Bloating: What It Means & What To Do About It
I remember the days when I would sit at the dinner table after a meal feeling like I had a heavy rock sitting in my stomach. Sometimes I thought I had just overeaten, but in other cases I wondered if my foods were even being digested. I'd discreetly undo my button and let's be honest sometimes even the zipper of my pants hoping for just a bit of relief. Oh, and flowy shirts were a must because lord knows what was more embarrassing than having to undo my pants was being caught doing it.
Bloating is a clear message from your body that something is wrong and while you might be tempted to just chalk up as a "normal" thing, here is what is really happening:
Digestive enzymes are responsible for the break down of your foods during the digestive process. When enzymes become depleted due to stress, dehydration, antibiotics or age, foods are not digested properly leaving them to ferment in the gut (and not the good kind of fermentation).
To give you a bit of a visual, I will never forget the year I planted squash in my garden, I was so excited. Every morning I would go out to my garden and hand pollinate my squash to ensure lots of healthy squash would be ready for harvest come fall.
Fall came and I had the most beautiful squash and lots of them. I decided to make a squash soup and try jarring for the first time. Little did I know that you must fill the jars right to the rim. I left too much oxygen in the jar, leaving the soup sealed and ready for fermentation (clearly not preservation). About two months later, the jars burst in my pantry giving off the most terrible smell of rotten squash soup.
My heart was broken.
Your gut works very similarily. Like a sealed unit, without enough enzymes to break down the food, the food rotts and ferments and gas builds up. The pressure of the gas build up creates bloating and in this case of my poor squash soup, my jars exploded.
Now that we have an understanding that this isn't "normal", here are my top recommendations to ease your bloating so you can stop undoing your buttons and start feeling lighter.
Digestive Enzymes
Bloating is one of the many symptoms that can be experienced from depleted digestive enzymes and dysbiosis (imbalance) of the gut. Taking a full spectrum enzyme such as Garden Of Life's Dr. Formulated Enzymes Organic Digest+ will increase your nutrient absorption and ease your tummy troubles.
For custom supplement recommendations fitted to your specific needs, seek out a practitioner.
Herbal Teas
Herbal teas are a beautiful way to give you quick relief and support digestion. One of my favourite blends is my homemade Digestive Tea Blend. Grab the recipe here.
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