When you eat a meal, your body can’t directly break down the carbohydrates, fats and proteins in the food. Instead, your digestive enzymes break them down into smaller particles called monosaccharides, fatty acids and amino acids. These are known as nutrients because they are able to support life. Your body is able to absorb these different forms of nutrients through the walls of your small intestines with the help of special enzymes to digest them. However, this process is not perfect. When you eat simple sugars like fructose or even normally non-fattening foods like beans or lentils in large quantities, it can cause a buildup of gas and fluids in your stomach, called bloating. Here are some effective ways to get rid of bloat in your stomachand feel lighter again –

Don’t forget to chew your food
When you chew your food thoroughly, it takes your body longer to break it down. This means that your digestive enzymes have more time to break down your food and produce less gas. If you are someone who finds they get bloated after eating, try chewing each mouthful of food at least 10 times. This may help reduce the amount of excess gas you have in your stomach.

Drink water before a meal
If you regularly experience bloating, then you may be consuming too much salt. This can cause your body to retain water, including in your stomach. The solution? Avoid salty foods and drink more water. Bloating is caused by water being drawn into the stomach to dilute the salt in your food, making it less salty. When you swallow more water, it dilutes the salt in your stomach, so your body doesn’t need to draw as much water in to neutralize it. Drinking water before your meal can reduce bloating and help you feel less full.

Eat more fibre
If you are constipated, then your digestive enzymes have to work harder to help you break down your food. This means that your body produces more gas as a side effect. If you eat more fibrous foods such as vegetables, whole grains, legumes and fruits, your body will work less hard to break down your food. This means it will produce less gas. And fibrous foods are healthy for you too! They can help lower your blood sugar, regulate your blood pressure and even regulate your mood.

Eat lean protein
Like carbohydrates, protein can also cause your body to produce gas as it breaks it down. However, eating more protein at one meal will not make you feel bloated unless you are constipated. However, if your body is struggling to break down your food and is producing excess gas, protein can help. It contains a lot of amines and amino acids which can break down the gas and help you to feel less bloated.

Take probiotics
Unfortunately, the bacteria in your gut doesn’t always stay in the gut. Bacteria that are naturally in your digestive tract can actually travel to your large intestine and colon. If you have a healthy digestive tract, these bacteria shouldn’t cause you any harm or symptoms. However, if you are regularly experiencing bloating or gas, the culprit may be bad bacteria. This can be prevented by taking a high quality probiotic supplement. It will help to repopulate your digestive tract with good bacteria that will fight off the bad bacteria.

Don’t eat too many carbs at once
If you are suffering from bloating, you may be eating too many carbohydrates. Try to space out your meals and avoid eating too many carbohydrates in one sitting. Finally, if you are