It’s Friday night and you’re feeling as though you could rival the Goodyear blimp due to the bloating that has made its way into your body. While that would usually be little more than a frustration for you because the weekend is coming up, you have a wedding, reunion or party to attend tonight and you want to look your very best.
Fortunately, there are some great things that you can do throughout a day to help to significantly reduce your bloating by the same night. The key is to start early in the morning and keep up your efforts all day long.
Use the following tips to get bloating under control within a single day:
• Begin the day with warm water and lemon – drink the whole glass. This will kick-start your digestive system and will make sure you begin the day with good hydration. When your body is hydrated, it releases stored water from the tissues because it knows it isn’t in a time of drought. If you want to give your body and your taste buds a bit of extra zip – and some anti-inflammatory benefits (inflammation can cause bloating, too) – then sprinkle a touch of cayenne pepper or cinnamon into your lemon water as well.
• Drink only water all day long – instead of reaching for a coffee, tea or soda, just keep drinking water. Plain water is among the best cures for bloating on a range of different levels. It prevents dehydration, reduces fluid retention, helps in overcoming constipation and doesn’t contain a single substance that causes the stomach to expand such as carbonation or sweeteners.
• Skip the dairy – sensitivity to lactose is exceptionally common, though in most people the symptoms are so mild that they don’t even realize it’s an issue. For many people, the only symptom of sensitivity to lactose is bloating, or bloating paired with gas. So when you need to keep your bloating under control, skip out on milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream.
• Go low-sodium – sodium, sometimes in the form of salt, encourages your body to retain water. Put the salt shaker in the cupboard and leave it there, while eating only foods that are very low sodium or that don’t contain any sodium at all.
• Chew carefully and slowly – when you chew more slowly, you take greater care in the process. This allows you to swallow much less air because your food has been properly masticated before you gulp it down. When you swallow less air, your belly swells less.
