Last updated on September 4th, 2018 at 07:52 am
The sedentary lifestyle, the rat race of the modern life, the rampant consuming of unhealthy foods, and lack of physical exercise can be recounted as the primary reasons behind the bloating and gassiness. The bloating can be caused due to indigestion or accumulation of gas. And the bloated stomach can make you feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Bloating may also cause stomach pain. And if you are tired of abdominal bloating and looking for proven ways to eliminate or reduce bloating and gassiness, then this is the post worth reading.
In this post, I am going to discuss about everything worth knowing about abdominal bloating and ways to eliminate and reduce bloating with smaller lifestyle changes.
Abdominal bloating and its cause
Abdominal bloating is any abnormal swelling and growth in the diameter of the abdomen. One, who is suffering from bloating, may feel moderate pain, tight and fuller stomach and also gassiness, after meal. Naturally, the stomach would look much bigger and the one who is suffering from bloated stomach is going to feel uncomfortable.
One of the primary reasons for abdominal bloating is the formation of excessive gas in the stomach.
Over eating and bad digestion could also cause bloating
Disturbance in the movement of muscles of the digestive system in the stomach may also cause abdominal bloating.
Bloating may also be caused due to constipation, weight gain, growth of certain bacteria in bowel, heartburn etc.
Apart from that, bloating may be caused because of medical conditions, unhealthy eating and living habits.
Hence if the bloating is not caused by any medical conditions, you can easily eliminate or reduce bloating.
Best ways to eliminate or reduce bloating
Around 60% of the world population is suffering from bulged or bloated stomach. If you are experiencing bloating, then the first thing you should be doing is to go for a thorough check up. If the bloating is not caused by any medical conditions, then may be the excess body fat or digestive problems are the cause of bloating. And all that you need to reduce bloating is to tweak your lifestyle and, follow these proven ways to eliminate or reduce bloating.
1. Eat in smaller portions
Instead of having three heavy meals in a day, break the meals in smaller proportions and have the meals in multiple sittings. Have something to eat in an interval of 3-4 hours.
When you eat more frequently, your body will work hard to break the foods that you intake, the liver will produce digestive juices to break down the foods, and the metabolism will increase. This is how your body fat will not get accumulated in your belly, thus giving you a flat tummy.
2. Drink more water
If you drink less water, your body will think that there is scarcity of water, and it will hence use up less water. The water will get stored in your body, resulting in bloating.
Drink more and more water throughout the day, especially 30 minutes before every meal. You must drink 6-7 liters of water. Do not drink water at one go, rather sip it gradually and keep your body hydrated. Drinking water also makes you feel fuller and reduces your appetite. Reduced appetite will help you control the portion or quantity of food you eat and thus it help reduce bloating.
3. Add ginger to your diet
Ginger helps in getting rid of unwanted bloating very easily. Add the ginger extracts to your green tea or any tea. The ginger extracts can also be added to warm water and drink it.
This will cure the formation of gas and thus help reduce bloating. Ginger not only helps in proper digestions, but also fights bloating. You can add mint leaves to your tea too.
4. Add natural and organic foods to your diet
Get rid of the packaged foods, soft drinks, hard drinks, chips and fries, and start having the natural and organic foods in your diet. The fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables are beneficial for you, you can reduce the belly fat and also the fresh foods will not create any digestive problems, hence no bloating.
You can eat the fruits and vegetables in your breakfasts and also the meals. Try to enjoy the whole fruits, and do not consume the packaged fruit juices that are available in the market as they have added sugar and preservatives. Do not deep fry the veggies; rather have them boiled in soups and stew.
5. Eat slowly and chew well
Eating fast leads to slowing down the digestion process and thus it may cause bloating. Give at least 30 minutes time while you are having your meal. Chew every morsel well before swallowing them. Chewing your foods well will satiate your hunger faster, and you will feel fuller. This will also control the amount of food intake.
6. Avoid salt and sugar
Avoiding salt completely is next to an impossible task as without salt every food will turn tasteless. But, what you can avoid is raw salt. Also, watch the amount of salt you are taking, as too much salt can cause bloating. Salt enables water retention in your abdominal pain. Sugar contributes a lot to an accumulation of excess fat.
Cut down the intake of sugar, if possible avoid sugar completely. In your tea, you can use honey for sweetening it. Stay away from the processed food products that are available in the market as they have extra added sugar/salt in them.
7. Timely breakfast
There is a myth that skipping breakfasts help in weight loss. This is so wrong, as skipping the breakfast can lead to gas, bloating of stomach. Timely breakfast is necessary to boost up your metabolism and thus reduce the belly fat.
When you eat your breakfast, then your body starts working for digesting the foods, thus increasing the Basal Metabolic Rate. The body will use up the stored calories, and thus the belly fat can be averted.
8. Drink green tea twice a day
The green tea is very useful in reducing belly fat. But do not drink too much of green tea as excess of anything is harmful. Green tea not only reduces belly fat, but also helps in getting rid of the toxins from the body, it makes the skin glow, reduces the marks and pimples on the skin.
9. Proper sleep
Excess of sleep or too little sleep can cause the accumulation of fat not just in your abdominal region but in your whole body. You must sleep for 7-8 hours ideally, but if you are sleeping for 5 hours or say 9 hours, then this sleep pattern will take a toll on your body. Lack of sleep often leads to appetites, you will tend to eat and gain a lot of weight.
On the other hand, excess of sleep will make you lethargic, with no intension to burn up the extra calories. Do not sleep after taking heavy meal. Finish your dinner two hours before going to bed, do the Vajrasana and then go to sleep. Else, sleeping after heavy meals will lead to slow digestion, and thus fat around your abdominal area.
10. Adopt healthy living practices
You can include some small habits in your daily routine if you want to avoid the belly fat and bloating. Walk after taking a meal, take stairs instead of lift, do not watch TV while having meals, take smaller plates while having foods, do not use excess oil in food. These minor changes can bring major changes in your life. Checking the quality and quantity of foods, and some exercises are all you need to enjoy a flat stomach.
11. Measure your weight often
If you are measuring your weight often, then you will know when your weight is increasing or decreasing. If you see that your weight has increased, then you can take immediate actions before it is too late. If you are working hard to reduce your weight, then measuring your weight will also give you satisfaction and you can whether it is really working or not.
12. Do not fall prey to cravings
You may feel like you are hungry at odd hours like in the afternoons and evenings. This time is precarious as you may end up eating highly oily fast foods and junk foods. You must self restrain from these cravings and take the apple test. If you are really hungry then you will also want to eat the apple.
If you are not hungry, then you will not feel like eating the apple. In this case, you can just drink water and peace out. Avoid the junk foods at all cost. You can munch some digestive oats biscuits, but a complete NO for the oily foods.
13. Vajrasana
After you have your dinner, sit for the Vajrasana as it helps in fast digestion, breaking down the foods, thus preventing the accumulation of excess fats. The liver produces the enzymes which help in breaking down the foods.
Make it a practice to sit in Vajrasana, for 5-10 minutes, after meal. It helps digest your food, and avoid formation of gas and thus helps reduce bloating.
14. Squatting
Squatting is very useful when it comes to burn belly fat and it also helps in reducing bloating.
Half bend on your knees, stretch your hands in front, and pull your hip outward and inward.
Do this exercise 20-30 times in the morning and increase the count slowly. This squatting can help you get a flatter tummy and reduce bloating in just a few weeks.
15. Jogging and walking
Wake up before sunrise and start walking and jogging. Walking, jogging and running are three different exercises and you can do the one which is comfortable for you. If you are a beginner, then start with simple morning walk. After a month, you can try jogging and then running.
Run as fast as you can for 10 minutes and then start walking. Walking after fast running will give your body a breathing time, your muscles will relax, but you will get the maximum benefit out of it.
Conclusion
Bloating is the condition of abnormal growth or swelling in the belly. One who is suffering from bloated stomach may experience stomach pain, pressure and fuller stomach.
Stomach bloating may be caused by several reasons, including excessive formation of gas, improper digestion, unhealthy or excessive eating and due to certain medical conditions.
If the bloating is not caused by any medical conditions, then bloating can be reduced and eliminated by adopting mindful eating and living habits, such as;
- Eating in right proportion
- Drinking plenty of water
- Regular exercise and yoga
- Proper sleep
- Not skipping breakfast
- Skipping salt and sugar
- Drinking green tea
- Losing weight
If you are suffering from bloating and looking for way to reduce abdominal bloating then you should try some of the ways mentioned above. These are the proven ways and chances are you will be able to reduce bloating to a good extent and eliminate it completely in few months.
Have you ever experienced bloating? How did you eliminate or reduce it?
