Bloating Guide: Four foods and drinks to help beat bloating - and surprising causes to be aware of

Four foods and drinks to help beat bloating - and surprising causes to be aware of

Bloating shouldn't be a “normal” experience after every meal, an expert warned.

Around 25 percent of healthy people will experience bloating at some point.

While it is usually caused by a build-up of gas in the gut it can also be the result of digestive issues such as constipation or a food intolerance.

And if it continues for more than three weeks or more it is worth seeking medical advice.

With this in mind, expert Gemma Stuart - owner of Gutsy Health Co which makes Gut Wealth - spoke exclusively with Express.co.uk to explain more.

She said: “While bloating is common, it shouldn't be your normal experience after every mealtime.

“Our modern lifestyles are often a strong contributing factor to gut health symptoms such as bloating, inflammation, irregular bowel movements and abdominal discomfort. Our bodies have evolved over millennia to work really well and our modern lifestyles really aren’t conducive to our digestion working at its best.

"The daily choices you make can maintain, improve, or weaken how your digestive system operates.”

She recommended the “best” four foods and drinks to help reduce bloating.

Water

“Water helps flush your system, no nasty sugars or calories and can help you digest your food better as well as prevent you from overeating,” Ms Stuart said.

“Drinking plenty of water helps our digestion work at it's best - dehydration leads to constipation, which often leads to bloating”

Fermented foods and drinks

She said: “Homemade kefirs, kombuchas and kimchi and fermented products in general are great for digestion and helping good bacteria flourish - but check out the sugar and other additives content on shop-bought versions.”

Vegetable and fruit juices

“These are great for flushing out toxins, providing vitamins and other nutrients for energy and cell repair,” she advised.

Vegetables and fibre

She added: “Get plenty of plant-based fibre in your diet especially if you have slow transit - increasing fibre along with fluids helps move food through the digestive tract efficiently and prevents the gas that causes bloating.”

What are some other causes of bloating?

Ms Stuart explained: “While food and drink is a big factor in our gut health, there are also common causes of bloating around how we eat and live, for example, eating on the go, not getting enough variety in our diets, eating large meals and not chewing long enough, not getting enough movement to help blood flow to our digestive system and lacking hydration - a bit of a recipe for poor gut health.”

She shared the following top tips to beat the bloat.

Chewing your food until it's liquified - This gives your digestive system a helping hand - smaller pieces of food are much easier to digest than bigger pieces - it also usually means less rushing too so that you don't overeat. 

Walking - Go for a walk after meals to get the blood flowing to your digestive system.

Walking can help stimulate the passage of gas through your digestive tract - meaning less build up of bloat-causing gases.

Take a targeted bacteria based food supplement - There's prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, synbiotics - choose one that's specifically for bloating and your other symptoms for the best results.

Not eating while distracted - Don’t eat on the go. Eating while distracted makes it much easier to rush your food without properly thinking about your chewing.