Bloating can make you feel miserable. It can make you feel like you have a huge balloon that is expanding in your stomach. Your stomach hurts, your entire insides ache and you feel as though you are about to pop.
About one in 10 Americans suffer from regular bloating even if they have not eaten a large meal. However, you do not necessarily have to eat a big meal to feel the effects of bloating. When you are bloated, you will have abdominal discomfort, stomach gurgling and excessive gas. Bloating occurs when there is an increase of food in your stomach, such as overeating.
If you suffer from bloating whether it is occasionally or regularly, there is hope.
Tips to decrease bloating:
Eat slowly.
Eat smaller, more frequent meals.
Chew your food well.
Drink beverages at room temperature.
Sit up straight after eating, and try to avoid laying down.
Get more exercise in during the day.
Bloating can be caused by a food intolerance, which is a delayed reaction to food. When you have a food intolerance, it can cause stress on your immune system and cause inflammation, which will irritate your intestinal tract causing bloating.
Bloating can be caused by insulin resistance. This is when glucose is built up in your blood instead of being absorbed by the cells, which can lead to type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes.
Bloating can also be caused by intestinal yeast overgrowth, which is extremely common especially if you have recently used antibiotics to treat some sort of infection. The antibiotics alter the flora in your digestive tract and allow yeast to take over. You'll feel gassy, bloated and have an increase of sugar and carb cravings.
There are also natural remedies that can help with bloating:
- Peppermint tea: Peppermint tea is refreshing and many people use it as a quick pick-me-up. Peppermint tea also has properties that help with your digestive system and help alleviate bloating. It has antispasmodic and relaxant properties. These properties help relieve cramps and spasms that occur in the gastrointestinal tract when you are bloated. Drinking peppermint tea improves the passage of food and any swallowed air through your digestive tract, alleviating discomfort and pain.
- Chamomile tea: Chamomile contains properties that aid in helping your muscles relax. It also contains anti-irritant, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Because of the antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties, chamomile tea can help alleviate an upset stomach, stomach cramps, and gas and bloating.
- Apple cider vinegar: Apple cider vinegar is amazing for digestive support. When you feel bloated, apple cider vinegar provide specific enzymes and other acids that help support your digestive system. The enzymes that apple cider vinegar produces actually supports the enzymes that are not being produced enough. Drinking apple cider vinegar also helps in preventing indigestion if taken before a meal.
- Probiotics: If bloating is a symptom of recent use of antibiotics, the best way to establish the "good" flora in your digestive tract is through the use of probiotics. A great source of probiotics are bananas, which are great in aiding with digestion. They allow the good bacteria that is already in your body to thrive and multiply, eventually taking over the bad bacteria.