Back in the day I would have tummy bloating after every meal and felt totally miserable, and comfy clothes were my ONLY option. These days stretchy pants are optional as I have improved my digestion! So, I can relate to you, if you currently experience bloating and would love to say ciao to your bloated belly.
Today’s blog is going to be an easy to digest post (see what I did there). We’ll explore why we may experience that dreaded bloated belly and what we can do about it naturally! Plus I will share with you an awesome recipe, so be sure to check that out at the end.
*Keep in mind there can be a multitude of reasons why bloating may occur ex: yeast imbalance, bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), hormonal issues or even parasites to name a few. If you are concerned about your tummy issues make sure to visit your doc or Naturopath to explore things further.
Are you ready to kick off those stretchy pants and feel good? Let’s do it!
SOME reasons why we may experience bloating:
Poor Eating Habits:
Digestion begins in the mouth. Our digestive enzymes such as amylase start to break down carbohydrates in our mouth. If you inhale your food, eat while stressed out, preoccupied or on the run, you can bet that you’re not going to digest as well. This calls on your stomach and digestive enzymes and gastric juices to break down large chunks of food which ideally should be chewed up and broken down in the mouth.
It’s important to chew food until LIQUID (slooooowww it down at meal time) and also to limit fluid intake with meals. If you are guzzling back ice cold drinks with your meals, it can contribute to bloating by diluting stomach juices and shutting down the digestive process.
GOAL: Chew food slowly in a relaxed environment (no TV, Iphone or distractions), and try to chew food until liquid and limit fluid intake to about 1 cup of room temperature water. Bonus: Add fresh lemon to your water before eating as this can help to detoxify your liver and ignite the digestive process.
The Combination of Food:
Sometimes the way in which we combine our food can affect its digestibility. Food combining is worth trying out if you find that you’re often bloated. As an example, fruit is digested quickly and if we eat it along with protein and fat, it may end up fermenting and causing digestive upset, while if we eat it solo it can digest quickly without much issue.
Here’s a great food combining resource, which you can check out and use as a reference. Head on over HERE to learn more.
An Unhappy Gut:
If you’ve taken the birth control pill (BCP) for any length of time, drank chlorinated water, been under stress, ate a high sugar and processed diet or taken a round of antibiotics, your gut health may be affected. Our gut is an ecosystem of various bacteria, it’s really our microbiome and is home to 70% of our immune system. Wow!
A large number of studies, scientists and health experts are linking many diseases and health issues to our GUT. Our health and immunity begins in the GUT. So, it’s a wise idea to remove foods and environmental factors that may be causing your gut health to get out of whack.
We need a mixture of beneficial and pathogenic bacteria in our gut, but we want a healthy balance. When the balance gets well.. UN balanced, then we may experience more GI issues.
GOAL: Take a high quality probiotic supplement from a good quality brand or health food store. Bonus: Increase your fermented foods! Ex: kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, miso are all great foods which can add more healthy bacteria to your system.
Weak Digestive Fire:
Over time our digestive juices and enzymes can gradually reduce. This happens for various reasons such as poor eating habits, highly processed or greasy foods and we can also tire out our pancreas by calling on the same digestive enzymes (when we repeatedly eat the same foods ex: the lactase enzyme is needed to digest lactose found in dairy). It’s wise to eat a variety of foods and rotate things a bit in order to not call on the same digestive enzymes constantly.
GOAL: Rotate different foods in your diet, eat plenty of fresh fruits and veggies (which contain many enzymes themselves!) and consider exploring digestive supplements to take with meals which can help not only with improving digestion, but also with bloating and supporting your pancreas!
Food Sensitivities:
If you find that you’re getting bloated, feeling unwell or have a bunch of symptoms (issues with skin, body, mood) you may want to explore potential food culprits. When we are sensitive to certain foods, our body will try to tell us by showing us symptoms. It’s important that we listen, and consider removing the “common food culprits” ex: dairy, gluten, sugar, eggs, soy, corn and also consider digging deeper with a Nutritionist or Naturopath etc.. You could try out an elimination diet or even allergy testing which can really help!
I hope that you give these tips a try and I’m betting you will notice improvement with belly bloating. ?
Let me know – what have you found has helped with reducing your bloating? What have you tried?
As always, don’t forget to sign up for my regular updates so that you stay in the loop!
PS: I wanted to find an easy recipe that had some ingredients which supported digestion and GI health. Well, did I find a good one! This turmeric ginger tea from Joy at Joyous Health is not only an easy bevie to make, but it includes turmeric which is fabulous for inflammation reduction and gut support, while the ginger is extremely supportive of our digestive system.
Check it out and give it a try! ?
Bloated belly no more,
