5 Ways to Banish Belly Bloat

KAWARTHA LAKES-Does anyone else feel like September has a similar feel to the New Year? So many of us are starting fresh: new school year, kids are going back to school so you can get back to focusing on your own goals, the wind down after all those summer parties and vacations.

Perhaps after a summer of indulgence you are noticing some belly bloat or that your jeans are not fitting quite like they used to.

Never fear; today’s article is all about how to banish belly bloat fast!

If you eat a lot of salty and processed foods, you’ll likely retain water, which causes bloating. However, taking in lots of water can help to flush out excess salts and waste, therefore reducing water retention in the body. You should aim to get half of your body weight in ounces per day of filtered water.

Do you have foods that tend to make you bloated? For some, it’s chips and pretzels while others might find raw veggies the culprit to their bloating. Whatever your trigger food is, avoiding it will help with the bloat. Some trigger foods, however, are not obvious, like chewing gum or eating foods that have chemicals like asparatame in them. It’s helpful to take a daily inventory of what you are eating and how you felt after to determine which foods are causing your bloating.

Processed foods act very different in the body from whole foods. First of all, processed foods are a LOT harder to digest! Processed foods containing highly processed sugar and oils are unrecognizable in the body and therefore, can create reactions like bloating and gas.

Whole foods are foods in their purest form: like vegetables and fruits. They usually don’t have a food label and that’s how you know for sure they are good for you! Next time you read a label and find something impossible to pronounce, skip it and grab an apple instead.

How many of us are guilty of plowing through a meal without even taking a breath? I know we are busy but making meal times a higher priority will do wonders for your digestion!

Remembering to chew your food is like retraining a new skill-it’ll take a little practice but before you know it, you’ll be much more in tune with your body and have much less bloating.

Do you drink water or other beverages with your meals? This is a habit you will want to nix in order to banish belly bloat forever. When we drink fluids with our meals, it dilutes our stomach acids, which are there to aid in digestion. We want our stomach acids to be nice and firey before each meal for optimal digestion so avoid drinking water 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after a meal.

I hope these tips help you to get rid of your belly bloat and feel your best! If you liked this article, check out www.sweathappywellness.com for more information on holistic health coaching online programs.