5 Easy Ways to Beat the Bloat

Bloating, cramping and general digestive discomfort bring misery to the lives of millions, and often unnecessarily. With a little know-how, it’s easy to tame troublesome tummy issues, and these few simple steps might be all you need to get yourself back on the road to feeling amazing.

1. Think about your food

The very first step in the digestive process is a really important one, but it’s often something that people don’t even think about. It’s called the cephalic phase of digestio,n and it’s triggered when you look, smell or see food. You are literally whetting your appetite. When you start thinking about the lovely meal you are going to prepare, you are getting your digestive juices flowing

2. Chew your food thoroughly

Let’s get one thing straight: your tummy doesn’t have teeth. Chewing your food is vital, and this is the second phase of digestion. With proper chewing, you are mechanically breaking down the food into smaller pieces so that there’s a greater surface area and the digestive enzymes can get to work more easily doing their job. You might have heard the saying, “You are what you eat”. To be correct, you are what you can absorb, and if you’re not chewing properly, likely, you will not be digesting your food properly and you certainly won’t be absorbing it well either.

The ideal scenario is that you chew it sufficiently so that should you be asked to spit it out, no one would have a clue what you had been eating.

3. Consider whether you have too much or too little stomach acid

Many people assume heartburn comes from too much stomach acid, which fuels sales of acid-blocking drugs. In reality, nutrition professionals often find the opposite: low stomach acid, especially with age, stress, or certain medications.

Why does that matter? Stomach acid breaks down protein and kills bacteria. Without enough food can ferment, creating gas that pushes acid up into the oesophagus — causing that familiar burn (and sometimes smelly gas).

Fix it: Try a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (with “mother”) before meals. If that worsens symptoms, your issue may be excess acid, in which case a little bicarbonate of soda can help neutralise it.

4. Consider taking a Digestive Enzyme

Another thing that happens as you age is that you naturally start producing fewer digestive enzymes – this alongside making less stomach acid.

That’s when taking a digestive enzyme capsule (available from health food shops) might be helpful. It will give your system a gentle boost to help it do its job properly.

5. Take a little stroll 

When you walk shortly after you’ve eaten, magic starts to happen. To start, a gentle walk lowers your blood sugar levels, so your body makes less insulin. As insulin is the fat storage hormone, taking a gentle stroll for 15 minutes makes you less likely to store fat. When it comes to digestion, it can help you digest your food better. A German study back in 2008 showed that this was because a gentle walk increased the speed at which the food moved through the digestive system. So, you see, your granny was right after all.

Want to know more or address a digestive problem?

Book in a free call and let’s have a chat about what the problem may be and how I can help you. Book your call in HERE.

Categorised in: Digestive problems, Gut health

This post was written by Reynolds Ruth