10 Ways to Better Digestion
Feeling gassy, swollen or just plain gross? Your stomach's so puffy you can hardly button your trousers or slip into that skirt that fit perfectly just a couple days ago. What's happening?
Distention. It is caused by excess gas in the intestines. Bad eating habits, certain foods, or hormonal changes can bring the feeling on and it's more common in women.
To help you feel better quicker, we’ve worked out these few ways to beat the balloon.
Here are 10 simple strategies to improve digestion:
1. Reduce flatulent foods:
Beans and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage contain sugars that are normally tough to digest. However, you don't have to give them up entirely. Instead, eat just a half-cup serving of these foods at a time. Once your body adjusts to them, you can gradually increase the serving size over the course of a few weeks. It might just help to take a digestive enzyme before meals, since it breaks down the sugars in vegetables and grains.
2. Drink wisely and well:
Increasing your intake of water will work wonders. Water flushes waste and toxins out of your system and helps get things moving if you're constipated, a common cause of puffiness, especially in pregnant women and new moms. And remember to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. They're about 80 to 90 percent water. Oranges and watermelon are two excellent options.
3. Have more fiber :
Fiber prevents constipation as it adds bulk and helps move food more quickly through the intestines. Women need at least 25 grams of fiber daily. However most of them hardly get half the quantity. To fix the fiber shortage, start your day with a bran cereal. It has at least five grams of fiber per serving. Snack on other high-fiber foods like strawberries, blueberries, dried apricots, and dried plums throughout the day. But be careful not to add too much fiber too fast, or you'll feel even more bloated than before. Your body needs time to get used to handling the increased bulk.
4. Get a move on:
Even a quick ten-minute brisk walk in the park or in the back alleys will go a long way in relieving bloating. Exercise helps gas pass through the digestive tract quicker, so you feel better faster.
5. Watch that milk:
If milk, yogurt and other dairy products give you gas, have small servings. You can slowly increase your intake, just as you would with other tough-to-digest foodstuffs. You might wish to try lactase enzymes before indulging in foods like ice creams and cheeses, as they help your body digest dairy products more easily. If gas still persists, try switching to soy or lactose-free foods.
6. Don't bite more than you can chew:
One big cause of bloating is swallowing too much too fast. In the bargain, you tend to gulp air when you eat. For instance, you might swallow air if you snack on the run and eat too fast, talk while eating, drink from a straw, or have a lot of soda. Take more time for meals, skip carbonated drinks, and have smaller portions of food at each sitting. One of the best ways to decrease the amount of air you gulp is to eat with your mouth shut.
7. Go natural:
Salads work wonders for the constitution. It’s probably the fiber content in them. Likewise, things like peppermint capsules are known to help relieve bloating by relaxing the digestive muscles. Peppermint also comes in enteric-coated tablets, as capsules have proven irritable to some people's stomachs.
8. Keep an eye on your meds:
A number of OTC and prescription drugs, like antidepressants, antihistamines, iron pills, and calcium supplements with bicarbonate or carbonate, are known to cause constipation and distention. More so, when you first start to take them. Consult your doctor about the side effects of such medications or supplements you take so you know the potential pitfalls.
9. Learn about detox:
Learn about detox and go for it with gusto. Take a break from snacks with sugar, nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, and chemicals – as well as common junk foods, and find appropriate detoxification programs.
10. Outwit PMS:
Rise in levels of progesterone, estrogen, and prostaglandins right before periods, tend to slow digestion and cause water retention. This makes you feel sluggish and bloated. To relieve these symptoms, reduce salt, especially in the week before your period. Taking 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day also helps reduce premenstrual bloating.
Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.
