How to feel less bloated without cutting carbs?

How to feel less bloated without cutting carbs?

It’s normal to experience bloating, especially after eating a big meal. Especially if this meal has a big portion of white carbs, contains fried food and lots of salt. And besides that you have a fizzy or alcoholic drink. And for dessert fruit or ice cream. This is a perfect combination to experience bloating and discomfort after a meal.
However, if you think you are eating healthy and not the above mentioned type of meals everyday, and still experiencing bloating everyday, then you should know that there are a few things you can try to change in your lifestyle that could help, without cutting carbs from your diet. 

Try the following nutrition advice:

1. Eat at least 3 meals a day.
2. Avoid skipping meals or eating late at night.
3. Smaller meal portions may alleviate symptoms.
4. Try to eat oats for breakfast and one tablespoon of linseeds per day with a glass of water.
5. Limit your intake of fatty, fried and salty foods, including chips, fast food, ready meals, sauces, pies, samosas, batter, pizza, spring rolls, creamy sauces, and snacks such as crisps, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, spreads, and cooking oils.
6. Limit fresh fruit intake to three portions a day (one portion is 80g).
7. Refrain from drinking fruit juices such as apple, mango, guava, peach, pear, and tropical varieties.
8. Avoid fizzy drinks and caffeinated drinks (limit to 2 mugs per day) and alcoholic drinks.
9. Drink at least 8 cups of water a day, which can help if you also feel constipated.
10. Try kefir, one cup a day. This is a fermented milky drink with a variety of good bacteria that can help balance your gut microbiome.

How to feel less bloated without cutting carbs? - Nutrition Advice

You can also try other lifestyle changes:

1. Dedicate time to relaxation – practices like mindfulness, meditation, yoga, aromatherapy, or massage can be beneficial.
2. Engage in regular physical activities like walking, cycling, or swimming. It can help with bowel movements. Try to go for a walk after eating.
3. Relax while eating and thoroughly chew your food. So you don’t ingest too much air while eating.
4. Maintain a food and symptom diary to monitor changes and identify what improves your bloating. You can use a scale 0 to 10 to classify bloating (0 - not feeling bloated at all, 10 - feeling very bloated)

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Implement changes one at a time to determine their effectiveness.

How to feel less bloated without cutting carbs?- Lifestyle advice

Below is the feedback from one of my clients just two days after having a consultation with me and putting into practice some of my advice. You can read more success stories here.

If after trying these nutrition and lifestyle changes, you are still feeling very bloated, then you should contact a dietitian to help you. A dietitian can analyze your food diary and symptoms and advice on an elimination diet and reintroduction of foods. In this way you might be able to discover which foods are making you bloated the most and also understand your tolerance levels for certain types of foods.

Also, if besides bloating you are experiencing other symptoms, like wind, diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, you should contact your doctor. He might recommend you to do some tests to find out the cause of your gut symptoms. 

You might be tempted to do a food intolerance or food allergy test. Please be aware that these tests are not helpful and can be very confusing. Some of them are not scientifically proven. If you are thinking about doing one of these tests, read my blog post about it here.

Author

I’m Joana, a Registered Dietitian in the UK. I’ve been helping busy adults lose weight by helping them to identify the small changes in their lifestyle that will bring results. Book a free call with me to learn how we can work together.

Bibliography
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and diet - British Dietetic Association (BDA)
​12 Proven Ways to Reduce or Stop Bloating (healthline.com)