Keep your digestive system running smoothly by avoiding bloating foods and consuming items that can help.
If your abdomen has ever felt tight and complete, you’ve probably been bloated. Bloating is widespread, and various reasons, such as constipation, swallowing air, overeating, and weight increase, contribute to it.
Certain meals can also cause bloating. If you feel uncomfortably bloated after meals, it may be time to reconsider your food choices. Here are some of the best and worst bloating foods.
Worst Foods for Bloating
Here’s what you should know about the meals that could be causing or exacerbating your bloating.
Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables like kale, broccoli, and cabbage contain raffinose, a sugar that causes gas and bloating. However, eating them more frequently may be beneficial in the long run.
Eating nutrient-rich, high-fiber foods regularly produces a more robust, healthier digestive system that is less prone to bloating. So you can continue to eat green vegetables.
To aid digestion, consider steaming the vegetables: Cooking softens the fiber and reduces the serving size as some water cooks off, allowing it to take up less space in the GI gastrointestinal system.
It will not wholly reduce or avoid bloating, but it may make your vegetables simpler to digest.
Legumes
Beans, lentils, soybeans, and peas are all known gas-producing foods. Although high in protein, they also contain sugars and fibers your body cannot absorb. This causes bloating and gas.
Drink plenty of water and combine legumes with readily digestible healthy grains like rice or quinoa. Your body will become accustomed to eating fiber-rich meals, which may alleviate your symptoms.
Consuming fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and beans regularly will not annoy you as much as if you eat them infrequently.
Dairy
You may be lactose intolerant if you get gassy after eating a few slices of cheese or a bowl of cereal with milk. Lactose-intolerant people lack the enzymes required to break down lactose. Gas can build in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract when this happens, causing bloating.
So, before all that gas gets to you, avoid dairy products in favor of the many lactose-free or nondairy alternatives available. Lactase tablets, such as Lactaid, can help people digest lactose-containing diets.
FODMAP Foods
Some foods are high in carbohydrates, contributing to excess gas and a tight stomach. This is due to your body’s inability to metabolize some carbohydrates in certain foods.
These carbohydrate foods are referred to as FODMAP foods. Fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols are abbreviated as FODMAPs. FODMAP meals contain carbs that your small intestine cannot absorb completely. Undigested carbs collect there, attracting extra gas and liquid—the causes of bloating.
Apples
Apples are high in fiber and contain fructose and sorbitol, two sugars present in fruits that many individuals can’t tolerate, according to Sass, which can cause gas and the eventual bloated feeling.
However, apples are a great snack, so don’t give them up completely. Apple consumption has been associated with a lower risk of heart disease and respiratory issues such as asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema.
Salty Foods
Eating high-sodium foods can cause water retention, which can cause you to puff up. It’s more complex than not using the saltshaker to avoid sodium. Approximately 90% of Americans consume more sodium than is advised. The recommended salt intake is as follows:
- Most adults require 2,300 milligrams each day.
- Adults over the age of 50, as well as those with diabetes and high blood pressure, should take 1,500 milligrams per day.
Most processed and packaged meals include sodium, including soups, bread, and other shockingly salty fast items. It is, therefore, difficult to avoid.
Check the nutrition labels for salt content. If you eat a lot of salty food, drink plenty of water to help flush out the salt.
Foods That Contain Gluten
Gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, causes an immunological response in some celiac patients. Other people may have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, which means they are gluten sensitive but do not have celiac disease.
People with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity can have digestive problems, including bloating.
Onions and Garlic
Onions and garlic are high in fructans, which are soluble fibers. Unfortunately, the body is not particularly adept at digesting fructans, which might result in various digestive disorders.
Some people are sensitive to fructans. When fructans ferment in the bowels, they attract water into the colon, causing bloating and gas, similar to non-celiac gluten intolerance.
Watermelon
Because of their high sugar content, several fruits frequently cause bloating. Fructose is a naturally occurring sugar your body struggles to metabolize, resulting in excess gas. For example, watermelon is high in fructose, with approximately 10 grams in just one slice.
Some individuals may also have inherited fructose intolerance or fructose malabsorption. After consuming fructose, both of these disorders might produce bloating. In addition, foods with high fructose content worsen IBS symptoms as well.
Best Bloating Foods
Low-FODMAP foods may aid in bloating relief. Here are some foods that can help with bloating.
Cucumber
Cucumbers reduce puffiness beneath the eyes, and you may consume them to do the same for your tummy. In addition, the vegetable includes quercetin, a flavonoid antioxidant that aids in edema reduction.
Cucumbers have been proven to suppress pro-inflammatory enzyme activity. So cut it up and eat it plain, or replace sugary drinks with a glass of cucumber water.
Asparagus
Asparagus is an anti-bloating superfood; one-half cup provides approximately 63 grams of water, which can hydrate you, help you urinate, and drain all that excess water out of your system, relieving discomfort and bloating.
It also contains prebiotics, which aid in the growth of beneficial microorganisms. This aids in maintaining a healthy equilibrium in your digestive system, preventing or reducing flatulence.
Rice
Limiting starchy vegetables such as potatoes and corn is essential for eating healthfully and avoiding bloating. Rice is the only starch that does not induce gas.
To reduce gassiness and bloating, consider rice over maize or potatoes when adding starch to your diet.
Bananas
One medium banana contains 9% of the daily potassium requirement. Potassium-rich foods minimize water retention by controlling sodium levels in your body, which can reduce salt-induced bloating.
Bananas also contain fiber, which can help to ease or prevent constipation. However, constipation can also induce bloating. If you cannot evacuate waste in the GI tract, you become ‘backed up,’ which can result in a bloated appearance.
Papaya
Papain aids in the breakdown of proteins in the GI tract, making digestion easier.
Tropical fruit also includes anti-inflammatory effects and fiber that aid with digestion. Papaya can be eaten whole and fresh or pureed into a smoothie.
Pineapple
Furthermore, tropical fruits, such as pineapple, are mostly water, which helps to reduce bloating by keeping your body hydrated.
Bromelain, an enzyme found in pineapples, aids digestion by breaking down proteins. According to a study, Bromelain is one of the most effective enzymes for breaking down collagen.
Yogurt Enriched with Probiotics
Probiotics, which are healthy microorganisms in your gut, help control digestion and promote overall digestive health. You can take probiotic supplements, but why not make a meal?
So, eat yogurt with active cultures to get rid of the bloat. If you want to sweeten it up, add some honey, jam, or granola.
Seeds of Fennel
Fennel significantly benefits your digestive tract because you can benefit from multiple sections of the vegetable. According to Sass, the seeds contain a chemical that relaxes GI spasms, allowing gas to flow and relieving bloating. You can also chew on the roots or drink fennel tea afterward.
Ginger
Ginger contains the digestive enzyme zingiber, which aids in protein digestion. The chemical may aid in the digestion of meals, reducing bloating, gas, and constipation.
If you’re already bloated, you probably don’t want to eat, so sip homemade ginger tea instead: In a mug of boiling water, steep a few slices of sliced ginger for 5 to 10 minutes.
Learn more: 10 Healthy Snacks to Try