Why you're bloated (+ how to fix it)🤰🏻

bloating is a normal part of digestion but sometimes it can be uncomfortable when it doesn't have to be so today we're going to explore five common reasons why we experience bloating from time to time and what we can do about it to relieve discomfort we've also created a simplified article to go along with this video in case you want to geek out and delve deeper i'll link that article for you below but for now let's dive in so let's explore the basic anatomy of how the food we eat becomes digested and how it can cause bloating which is that tight and gassy feeling in our abdomen so when we eat food it goes into our stomach where it gets broken down into smaller pieces and that then goes on to our small intestine where the nutrients get absorbed for our body to use whatever doesn't get absorbed then moves on to the large intestine which is also called the colon and this is where a huge colony of healthy bacteria live those bacteria then eat that undigested food as food for themselves and then they create this byproduct which is gas and that can be often why we experience bloating a little while after we've eaten something so in the case that you're feeling a little bit of discomfort from the gas that's produced there are four things and four foods that you can consume that can help a little bit the first is ginger which is a prokinetic meaning that it helps to promote the movement of our digestive tract and that can help to relieve any pain from built up gas ginger is great to add to curries or smoothies or just to add to some hot water fennel seeds are another one and my parents actually used to snack on a few of these after meals sometimes and now i get why they contain a compound called anathol which can help to relax our digestive tract it can help to release gas and it also reduces inflammation fennel can be added to teas but it's also something you could add to a soup or a salad then there's peppermint which has been found to have a calming effect on the digestive tract now most of the research on the effectiveness of peppermint has been in relation to peppermint oil extract but there is some anecdotal evidence that peppermint tea might also work and just a quick note to anyone who's pregnant just be cautious with or avoid altogether these herbal medicines unless small amounts have been okayed by your doctor or your midwife and then finally there's kiwi kiwis contain an enzyme called actinidin that helps to break down food which can positively impact our gut it can help to promote bowel movements and it can help to relieve pain from distension [Music] foods are incredibly nourishing of course but some of them can promote gas and discomfort if our bodies have a hard time digesting them so take for example legumes some people just have a hard time digesting beans and lentils and it can be a cause of bloating this is because legumes contain a type of carb called oligosaccharides for the most part oligosaccharides can't be broken down by our digestive tract so it moves on to the large intestine where it feeds and supports the growth of those beneficial bacteria so beans and lentils are great for our gut health but it can make us feel unpleasant because of the gas that might be produced so if you're having trouble enjoying legumes just consider adding them more slowly start with eating only a couple of spoonfuls consistently for a few days before gradually increasing to larger quantities this just gives our bodies time to adapt and adjust and if larger beans are causing discomfort you might want to consider switching to smaller legumes like lentils because they actually have a lower oligosaccharide content and so it can also help ease our bodies into enjoying legumes more often and here's another tip if you're using jarred or canned legumes always rinse them well before using them when using dry legumes consider soaking them first even something like lentils which traditionally you don't have to soak it still helps if you do the oligosaccharides leech into the soaking water and when we drain this off we wash some of them away so oligosaccharides are just one type of carbohydrate that come from a group of carbs that are known as fodmaps and fodmaps can promote discomfort too especially in individuals with ibs or irritable bowel syndrome for some people certain fodmaps are poorly digested and they end up as food for those gas-producing bacteria in the large intestine so think of the lactose in dairy for example which can cause a lot of discomfort for people with lactose intolerance so a low fodmap diet can actually help to identify which foods some people are intolerant to but i'd only recommend following such a diet under the direct supervision of a dietitian just be aware that a low fodmap diet restricts a lot of super nourishing foods and it's only meant to be followed for a short period of time chronic constipation is one of the most common digestive problems that affects hundreds of millions of people globally and it often goes hand in hand with abdominal pain and bloating so if you're not going to the bathroom as often or as comfortably as you'd like to there are four things that can help so first up is fiber fiber is the king of digestion and fiber can only be found in plant-based foods there are two types of fibers soluble fibers and insoluble fibers soluble fibers are those that dissolve in water they swell up and they create a gel-like substance this helps to soften stools which makes bathroom trips more comfortable so think for example of how oats soak up the milk that they're being cooked in to make a thick and creamy porridge or you might have seen me do this in a video before sometimes i like to add a little bit of chia seeds to my drinking water the chia seeds they swell up they soak up the water that they're in and this is also a great source of soluble fiber some soluble fibers also get eaten by the bacteria that's in our large intestine which helps to ensure that we have a healthy colony of bacteria insoluble fibers on the other hand these don't get eaten by the bacteria in our colon and they don't really swell either but what they do is they help to bulk up stool which helps to move things along insoluble fibers can be found in plenty of plant foods like green beans nuts corn and zucchini together both soluble and insoluble fibers helps to keep us comfortable and regular and then there's water which is very important when we're enjoying high fiber foods so that our bathroom visits are more comfortable if we increase our fiber intake without also increasing our fluid intake this can actually cause constipation for most adults we want to aim for about one and a half to two liters of fluids every day which can sound like a lot but it's only about six to eight cups and i think a lot of people think that a cup looks something like this when in fact a cup is only 250 milliliters so it's not as much as you might think and if you enjoy something like soups and smoothies this also contributes to our overall fluid intake for the day and then this one i'm personally guilty of so a lot of us sit for long hours for our work and just like we're sitting still so does our colon so enjoying physical movement can work wonders for both digestion but it also can help to relieve abdominal bloating research suggests that even a 10-15 minute walk after meals can really help and then in recent years i find this stuff so incredibly fascinating there's been more and more research emerging that's outlining the importance of the gut brain axis essentially this is a two-way communication network between our digestive system and our brains what this means is that psychological or social stress can actually cause digestive problems and vice versa when we become stressed enough to trigger our fight or flight response our digestion can slow down because it's trying to divert energy towards whatever the perceived threat is and this can actually cause some digestive discomfort so exploring stress relieving techniques might really help hormone fluctuations can also influence how our digestive system functions and while a small amount of emotional stress or monthly hormonal fluctuations around the time of month is completely normal and natural having excessive amounts of stress or hormonal fluctuations isn't so if you think you might be experiencing that speaking with a therapist or doctor might help [Music] eating too much salt is another reason we can often feel bloated and this is because salt makes our bodies retain or hold on to water and that excess water weight can sometimes feel uncomfortable and so the remedy which does sound a little bit counterintuitive is to actually drink more water and this is because water helps to flush the excess salt out of our system so drinking water has a multitude of benefits and just as an aside about 80 percent of our total salt intake usually comes from things like takeout or things that we might buy in boxes or bags so that's not to say not to enjoy those items it's just that that's where most of the salt intake in our day comes from things like iodized table salt as we've talked about in the past that can actually be very helpful so you don't necessarily need to decrease that that's only about 10 of our total salt intake on average [Music] by now we've learned that a lot of the gas in our bodies is produced by the bacteria in our colon but did you know that a lot of the gas that's also in our system comes from the air that we swallow it is suspected that we swallow at least one if not multiple liters of air in a day air can be swallowed when we eat too quickly for example when we drink carbonated beverages when we drink through straws or when we chew gum or suck on hard candies at the very least eating more mindfully and just taking the time to eat slowly and to chew well it can all really help and so gas bloating abdominal discomfort this is all like a huge topic that we only scratched the surface of in today's video but i hope you enjoyed and that you learned something new if you did feel free to give the video a thumbs up it always means a lot if you want to geek out further again we've got a whole article that we've written to accompany this video that's also where you can find a lot of the research papers that we referenced in making today's video as well so i'll link that for you below thanks so much for hanging with me i really appreciate it pick up limes signing off and we'll see you in the next video when in fact a cup is only two hundred okayed by our midnight midway midnight and hormonal function fluctuate functuations if we increase if we [Music] if we if we if we gotta get those squiggles just right hold it up i want to see it [Music] you

Channel: Pick Up Limes

Views: 1,394,975

Keywords: bloat, bloating, fix bloating, reduce bloating, relieve bloating, stop bloating, weight gain, weight loss, Fodmaps, ibs, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating stomach remedies, bloating yoga, distended stomach, tummy pain, stomach hurting, bloating after eating, constipation, bloating and constipation, gas remedies, gut health, bloating and gut health, stomach pain, bloating belly, vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, plant-based, bloating causes, bloating cure, gut healthy foods, gut

Id: XulBKrrRC3k

Length: 10min 22sec (622 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 26 2022