10 Healthy Foods to Eat When You're Feeling Bloated
Despite what the social media accounts of supermodels might suggest, no one is immune to bloating! It’s an uncomfortable reality that we all have to deal with on a semi-regular basis. Although you are aware, that bloating is an inevitable and common occurrence, it can negatively affect your self-confidence.
Thankfully, bloating is something you can manage and even avoid with relative ease.
Certain types of foods are largely to blame for bloating. While there are foods that cause bloating, there are also specific ingredients that effectively remedy and prevent bloating. These promote gut health, reduce water retention, and promote regular digestion.
If you want to reduce bloat, get snacking on the following foods :
- Celery
Celery, much like cucumber, is 95% water. It’s considered a naturally occurring diuretic as it increases urine production. This allows for the routine expulsion of excess water and salts, which prevents and alleviates bloating.
Celery also contains mannitol. This sugar alcohol promotes the presence of water in the digestive tract, which softens stools and encourages regularity. These factors combined make celery a highly effective anti-bloating ingredient.
- Avocados
If you want to alleviate bloating, you need to manage fluid and salt retention—and these two things are fundamentally interlinked. When you consume too much salt, the excess sodium causes the body to hold onto increased volumes of water outside the cells. The presence of this excess water results in bloating.
Avocados contain high quantities of potassium. Low potassium levels impede communications between the brain and muscles. This can negatively impact the muscles in the intestines, which slows digestion and results in bloating. Potassium is, therefore, integral to regulating water and sodium retention and thus managing bloating.
- Banana
Bananas are known for their high fiber content. A single banana contains roughly 3g of fiber. This is equivalent to the fiber contained in half a cup of broccoli or a quarter cup of peanuts. Bananas also contain a hearty dose of potassium. This prevents excess water retention, while supporting adequate hydration.
In other words, potassium promotes a healthy fluid balance and supports regular digestion. The combination of these two qualities makes bananas an excellent debloating agent.
- Oats
Oats are a highly effective anti-bloating breakfast. They’re also a great snack for those moments that you’re feeling simultaneously hungry and bloated.
Oats are packed with a specific type of fiber known as beta glucan. This soluble dietary fiber has particularly potent anti-inflammatory properties. Plus, it’s known to improve heart health.
Oats combined with bananas and yogurt is the perfect anti-bloating feel-good meal for any time of day.
- Pineapple
Pineapple is somewhat of a superfood for a wide variety of reasons. Not only does this tropical fruit provide a potent combination of vitamin C and B as well as manganese but it’s rich in bromelain too. Bromelain is an enzyme that remedies digestive issues. Originally, this naturally occurring miracle medicine was only found in the Americas but it’s since become globally accessible.
Bromelain has shown to combat inflammation, which further assists in the debloating process. Pineapple makes a refreshing snack and is a delicious addition to any fruit smoothie.
- Rhubarb
This leafy vegetable contains sennoside. This compound, which you can purchase as a medication known as Senna glycoside, is highly effective in relieving bloating. Sennoside is a natural laxative that encourages regular bowel movements. In doing so, it remedies and prevents bloating.
A cup of rhubarb contains roughly 2g of fiber which will, of course, further assist in the debloating process. It’s most famously consumed as rhubarb pie, but we would suggest eating it with yogurt. This is a healthy alternative and yogurt is famously rich in probiotics that support gut health and reduce bloating.
- Ginger
The medical benefits of ginger have been celebrated for many decades. While it fights germs and lowers your blood sugar, it’s a highly effective anti-bloating food too. Ginger encourages regular bowel movements, which prevents and relieves bloating.
Furthermore, ginger protease—otherwise known as zingibain—famously assists in the breaking down of proteins. This encourages a healthy digestive process and ultimately combats uncomfortable bloating, allowing you to feel fresh, light, and confident.
- Cucumber
Cucumbers conceal hydration in the form of a tasty and refreshing snack. They are, after all, 95% water! In contributing towards your daily water consumption requirements, cucumbers can help to prevent the bloating that oftentimes occurs as a result of dehydration.
Cucumbers have a high potassium content, and this helps to curb the undesirable effects of sodium that ultimately result in bloating. We would recommend taking cucumber sticks with you to work to curb unhealthy cravings, stay hydrated, and prevent bloating.
- Turmeric
This spice is most commonly found in an array of curries and soups. The compound contained within turmeric—curcumin—has been thoroughly studied over the past few years. It’s praised far and wide for its incredibly effective anti-inflammatory properties and is one of the greatest naturally occurring nutritional supplements.
Research indicates that curcumin supports gut health while alleviating the multiple symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome—commonly referred to as IBS. These symptoms include, but are not limited to, bloating, constipation, food intolerance, gas, pain, cramping, difficulty sleeping, and persistent fatigue.
- Papaya
This tropical fruit boasts a high fiber and water content—the perfect combination. A small papaya contains around 3g of fiber which equates to 17g of carbohydrates. While this fiber content plays a vital role in the digestion processes that prevent bloating, papayas also contain papain.
Papain is a proteolytic enzyme that assists in the breaking down of amino acids. This encourages healthy digestive processes which both alleviates and prevents bloating. Papain reduces inflammation, swelling, and pain.
Papaya combined with pineapple and yogurt makes an effective and delicious anti-bloating meal-on-the-go.
Say Bye Bye To Bloating
If you want to spend less time tweeting on the toilet and more time taking photos for Instagram, you need to eat your way to a better, less bloated self.
Not only are these foods good for debloating, they’re healthy in other ways too. If bloating is getting you down, now you know what to eat!