Being bloated is no fun! Are you with me on this? It keeps us from wearing the clothes we want and makes us extremely uncomfortable!
That is why today, we’re going to be going over five reasons most people get bloated. Bloating really sucks. I was bloated for years before I healed my body. I was really scared because every single time I ate I would get super bloated, be in terrible discomfort, and look like I was six months pregnant. If you’ve ever dealt with bloating, or you know someone who deals with excess bloating, this article is for you!
#1. Dehydration. Our bodies are upwards to 70% water, and our cells really need to be hydrated and lubricated with water. When we don’t drink enough water, our bodies do something interesting. It goes into a state of stress or shock, and it holds onto the water, which creates bloating and swelling.
Let’s start the day out right. When you first wake up, to have two glasses of warm water. Now, you want to do that before you have any coffee or tea, because coffee and tea are diuretics, which is going to make you more dehydrated. Start off the day right with two glasses of warm water, and then you want to be drinking water throughout the day. I recommend to do it in between meals.
#2. Not chewing your food. Yes, we’ve been hearing this since we were little kids, and there’s a lot of truth to it. Specifically, with bloating and not chewing your food.
If you’re eating really fast, you actually have these particles of food that are really big that are going through your digestive tract. Your digestive tract is anywhere from 30 to 32 feet long, so that’s a long way to go. What can happen is, if you have these big particles, your body starts fermenting the food, and there can be swelling and inflammation that is caused, which causes the bloating.
You really want to pulverize your food. There’s many other reasons why it’s so important to chew your food. You want to be able to absorb and assimilate your nutrients, among so many other things.
#3. Constipation. The subject that no one wants to talk about, and really puts you in a bad way for the day if you don’t handle it. Constipation obviously makes it so that you’re backed up, which is going to create that bloat and swelling. It’s also going to make it so that toxins are recirculating throughout your system and among so many other things.
What can you do to relieve constipation? Well, the first thing is to eat more fiber. We should be getting around 35 grams to 50 grams a day. The average American only gets 10 grams of fiber a day. What I recommend is to gradually increase it, if it’s something you don’t eat a lot of. You can get that from vegetables and fruit, beans and legumes, and things like that.
The second thing that you can do is hydrate. That’s going to help with constipation.
The third thing is looking at stress reduction, because stress can cause a lot of constriction in the body, and back you up and cause that constipation.
The fourth thing is just getting movement. You want to get out there, even if it’s just walking. Getting that movement will help with that long digestive tract and moving the food, then relieving the large intestine or the colon so you can get over the constipation.
#4. Food sensitivities, and also food allergies. Most people don’t realize when they’re having sensitivities to food, and the most common food sensitivities would be nuts, eggs, dairy, gluten, and soy.
When you have a sensitivity or an allergy, it causes a lot of inflammation and irritation to the body, which is going to create that bloating and swelling.
In other articles, I’ll go into more detail about food sensitivities, but this was a big one for me, especially with the gluten and dairy. It made such a big difference with the bloating.
#5. Chronic stress. Chronic stress causes a lot of acid, inflammation, and swelling in the body, especially over time when it’s chronic and this can cause a lot of bloating.
When we’re looking at stress reduction and just some exercises, the first thing I like to look at is breath management. Yes, our breath. If we can slow it down and elongate the breath, it’s going to help the nervous system to relax. Most of the time when you’re stressed out or you’re feeling bloated, your breath is short and shallow.
The first thing is just to have awareness of it, and the second thing is to really elongate the breath and especially that exhale.
What do you do to help with bloating? I can’t wait to hear your comments below!
