Most of us have experienced the discomfort of a bloating stomach at one point or another. It is an uncomfortable feeling when your abdomen feels like a bag pumped with air or a gas trapped balloon. This abnormal sensation is called stomach bloating, and its symptoms include swelling of stomach accompanied by some unpleasant gastric feeling.
Stomach bloating does not only result in an abnormal appearance, but also causes physical discomfort such as pain and severe cramps. Bloating of the stomach is not as a result of stomach fat that is accumulated over time on your belly but instead, is the temporary sensation that is occurred due to wrong eating habits, faulty diet, irregular bowel syndrome, over- consumption of carbonated drinks and can also be a result of constipation.
Michael Jensen, MD, an endocrinologist and obesity researcher says that “unless bloating occurs due to a serious condition such as a heart or liver disease, it is usually caused due to the ‘water weight’ of the body which results from intestinal gas”. So, bloating stomach can easily be avoided by undergoing certain routine habits.
Following are some of the ways in which stomach-gas or stomach bloating can be avoided and a flat belly can be obtained naturally.
Avoid the intake of sodium
Too much sodium may not be good for your system. Foods that contain high amounts of sodium are difficult to digest; this undigested food gets deposited in and around the belly and organs around that area. This deposition of undigested food is not a good thing to happen in your body. There is a built in feature of dealing with the digested food to carry on the processes of a human body normally. On the other hand, the undigested one is a villain in your body. The undigested food causes the creation of unwanted gas in the body and that in turn can cause bloating of the stomach. The best solution of this problem is to avoid it from the beginning and by avoiding high amounts of sodium rich foods.
Tip: Avoiding canned, pickled and processed foods can help regulate the intake of sodium. Choosing low sodium cheeses, and substituting herbs and other spices in place of salt can help treat the bloating of stomach from sodium.
Manage stress efficiently
Stress and freaking out unnecessarily can be an important factor for the gastric accumulation in the stomach, as stress hormones slower down your digestion process. As a result of anxiety, the brain doesn't function properly which results in trading air in stomach and eventually causes stomach bloating. The proper balance of hormones is very important, and dealing with stress effectively can do so, in turn avoiding the stomach bloating and many other problems at a very early stage.
Tip: Indulge in stress relieving activities like yoga. Doing so will reduce your stress levels and help restore the proper functioning of your digestive system.
Chew your food properly
Chewing is the key! Eating fast and not chewing your food properly results in the swallowing of air which further causes the gasses to get trapped in your stomach. Take time to chew your food properly. Take small bites and have break of few seconds in between every bite so that each bite is properly chewed pushing the air out of the food particles for proper digestion and avoiding any problem due to that.
Digestion is the breaking down of food products into smaller portions to derive the essential nutrients and root forms of vitamins and fibers. Chewing the food properly, aides the system in the process of breaking down the food into smaller components to derive the basic nutrients present in the food.
Thus chewing the food properly avoids the occurrence of unnecessary stomach disorders, maintains the smooth functioning of the digestive system, avoids the accumulation of fats in the body, and also prevents the bloating of the stomach.
Tip: No matter how hungry you are, eat your meal patiently. Chew every morsel of food you eat, to avoid stomach problems.
Avoid consuming carbonated drinks
Carbonated drinks are everywhere. They are consumed by people of all ages and colors. These beverages please the taste buds, and also hydrate the body. Carbonated drinks seem very helpful in daily life to deal with thirst or heat in the day. Accompanied with the positive side of the drinks, these beverages come with negatives as well. The contents of such carbonated drinks cause a lot of damage to the consumer’s body. This includes the gases used to maintain the taste and quality of these beverages. Carbonated drinks contain gases that can disturb the balance of chemical content in your stomach, and can disturb the process of digestion. Once the digestive system is disturbed, it can cause an accumulation of gas in your stomach, and hence cause bloating. Thus avoiding carbonated drinks is a healthy exercise to stay fit and healthy.
Tip: Refrain from consuming carbonated drinks, by replacing them with fresh and healthy fruit juices, and water based sorbets.
Don't eat late at night
A very common practice now-a-days, is to eat late at night and relax. The lifestyle habits in today’s day and age has become very faulty and disruptive. High levels of stress and irregular eating habits contribute to the cause of a bloating stomach. The intake of food is indeed necessary to survive, but eating late at night has some serious side effects.
Many people eat late at night and sit to do something or even lay down flat to watch a movie or simply go to sleep immediately after eating their meal. The food eaten finds its way to stomach but is not digested properly. There is a reason why doctors advise people not to sleep after eating. They suggest walking for a bit, after eating a meal to stay healthy. The basic reason behind walking after a meal is to keep the digestion process working and avoiding the occurrence any digestive problem. Walking or working out late at night is a tedious work after a day full of work may cause you to fall asleep immediately after consuming your meal. The incomplete digestion of food thus causes problems so it is better not to eat late at night.
Tip: Avoid having late meals. Even if you happen to consume a meal late in the night, see to it that you go for a 20 minutes’ walk before you rest your head onto a pillow. This will kick start the metabolism process and keep you away from digestive problems.
Avoid consuming heavy meals before sleeping.