October 10, 2017
A topic most of us don’t like to talk about but happens to a lot of us. Indigestion, bloating and gas after eating meals. It’s uncomfortable, sometimes painful and embarrassing. Thankfully, there are some ways we can remedy or lessen these symptoms.
How to Prevent Indigestion and Bloating After Eating
First, chew your food a minimum of 20 times. I know this will be hard for the vast majority of us since we are constantly rushing around and fitting in meals seems like a chore most days! But we have to remember that our esophagus, stomach, liver, small and large intestines (all involved in digestion and elimination process) don’t have teeth so we need to break down the food as much as possible for them to be able to do their job and get the nutrients to other parts of our body that needs them.
Second, put your fork down between bites and eat slowly. Eating fast only creates horrible indigestion, pain, discomfort and other symptoms we don’t want.
Third, increase fiber. Eating a whole or plant-based diet will provide your body with enough fiber to help with the digestion and elimination process.
Fourth, relax! Take up yoga or mediation to help de-stress the body. When we are over stressed our body does not have enough energy to do its job of digestion and elimination. Stress raises cortisol levels, affects adrenal glands which all tie into your digestion.
Fifth, do not drink with your meals. If you must drink something, do it 30 minutes before or after you eat. Drinking with your meals dilutes the digestive juices in your body and makes it more difficult for your body to break down the food you just ate.
Sixth, practice food combining. One of the main things I have learned is to eat fruit alone. As its easily digested we want to ensure we eat it outside of other types of foods so as not to disrupt the digestion of other proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Do not eat starches and proteins together as this is very hard for your body to digest.
By simply incorporating these few small changes into your diet, you should see some relief of these uncomfortable symptoms.
