5 Healthy Foods That Cause Bloating
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Try These 6 Tips To Reduce Bloat
On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m sharing 5 healthy foods that cause bloating and 6 tips to reduce bloat.
When it comes to bloat, I’m sure we’ve all experienced it, and we all come to the same conclusion.
Ain’t nobody got time for dat.
Seriously though, if you’re experiencing bloat on the daily, it can mean one of two things.
- There is a problem with your digestive system, including low gut flora.
- You body may not be creating the necessary enzymes to break down the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates into absorbable nutrients.
When these nutrients aren’t broken down properly, it tends to create bloating and gas.
If this is the case, I’d recommend you look into supplementing with a probiotic and a digestive enzyme to help your body break down the food.
What Are Digestive Enzymes?
Digestive enzyme provides the essential enzymes to help your body digest and metabolize the food you eat.
Often times when we cook food, the heat may destroy the natural enzymes found within the food.
If you’re eating a lot of processed foods, the enzymes may have already been destroyed.
The lack of enzymes may be what’s causing your indigestion or gas.
Taking a digestive enzyme with water before a meal may help.
5 Healthy Foods That Cause Bloating
Even if you’re eating healthy foods, another cause of bloating may be caused by the way you are preparing the food.
When healthy foods are prepared the wrong way, it can make them difficult to digest and absorb.
Here are 5 healthy foods that cause bloating.
#1. Cruciferous Vegetables
Examples of cruciferous vegetables include:
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Kale
Even though cruciferous vegetables are considered world class superfoods, which is why we include them in our Live Lean 20 Diet System, they do contain a type of sugar that, when it gets fermented in your gut, can cause gas and bloating.
However, here is the big but.
Overtime, this gas will pass, no pun intended.
Let me explain what I mean.
The reason most people experience bloat from eating cruciferous foods is because they rarely eat these super healthy foods.
When you consistently include these super healthy cruciferous vegetables in your diet, your digestive system adapts and gets stronger, which then reduces the bloating when you eat them.
By steaming and preparing them like we do in the recipes in our Live Lean 20 Diet System program, it not only makes these cruciferous vegetables taste better, it can also make them easier to digest than when you eat them raw.
Win.
#2. Legumes
Beans make you toot.
It’s for real.
The reason legumes make you fart is because they contain a type of prebiotic fiber and sugar called oligosaccharides, that cannot be broken down and absorbed by the digestive tract.
When this happens, a large portion of the oligosaccharides ferments in the colon, thus leading to having stanky gas and a big round belly.
This is one of the main reasons I don’t include legumes in my diet.
#3. Dairy
By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard the term, lactose intolerant.
Being lactose intolerant essentially means your body may not have the necessary enzymes to break down the lactose in dairy, which can lead to bloating.
This is why after a big drink of dairy milk, or a big cheese pizza, you begin to look like Homer Simpson.
I limit dairy to just a serving of whey protein isolate in my post workout shake, and of course my weekly pizza cheat meal.
Other than that, I keep my dairy consumption to a minimum.
#4. Apples
What!
Are you shocked?
Well look at it this way.
Apples do contain a lot of fiber, but they also contain sugars including fructose and sorbitol, that are tough for some people to digest.
However, it’s important to keep the following into perspective.
The health benefits of apples far outweighs the potential of possible bloating.
Don’t forget what your doctor said:
“An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.”
However, remember the doctor said “an apple”, not “apples”, as in 3 apples a day.
Stick to one apple and just chew it up well.
Or better yet, shred the apple up like we do with one of our favorite “Get Shredded Apple Snacks” that we included in our Live Lean 20 Diet System program
#5. Processed “Diet” Meals and Snacks
People are misled into thinking these processed meals and snacks are healthy, because they have “DIET” or “LOW FAT” written in big letters on the label.
The fact is, most of these processed diet foods are loaded with sodium.
Consuming too much sodium then affects the body’s potassium to sodium balance, thus resulting in your body retaining water and feel bloated.
Besides the tip of not eating these frozen meals, after a salty treat meal, reduce the bloat by drinking some potassium rich coconut water.
6 More Tips To Reduce Bloating
Here are few other tips to beat the bloat.
#1. Supplement With A Digestive Enzyme And Probiotics
As mentioned early, look into taking a digestive enzyme with your food, and possibly a probiotic.
#2. Chew Your Food Properly
When eating:
- Sit down
- Chew your food slowly
- Stop talking with your mouth full
Swallowing too much air with your food may negatively affect proper digestion.
Doesn’t that sound like the exact words spoken by every mother to their child?
Yet, I admit, I’m still guilty of all of those.
#3. Drink Herbal Tea After Meals
Herbal tea blends with chamomile, fennel, and peppermint may help relieve your bloat.
#4. Workout And Recover
Workout with intensity, but allow for proper recovery as well.
Too much stress on the body can create excessive production of the cortisol hormone, which then releases the compound histamine.
One of the major symptoms of elevated histamine is bloating.
#5. Drink Lots Of Water
Drink lots of water and potassium rich foods and drinks, such as coconut water, to help flush out the body after a salty treat.
#6. Short Term Elimination Of Certain Foods
If you notice you’re feeling bloated after eating certain foods, try removing them from your diet for a period of time and see how you feel.
However, when it comes to cruciferous vegetables, the more you eat, the stronger your digestive system will eventually be.
Based on this, eat your broccoli, cabbage, and all the other cruciferous vegetables.
That’s it Live Lean Nation.
Get Our Live Lean 20 Diet System Program
If you’re looking to simplify your diet, I recommend you check out our Live Lean 20 Diet System program.
The Live Lean 20 Diet System Includes:
- 20 recipes
- Only requiring a total of 20 ingredients
- All prepared within 20 minutes
Check out the full program here.
Keep Living Lean.
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Question For You:
- What foods cause you bloating?
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Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.
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