You have that party to attend to, or a day out with the girls, and you notice your face has expanded at least 1 cm from the sides or worse, your stomach is bulging out.  Nobody likes to feel bloated. Unfortunately, many of us women face it at some of the most inopportune of times.

But fret not. There are ways to beat bloating for good. And here’s how.

1. Chew ginger.

Try chewing on a slice of ginger with lime 30 minutes before a meal.

2. Use digestion-stimulating spices when making your food.

Use cumin, ginger, cardamon, fennel, balck pepper or coriander.

3. Reduce Salt

The most easiest way to prevent bloating is to start cooking your meals with extremely low or with no salt at all. Avoid restaurant as 90% of the meals are heavily salted.

4. Ditch caffeine and  alcohol 

This is particularly important if you have inflammation or leaky gut.

5. Be careful with fibre.

Poorly chewed or coarse fibre will delay passage through digestive system and slow the rate at which food is digested and absorbed. To break it down, if you don’t chew a slice of bread or potato properly, you’re leaving your stomach with a awful lot to do, which will definitely take longer.

6. Eat fruits 30 minutes before meals

Don’t eat fruits after a meal. This habit is gas-forming and leas to bloating.

7. Eat only when truly hungry

Boycott emotional eating and overeating.

8. Allow your previous meals to digest before eating the nest meal. 

Wait at least three hours between meals.

9. Chew well and don’t talk while chewing.

Aah, the good-old rule we’ve been taught since pre-school. Turns out not only is this good manners, concentrating on the food you’re eating helps with the digestion and keeps your gut healthy and strong.

10. Eat easy-to-digest meals when you’re in a hurry, anxious or stressed.

Have soups or warm mono-meals such as  ‘kitchari’ or sauted vegetables.

If you feel bloated, try these remedies:

1. Sip a hot fennel or ginger tea or chew on fennel seeds.

2. Go for a brisk walk.

3. Stretch.

Do you know of other ways to prevent bloating? Great! Please share then 🙂