I think I’m safe to say that we have all been bloated at least once in our lives. I’m lucky that it doesn’t happen to me very often but when it does I really don’t like the feeling. As I get older I find more and more foods cause bloating and one of those is chickpeas. My husband makes a delicious chickpea and pumpkin curry but I can’t eat it anymore. I’m also noticing that people having pea protein powder find it hard to digest. So what can cause bloating:
- Inadequate digestive enzymes
- Food intolerance or allergy
- SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth)
- Leaky Gut
- Frequent antibiotic use
- Stress
- Proton Pump Inhibitors (indigestion medication)
- Low fibre intake and not enough water
Tips to improve digestion and reduce bloating
- add 1 tsp of Apple cider Vinegar to a glass of water before each meal to increase Hydrochloric acid in you gut, if you don’t like ACV you can add lemon juice
- eat small meals rather than large ones, if you don’t have enough digestive enzymes that may increase risk of bloating
- to increase digestive enzymes include beetroot, papaya and pineapple in your diet
- include bitter foods like endives, rocket and endive to improve digestion
- reduce sugar, wheat, dairy, processed and refined foods, tea, coffee and alcohol as these may decrease the effectiveness of your digestion
- probiotics help to increase amounts of flora through the digestive tract as bloating is often contributed to inadequate flora which promotes fermentation
- herbal medicines can help to improve digestive complaints such as Meadowsweet, Gentian, Dandelion, Codonopsis, Cardamon, Fennel and Peppermint
- herbal teas may also help improve digestion, try some blends such as Chamomile, Ginger, Peppermint, Fennel or Lemon
- digestive enzyme supplement (papain, betaine) help the digestive system to properly break down foods and reduce bloating