4 Simple & Easy Ways to Improve Your Stomach Bloat

   Stomach bloat is no joke and pretty common. It can cause a lot of pain and discomfort. So how do we eliminate it altogether? There are some pretty simple ways that we can do this. 

1. Eat less processed foods, including dairy. I said it, dairy is a culprit here as well as the McDonald's you had for breakfast, the bag of chips you had for "lunch" and the take out you ordered in for dinner because work left you too lethargic to cook. Processed foods also harm our gut microbiome. This is how we digest well. When I lessened the amount of processed foods and take out foods I was consuming, I noticed a lot more than bloat disappear from my body. I also noticed inflammation lessen, aches and pains lessened, and my brain fog even lessened. Now that isn't to say I never do, I just moderate. In the beginning, I eliminated to heal my body. Allowing detox to take over, this can take years to fully detox from processed foods. One last point about processed foods, the chemicals, emulsifiers and preservatives used in them block the neuroreceptors to the gut liner that communicate with the brain. They tell the brain that you are full and satiated and to stop consuming whatever you are consuming. When we ingest processed and chemical-filled foods we  block this step and tend to overeat. Left wonder why we are feeling bloated, hurting and still hungry.

2. Moderate that dairy or eliminate it. Why? It's just as processed as the other foods. Filled with emulsifiers and fortified with vitamins because they were stripped from it during processing. Unless you are consuming RAW cheese and milk, or goat or sheep milk, it's best to steer clear. Milk in the use tends to turn straight into sugar as well and mess with our glucose levels. You can also end up ingesting and absorbing whatever hormones went into that cow during their raising, this will mess with your body's own homeostasis levels. And lastly about dairy here, I found this highly fascinating and they are still researching more into this. Antibiotic resistance. When a cow gets sick it is given antibiotics, just like a human would be given. This going right into the milk you consume, making it impossible for the antibiotics to work when you are given them during your own time of illness. 

3. Exercise and get movement in daily. This seems to be the toughest one for us all. We go to to work, usually sit at a desk many of us. Then we arrive home and sit more telling ourselves this is "relaxing". While it can be relaxing to sit in front of the TV and veg out while you shut your brain off for the day, movement is medicine. Movement and exercise keeps our bodies healthy and strong, with even stronger immune systems. Exercise balances hormones, forces the body to use the fuel it was given for movement and recovery of muscles. It also helps with digestion! When you exercise you are moving your blood around a lot more, the flow increases and particularly to the peristalsis of your gut. This causes it to move around and digest food more and more efficiently by massaging your food. This in turn breaks down your food and is absorbed by the gut liner and dispersed throughout the body. 

4. Drink more water. Water is such a powerful force, not only in nature but within the human body as well. As we are made up of mostly water, we need it to maintain our complexion, transport nutrients and other important elements around the body and for proper digestion and bowl movements. Without water we also, die. Water helps break food down and move it through the body in they way that it was meant to be moved. Drinking water after a meal helps to do this and keep you satiated and full, preventing over-indulging moments. 

   Now that you have four simple steps to relieve your body of the bloat, you're ready for the next steps. To take them. 

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