Battling the bloat

Holiday meals can leave you feeling uncomfortable, and not because of the table talk. If you’re not careful of what and even how you eat, you’ll be battling the post-dinner bloat. Bloating is the tight, swollen feeling in your abdomen when your gastrointestinal tract has retained fluid or gas. It’s painful, and not a good look, especially when wearing fitted clothes.

The most common causes for the stuffed bloating feeling are overeating, eating fatty and rich foods and eating too fast. To keep bloating at bay eat smaller portions to ease the pain, limit the fat in your diet because it takes longer to digest and keeps the stomach full longer and eat slower to avoid overeating.

Gas is the second most common cause of bloating. While half of what’s in your digestive system is bacteria to help the gut digest, the other half is swallowed air. If the gas builds up in the intestines it will cause the discomfort.

If you often feel gassy and bloating caused by gas you can avoid these habits that cause you to swallow more air.

• Drinking with a straw
• Chewing Gum
• Drinking carbonated beverages
• Sucking on sugar-free sweets or lollies

Unfortunately, certain foods can also cause gassiness and bloating because they’re difficult to digest. These are the main offenders.

• Beans and lentils contain oligosaccharides which are indigestible sugars and have to be broken down by bacteria, a slow process.
• Fruits and vegetables that contain starch and sugar that cause gas and bloating like Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, prunes and apricots.
• Artificial sweeteners like sorbitol are unable to be digested and fructose, a natural sugar is difficult to digest.
• Dairy products can cause intestinal distress and bloating.
• Whole grains are recommended for a well-balanced diet but can cause gas and bloating because of their high fiber content. Make sure to drink a lot of water to help move fiber through your digestive system. Check out our Nutritionist Jordan Kain’s video on Fibre and Carbohydrates this week on our Facebook page for more information!

If you’ve cut back on hard-to-digest foods and you’re still experiencing bloating, you can take over the counter medications to help break down indigestible sugars in beans and vegetables.

However, if you’re constantly troubled by bloating even after making these changes it might be a good idea to speak with your doctor about it. Though rare, bloating can be caused by something more severe that needs to be addressed like an obstruction in your stomach or impaired muscle functions in the digestive tract that don’t allow food to move along properly.

Take proper precautions if you want to avoid bloating and gas and you can walk away from the dinner table without the uncomfortable stuffed or gassy feeling that can ruin the rest of your night.