Beat Bloating – 19 Foods That Help You Avoid Gassiness

Have you ever had a meal and felt like your stomach is blown up?  You feel uncomfortable, maybe suffering with gas (or wind, as we call it in the UK) or even feel queasy?  If you have, then you have suffered from bloat, also known as abdominal discomfort.  Around one in ten of us suffer from it frequently and it can be a real problem.  But what is it and what can you eat to avoid gassiness?

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Three common causes of bloating

The most common reason for bloating is when we over indulge.  That last spoonful of pasta or the piece of cake you couldn’t resist after your meal is often the culprit, meaning we are too full and our stomach is protesting.

What we eat can also effect bloating – rich and fatty foods are the most common for causing it in many people.  The type of food also effects how long it takes to digest and this can make us feel full, for longer.  Carbohydrates, for example, take longer to digest than vegetables.

The third reason is rushing through eating.  We are busy, short of time and grab our food in a hurry, eating quickly.  But this can lead to us eating too much because it can take around 20 minutes for our brains to tell us we are full – by which time, we’ve eaten too much and feel sick.

Foods that help avoid gassiness

There are some foods that help avoid gassiness and are easier for the stomach to digest.  This means you reduce the chance of bloating.  Unsurprisingly, these foods also contain a lot of good stuff so are a big help with other nutrients the body needs at the same time.

1.      Artichokes

Huge source of fibre with one medium sized artichoke containing around 30% of the recommended daily amount of fibre.

2.      Avocados

Avocados are one of the big super food trends at the moment having bounced back from being a thing of evil due to their high fat content.  This is because they are full of monosaturated fats, the healthy stuff we need in our diets.  Combine it with wholegrain bread for a filling and easy to digest lunch.

3.      Bananas

Bananas may seem pretty dense but that’s a good thing because they are filled with stuff like potassium and fibre.  Fibre helps with digestion and together they are great for relieving water retention – allowing easier and more efficiency digestion.

4.      Berries

One of the staples of any smoothie, berries are low in calories and full of antioxidants, those nice little things do us so much good.  They also contain fibre to help the stomach work at its best.

5.      Brown rice

If you are prone to overeating, then brown rice could be your friend.  This stuff is a complex carbohydrate – this means it takes a long time to digest and keeps you feeling full for longer.  Swap it for white rice if you are prone to bloating.

6.      Celery

Celery is a high water content food that doesn’t cause bloating and will help the digestive system work more efficiently.

7.      Chamomile tea

Chamomile tea is good to let the stomach muscles relax and therefore allow food to leave.  It also helps to clear out the gasses responsible for bloating and soothe the stomach if it is inflamed.  These benefits also apply to peppermint tea.

8.      Cucumber

Cucumber is filled with water that is great to reduce bloating.  The more water we take in, the more we urinate and this helps to flatten the stomach and relieve gassiness.

9.      Fatty fish

Fatty fish such as salmon are filled with omega-3 fatty acids that we know are hugely beneficial.  They are also great because these fats are what are called structural fats, rather than storage fats.  This means they are less likely to be stored in the belly, causing bloating.

10.  Fennel seeds

While most of us have encountered fennel, the seeds from the plant are a little less common but are worth sourcing.  These seeds contain a compound that stops the stomach from spasming and therefore relieves the symptoms of bloating.  They can be found in some breads as well as adding the seeds to smoothies if you aren’t a seed-munching fan.

11.  Ginger

Ginger is on most every list of stuff that is good for you anywhere and it also applies to when you need help avoid gassiness.  It is an anti-inflammatory and also makes the stomach muscles relax, letting food move away naturally.  It even has an enzyme to reduce gassiness from proteins.

12.  Lemon water

Infused waters are a great way to get the benefit of extra water as well as the nutrients in the fruit that you add.  Lemon water is a top example as lemon soothes the digestive system and assists in curing bloat.

13.  Lentils

Lentils are considered one of the best things to reduce bloating and to help digestion.  Not only are they another complex carbohydrate like brown rice, they also have fibre to help digestion and plenty of protein.  Protein is used for lots of things in the body including to repair tissues and to help lose weight.

14.  Oatmeal

Oatmeal is another one that is filled with fibre to help process food.  It is an ideal breakfast option that can be paired with yoghurt to get a double billing of anti-bloating goodness.

15.  Papaya

Papaya contains something called papain, an enzyme that breaks down proteins in the stomach and aids with digestion.  The fruit also has anti-inflammatory properties that help to relieve the physical bloating of the stomach.  It can be eaten as it is or added to yoghurt and other ingredients in a smoothie.

16.  Probiotic Yoghurt

Probiotic yoghurt gets a lot of mentions from healthy heating experts and that’s because it really does contain bacteria that helps the digestive system.  And the more effectively the digestive system works, the quicker food moves and the less chance we feel gassy or bloated.

17.  Tomatoes

Tomatoes are like bananas in that they have potassium to help the digestive system.  They also contain sodium that eases bloating and something called leptin – this reduces the appetite, makes you feel full and prevents you from overeating.

18.  Watermelon

Another high water content food, watermelon is one of the things you can easily overindulge in.  The water helps process waste in the body and avoid constipation as well as easing bloating.

19.  Wholegrain bread

Wholegrain bread also contains lots of fibre which as well as helping with digestion, have the benefit of making us feel full and stabilises blood sugar.  This means we stop eating before we behind to bloat.  White bread, unfortunately, isn’t so friendly as the chemicals used to process it has the opposite effect.