Health Tips For Reducing Bloating – Naturally!

By Dr Ayesha Qureshi

Bloating is a very common symptom that many people experiencethroughout the day. It is the feeling of fullness that can cause significant discomfort, pain and make your stomach look more distended. Bloating can be caused by many causes such as excess gas production from digestion of certain foods, indigestion of some foods, changes in secretion of digestive enzymes and hormones and disruption of digestive muscles. 

In order to effectively treat digestion, it is important to determine what the cause of bloating may be. Here are some tips that can help with bloating relief and encouraging proper digestion of foods:

– Practice mindfulness while eating: eat slowly, chew your food and portion control. When we chew our food, we are not only breaking them down to smaller and easier units for digestion, but it also starts the release of some digestive enzymes.

– Avoid deep-fried foods, as these are rich in empty calories, they are more difficult to digest and make you feel more bloated. Limit your deep-friedfood intake and choose from healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, andprotein, PACING yourself while eating!

– Digestive juices (enzymes, bile salts, acid, etc) are released from different organs and all play an important role in healthy digestion. Making sure your stomach, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, small and large intestines are healthy is very important! If there are not enough digestive juices released, bloating and indigestion are possible: undigested food can contribute to bloating. Apple cider vinegar, lemon + water andginger are a few examples that can help to stimulate the digestive juices.

– Have you tried fennel seeds or fennel tea after a meal? Fennel seeds release a compound that can relax your gastrointestinal spasms and help relieve trapped gas and decrease bloating. Ginger and peppermint tea can also help with indigestion! 

– Be active – don’t immediately sleep after a big meal. Move and allow digestion to take its natural course. 

Dr. Ayesha Qureshi, ND

Naturopathic Doctor