Don’t let your belly Bloat

If you think this is just another how-not-to-get-fat articles, you’re wrong. Belly bloat is not the same as belly fat. Remember the feeling that you get when you get after a couple of extra beers or after feasting at a friend’s wedding, when you stomach is just crying out loud to explode? That stretched, full feeling – sometimes accompanied by doziness – is called bloating, not to be confused with fat.
It’s caused by what are called ‘food intolerances’, where your small intestine just decides to take some time off from pushing gas down the passage. Sometimes the excess sugar that we consume through our food causes it too, especially when it is consumed with other hard-to-digest good. For instance, if you consume something like red meat along with fruit, while your stomach gets to work on the former, the sugar in the latter ferments and causes gas to accumulate, making go all woozy.
Here are a few ways to minimise this feeling.
 Soak your grains
Remember how our mothers used to give us nuts and grains soaked in water overnight? As always, they knew better. Grains and legumes contain phytic acid, which can interfere with the absorption of essential minerals. Since it’s water soluble, soaking your grains in water for a while before consuming them will make them phytic-acid-free, and keep your tummy from going to sleep. To make it even better, add an alkaline sea vegetable like kompu to the pot and neutralize any other unknown acids that may be swimming about. Trust us, your stomach will thank you for these small mercies.
 Eat fruit on an empty stomach
If eating fruit is making you feel all bloated, it may be that your digestive juices are being employed to break down other, tougher material at the same time. Try taking all your fruits on an empty stomach – where it is not distracted – and see if it still happens.
 Trial and error
Bloating can also be caused by psycho-somatic reasons like stress. Try and figure out what your reasons are: it could be that you’re not tolerant to some kind of foods, or that you’re simply eating too much too fast. Your stomach is telling you that it isn’t happy; it’s up to you to figure out why.
 A cleansing?
It may not be for everyone, but there are enough people that swear by the advantages of colonic cleansing (also called colon therapy), where toxins are removed from your intestines using a number of alternative medical methods. Patients report clearer eyes, more energy and less bloating. Even if these are placebo effects, who cares as long as you feel them, right? Just make sure that the practitioner you consult has a
diploma from a reputed college of natural and alternative medicine.
 Slow down your eating
This is probably the easiest habit you can adopt. Most of us are in such a hurry in our day to day lives that we swallow most of our food without chewing it properly. This leaves our stomach with all of the work that our teeth are supposed to do, and not surprisingly, it leaves us feeling all tight and fat. So here’s the deal: remind yourself to chew on every mouthful of food at least four or five times before you swallow. Not only does this put less stress on your poor tummy, it will also give it more time to do its work. Plus, chewing stimulates saliva creation, which the body can recognise and gear up in anticipation by getting digestive juices ready to receive the incoming food particles.