drink lactose free milk.
Yogurt's
active bacteria cultures produce lactase, so if you want to eat cheese
without bloating afterwards, add a bowl of yogurt to your morning
ritual.
Irritable bowel syndrome
IBS, characterized by abdominal pain, bloating, constipation and/or diarrhea, may be the cause of your bloating.
Eat more fiber and give up coffee, cigarettes and spicy foods which irritate your colon.
Some
people swear by going on a detoxification diet two or three times a
year to give your body a chance to cleanse itself of accumulated toxins.
Diabetes
Diabetics often have problems with bloating and diarrhea, especially if they take large doses of metformin or glucophage.
Diabetics
with nerve damage in their stomach may find food collects but does not
empty properly, resulting in excessive belching. Medication eases this
problem.
Medication
Although over-the-counter
products offer quick relief by suppressing the symptoms, the benefits
will be short-lived because they do not eliminate the cause.
Common
effective medications such as Gas-X, Beano, Phazyme and Flatulex, when
taken with each meal, help break up gas pockets in the stomach, thereby
relieving bloating and gas pain.
The pain is not actually caused
by your swollen stomach but by abdominal contractions not synchronizing
properly. When your intestinal wall pulls in different directions it
feels like stomach cramps.
Most bloating medication contain
enzymes like alpha-galactosidase which help digest the sugars in
carbohydrates, the main culprit of your indigestion problems.
Pink
Pepto-Bismol type products have a salicylate ingredient which is like
aspirin. It will alleviate some of your abdominal pain but if it
disagrees with you, try Gas-X or Phazyme which contain simethicone.
Activated charcoal
Consider
using this over-the-counter supplement. When taken with meals, it
prevents or at least reduces the amount of gas produced.
It
sometimes causes irregular looking stools and constipation so do not be
alarmed, and in case it affects the absorption of prescription medicine,
take it an hour or two after any scheduled medication.
Tips and warning
Bloating
and gas pain should dissipate quite quickly. If not, if it becomes more
than a slight annoyance, or if accompanied by bloody or tarry stools,
fever, night sweats or weight loss, consult your doctor.
He might
suggest a colonoscopy to help him diagnose your problem. Endure it
because your colon plays a major role in your life and until it is
sorted out, you will feel unwell. Once he determines the medical cause,
he will treat and cure you of your suffering.
Bloating is also one of the primary symptoms of ovarian cancer, a 'silent' disease difficult to detect early.
Although
the remote possibility exists of it being something serious, bloating
is much more likely to be a minor inconvenience which you can get rid of
fast by making simple lifestyle changes.
