Since the holiday season is here, you’ll be sure to go out more for family reunions and dinners with friends, and your eating habits often can lead to abdominal discomfort due to bloating and gassiness. However, you can try to avoid this by being careful of what you put in your mouth. Here are nine types of food that can make you feel bloated:
1. Dairy
People who suffer from lactose intolerance aren’t the only ones who start bloating up after having a few slices of cheese. Having lots of dairy product can cause various ranges of bloating, whether mild or severe. Limit your intake of dairy products like ice cream, cheese and milk to see if it helps ease any abdominal pain.
2. Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, brussel sprouts and cabbage come with odoriferous outcome as they contain sulfur and a carbohydrate called raffinose, which are hard for the body to break down. However, steaming or boiling these vegetables can help break these compounds down, but it would entirely stop you from bloating up.
3. Greasy, Deep Fried Foods
Greasy fast foods like burgers, chips, fried chicken, nuggets and donuts can cause you to bloat as it takes the stomach much longer to break down the fats and properly digest them. When you stomach needs longer time to digest these foods, gas will build up and cause bloating.
4. Salty Foods
High sodium foods often cause the body to retain water, which does in fact lead to a bloated feeling. Sodium often shows up in some unlikely sources, especially in processed foods. Chips, table salt, even soy sauce can cause the bloat, so if you want to flavor your dishes, opt for herbs instead.
5. Carbonated Drinks and High-Acid Beverages
All carbonated drinks can cause bloating because it contains carbon dioxide to create gas bubbles. High-acid beverages like coffee, tea, hot chocolate, fruit juices and alcohol can also irritate the GI tract, causing it to swell and bloat.
6. Starches
Most starches like potatoes, maize, pasta, and wheat emit gas while they’re broken down in the large intestine. Refined grains too, like white bread, cake and biscuits can also cause water retention, which results in bloating. Rice is the only starch that doesn’t cause gas.
7. Sugar-free Chewing Gum
Do you have a serious sugar-free gum chewing habit? Sugarless gum often contain sorbitol, a sugar alcohol that’s known for causing bloating and other gastrointestinal diseases. Sorbitol is commonly used as a sugar replacement in sweetened food and drinks.
8. Apples
Apples may be good for your health, but it’ll also make you bloat in the process. If fruits like oranges and apples make you bloat, you could be having trouble tolerating fructose – a sugar found in fruits.
9. Beans
Beans contain oligosaccharide, a sugar that is normally not digestible by our bodies. When the sugar reaches your large intestine, bacteria attacks the sugar, causing your body to produce gas. Cut down the amount of beans you consume, and eat it along with whole grains like rice and quinoa.
