Beat The Bloat!
Bloating is - not to put too fine a point on it - the physical manifestation of gas. It tends to occur after eating and is a direct result of the digestive process. Basically, your stomach is working incredibly hard and it’s producing a lot of gas as a result - akin to how a steam engine lets out puffs off steam. Only with a steam engine, the resultant gas vanishes into the atmosphere. The gas from your stomach doesn’t have anywhere to go in a hurry, so it expands out… as does your waistline.
You may have read that and largely skipped over it because, frankly, not many people who suffer from frequent bloating really care why it happens. There’s no need to understand the biology when you’re too busy trying to find clothes that fit two versions of you: Bloated You and Normal You. It’s no fun, it’s expensive, it can make you feel fatter than you are, and it can even be painful.
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It seems we can all agree that the bloat has got to go… so how do you go about it?
Why Are You Bloated?
For all the acknowledgement that the causes might not be of much interest to you, the simple fact is that you can’t separate cause from effect. Only by tackling the cause - the food you eat - can you stand any chance of getting rid of the effect. So strap yourself in, we need to delve deeper.
The main cause of bloating is eating food that your stomach finds tough to digest. As the food is more complex, your stomach is working overtime - which means it’s producing a lot more gas as a result.
However, you could cut all of the “bloat-prone” foods out of your diet and still find that you have a problem. In these instances, bloating is usually a result of a medical condition.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is known for the issues with bloating that result from it. Fortunately, finding an effective IBS treatment is relatively simple, and you can also benefit from general prevention methods.
- Endometriosis - a condition affecting the womb lining - is known to cause bloating.
- Celiac Disease
If you have a medical condition, you might find that your treatment plan doesn’t necessarily ease the bloating. So that raises the question...
What Are Good Behaviors If You’re Prone To Bloating?
It’s worth trying an elimination diet to see if there are particular foods that trigger episodes of bloating for you. When you know what’s going to cause an issue, you can avoid it - or at least be prepared for the consequences!
Try and avoid difficult-to-digest foods, or at least, only eat them in one meal per day.
Be careful when eating and take your time. If you rush food, you’re more likely to swallow air along with whatever you’re eating - that alone can cause excessive bloating.
Eat a little of your meal at a time, giving your stomach the chance to process what you’ve eaten so far before the next morsel hits. This also gives you time to really savor and enjoy your food, and you might even discover that you feel full faster!
