Many of my clients present to me feeling bloated as a common symptom. Bloating is not normal and doesn’t have to be accepted as part of daily life.
It is generally a sign that the digestion is not working properly. Read on to find out what you can do about bloating and how to banish the bloat.
What is Bloating?
Bloating or abdominal bloating is a condition where your abdomen or belly feels full and tight. This is often due to gas or indigestion. Bloating can be accompanied by other symptoms such as burping, gas, and discomfort in the abdominal area.
Causes of Bloating
Menstrual cycle
If your menstrual hormones are out of balance, then they can cause an increase in the volume of the uterus before the period. If you’re getting a pattern that you usually have bloating on or before menstruation then, you might want to have a look at what you can do to balance up your hormones.
Indigestion
I often find many clients are feeling bloated because they are eating too quickly.
Eating on the run is common particularly for mums. Many mums tend to eat while they’re preparing meals for their kids or eating while driving the kids to school or eating at their work desk.
Many mums (and dads) are not getting time to sit down, relax and chew every bite of their meal to maximize the eating process.
During the eating process, we need to chew our food thoroughly, ensuring that the food is broken down from large chunks of food into the smallest particles.
By chewing thoroughly we can ensure that the food is broken down into the smallest elements to help the digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Fermented foods, drinks and coffee
Meals should be eaten without drinks. Drinking with meals especially soda, soft drinks, tea and coffee can actually reduce the ability of your digestive enzymes to be able to break down some of the foods. These drinks alter the stomach acidity and can affect your ability to digest and break down your proteins to the smallest units (amino acids).
Avoid drinking with meals. Keep your fluid intake to half an hour before food or two hours after meals.
What you can do?
Create a food diary
Write down everything you’re eating. Record your menstrual cycle, how you feeling each day, your energy levels and rate your bloating on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the worst).
By recording the activities and how you are feeling each day, you can begin to see a pattern and be able to identify and foods or lifestyle factors that are triggering your bloating.
Regular Exercise
Exercise is a great way to help get the digestive system working properly. Muscular activity helps the muscles in the abdominal region move and this can help to move fecal matter through the intestines.
Walking, running, swimming, dancing, and yoga are all great exercises that can help stimulate the digestion and banish the bloat. If you are short on time use a yoga app to help
Take the time to chew your food thoroughly
Take time to chew your food thoroughly to help the digestive enzymes break down your foods into the smallest elements ready for absorption.
Correct levels of Gut Microbes
Eating a plant-based diet helps ensure the correct levels of gut microbes. Supporting the health of the gut flora is imperative to reduce bloating and aiding digestion. Prebiotic superfoods can help assist in correct microflora for the digestion.
If you are still having trouble identifying what is going on with you, it’s time to make an appointment now.
Have a fabulous day
