Easy Ways to Live Well: Steph McGovern discusses bloating
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Stomach bloating is typically the result of eating gassy foods but it is also a symptom of numerous health conditions. When the condition strikes, pain and swelling are a common place. What is the best diet to follow to help eliminate bloating?
The fibre in plant foods is essential for having regular bowel movements and preventing constipation, which may cause bloating.
Some fibrous foods contain fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAPs).
FODMAPs are short-chain carbohydrates that ferment rapidly in the digestive system.
Therefore, one of the best diets to follow to help reduce your bloating is the low-FODMAP diet.
Some people have a sensitivity to foods containing FODMAPs, which can cause them to become bloated.
If a person is avoiding FODMAPs, they need to choose which fibrous foods they eat carefully.
One of the major aims of the low FODMAP diet is to reduce bloating by restricting short chain carbohydrates from the diet that are fermented by gut bacteria.
The fermentation process is responsible for the gas release and distension of the gut that leads to bloating, said Monash University.
The site added: “The diet should be relaxed long term to ease the burden of following the diet, but more importantly to reintroduce some FODMAPs back into the diet for their potential benefits.
“This benefit arises from the fermentation of FODMAPs by gut bacteria – the reason we restrict FODMAPs in the first place – but small amounts of FODMAPs are fuel for good bacteria and is likely to be important in long term gut health.”
Examples of low-FODMAP foods include:
- Lettuce
- Carrots
- Chives
- Celery
- Blueberries
- Green beans
- Baby spinach
- Strawberries
- Pineapple
- Quinoa
- Brown rice.
Stomach bloating can also be the result of a food intolerance.
A food intolerance is difficulty digesting certain foods and having an unpleasant physical reaction to them.
Eliminating certain foods should therefore provide bloating relief.
Source: Read Full Article