Pseudo-weight Part 2: The everyday nurturing processes to reduce bloating
Bloating is transient, meaning it will come and go. How long it stays for, or if you must deal with it, it all comes down to how you nurture yourself.
Following on from the article Releasing Pseudo-weight part 1 below are some of the ways you can focus on nurturing yourself to reduce bloating.
Focusing on nourishing gut health
Chewing food properly
It may sound simple but how many times do you eat your food and you only chew a couple of times before you swallow it? Ideally, on average we should chew our food 10 – 20 times before swallowing. Now your stomach can break down the food properly so that your small intestines can absorb the nutrients. This allows you to slow down and enjoy your meal.
Slow eating
Again, this sounds simple and yet how many meals or snacks do you wolf down without consciously thinking about what you are eating or how you are chewing, for the food to be digested efficiently and so that you can get the most out of your nutrients.
No water with eating and improving stomach acid balance
For a while it was stated by “dieting experts” that you need to drink water with your meals to help you feel fuller and not over-eat. Unfortunately, this whole premise creates issues for the gut. Yes, you will feel fuller, because water is taking space up in your gut and being mixed with food. In turn helping some people to eat less food when dieting. However, as the stomach has a high acidity level of 1.2 pH and the water generally is a 7 pH, the water drunk with food dilutes the stomach acid making the digestive process harder.
It is a good idea to leave a gap between drinking water and eating food i.e., 15 minutes either side of eating.
To reboost and balance stomach acid (in the event it is too high) drink 2tsp of apple cider vinegar, with squeezed lemon in a cup of warm water every morning on an empty stomach or if you can before every meal. It is advised by dentists to drink this through a straw to protect your teeth enamel, as large consumption over time can affect the surface of your teeth.
Trial a break from combining certain food groups
Different food groups are digested at different speeds. For example, if you eat fruit and yoghurt with nuts and seeds it could cause some digestive discomfort and bloating as the fruit is faster digesting than the slower nuts and seeds; due to being harder to breakdown and higher in fat content (making it slower to process). This way of eating can be tricky to achieve as it requires planning and patience when eating various food groups (so that you still have a balanced diet) spread out.
To assist you with exploring this as part of your solutions, get a free basic food combining guide by clicking here and getting in touch.
Reducing alcohol and caffeine
Alcohol upsets the balance of good bacteria and due to the alcohol compounds present these can create a bloating affect if combined with food as you drink it.
Caffeine in coffee for example, or though it stimulates bowel motions when it is black and on an empty stomach, too many coffees (in combination with food), with milk, can create a bloating affect. This is because the stress responses from adrenaline kicks in which down regulates the digestive process thus weakening the digestive juices when the body is over stimulated.
Boosting good bacteria
As mentioned previously, good gut bacteria assist in the protection of the gut lining for the immune system. They also help with the breakdown and fermentation of food, so that we can receive nutrients from the food we eat. Some strains of good bacteria are involved in assisting the metabolism with burning certain fuels for energy helping to maintain a healthy weight balance. Some strains are also known to assist in the alleviation of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, meaning they ensure a balance flow of bowel movements, stop food from entering spaces in the body that they shouldn’t and assists the prevention of food intolerances from developing.
Proper digestive flow
This doesn’t always mean to increase the fibre content of your food either, as sometimes too much fibre can create bloating.
However, you need to be ensuring you have the right hydration and right levels of magnesium to assist the flow of your bowel movements. Many people think once a day is sufficient. Here I say 2 – 3 times a day is best as this means food isn’t left in the intestines for too long to ferment and cause bloating or digestive discomfort by suffocating the bowel wall cells.
Focusing on nourishing wellbeing practices for overall health and indirect effects on gut health
Reducing stress
This one would be the aspect that will take the longest to implement as everyone’s stress and triggers are different. Because everyone is different people can often experience the same stress differently depending on their belief systems. This requires you to have an enormous desire to want to discover and explore healthy ways to bring greater peace and harmony to your life.
Nature, art, dancing, exercise, meditation, writing, and journaling are all beautiful starting points. However, if you want to go deeper into the root of the cause of your stresses you are going to need to go to deeper solutions. If you would like some help in this area, please contact here and I can help you with some options.
Breathing
Not only helps us to calm down when stressed but deep thoracic breathing also helps us to release the stomach muscles (not just the abs, but also the intestines which is made of smooth muscle).
When you breathe in (and the stomach is pushed out) for 5 counts and breathe out (pulling the stomach back in) for 5 counts, you will quickly discover where in your body you are holding the most tension. Then it is a good idea to keep breathing until you feel some relief in those areas. To enhance this process, you can also stretch whilst deep breathing.
Stretching
Stretching helps to elongate the muscles, allowing for better contractions when you do go to work out your muscles (allowing for a greater toning and muscle gaining process).
It also helps you to come into your mind in a calmer state as you focus on the stretching and breathing it can help to not only alleviate tension in the body, but also the mind.
If you feel tense in the stomach you might find that the areas first to focus on would be stretching your glutes, hip flexors, obliques, and lower back muscles. YouTube has many good channels that can take you through some very good exercises. I personally like Yoga with Kassandra she has such a variety and some very quick and easy videos you can do daily. https://www.youtube.com/c/yogawithkassandra/videos
I hope you find the right processes within this article to help propel you forward on your health and wellbeing journey with vitality, confidence and wellness. If you would like to approach me for more tailored help then this can also be arranged by getting in touch with me.
Peace and happiness always
Danielle
