Bloating is something which a lot of people suffer with and here are a few reasons you may suffer from it !
1. SOAK YOUR FOOD
Sometimes it isn't the food itself which is the issue, its the way it’s been prepared.
I’ll use a more common food that the majority have or probably do consume quite regularily - this might happen to a few people when eating rice or oats for example, after you eat them you feel very bloated. If I said to you why should you soak your oats or rice overnight the common response generally is if you soak overnight it takes less time to cook in the morning! This is actually true, BUT it’s so much more than that.
All grains contain something called “phytic acid”—or phytates—in the outer layer or bran, and oats contain more phytates than almost any other grain.
If you soak your oats overnight at room temperature (do not put them in the fridge!) between 7-18hrs it allows the natural enzymes and other helpful organisms to begin fermenting the grains and this will neutralise a large portion of the phytic acid. Soaking in warm, acidic or cultured water not only gets rid of this mineral-blocking substance, but it also releases all of the vitamins in grains, and encourages more healthy digestion by partially breaking down some of the proteins (like gluten).
Soaking overnight is gut friendly, it’s not just for “cooking quicker” !
Top Tip - DON’T put your OVERNIGHT OATS in the FRIDGE !
2. GET TESTED
Ultimately if you find that a food is constantly causing you to bloat there's an issue. Your best bet is to always get tested because then you have concrete evidence of what foods are problematic for you. Over time this can change, so it's always worth having regular checks. For instance, if you've over consumed egg whites for too long potentially they will cause bloating as you develop a sensitivity to them. Remove the guess work and have your GI tract testing for allergens and even infections.
3. INCREASED FIBRE
This is one thing I have mentioned before and it really is something I try my best to make sure I get at the very least 25g of per day (females 20g) - FIBRE!
Sometimes you will experience bloating due to a lack of fibre, other times it's because your body isn't able to process the food quickly enough. If you find that you're gut isn't breaking down food quickly enough then insoluble fibre might be what you need, to speed things up. If in contrast you find that your digestion needs to slow down then soluble fibre should help in this instance.
There are many other reasons why you'll sometimes experience bloating, maybe you're simply putting too many calories into your body at once. In this case you might want to consider reducing portion sizes and eating more frequently.
The bottom line is, if you're always bloated you need to address this.
Comments