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What is Bloating?

BloatingThere is a lot of confusion around ‘bloating’, a common problem that we come across in our day to day life. In fact, we are witnessing a virtual epidemic of bloating in current times. Abdominal bloating not only looks bad but also causes a lot of discomfort.

But it’s not the end of the road. The good news is that it is one of the conditions that can be avoided. However, before learning how to prevent it, we need to first understand the most common causes of bloating.

Common Causes of Bloating

  1. Constipation
    Too little fibre, fluids, and physical activity may lead to constipation, which can result in bloating.
  2. Eating too fast
    Eating quickly and not chewing your food well can cause air swallowing, which leads to bloating.
  3. Drinking too much carbonated beverages
    The fizz in carbonated drinks (even diet ones) can cause gas to get trapped in your belly.
  4. Too much consumption of sugar-free beverages
    Too much sugar alcohol in artificially sweetened foods and drinks can lead to bloating.
  5. Food allergies and Intolerance
    Food allergies and intolerance can cause gas and bloating. However, these need to be confirmed by your doctor.
  6. Medical conditions
    Conditions like lactose intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Giardiasis (parasite infection), colon cancer, and bacterial overgrowth can also cause bloating.

Simple ways to avoid bloating:

  • Chew your food thoroughly
    Chewing breaks the food down from large particles into smaller particles that are more easily digested. This makes it easier for the intestines to absorb nutrients and prevents improperly digested food from entering your blood, which can cause bloating.
  • Exercise regularly
    Physical activity helps air bubbles pass through your digestive tract more quickly, so the bloated feeling disappears faster.
  • Avoid too much water during meals
    Too many liquids during meals can dilute digestive juices, which may hamper the digestion process. A small amount of liquids aids digestion, so moderation is key.
  • Avoid drinking using straws and narrow mouth bottles
    These can lead to the ingestion of excess air while sucking, which may cause bloating.
  • Avoiding carbonated beverages
    When carbonated drinks are opened, the compressed carbon dioxide forms bubbles and escapes into the air. Drinking large amounts forces the gas into your stomach, where it may pass to your intestines, causing bloating.
  • Eliminate smoking and Hukka
    People who smoke or use Hukka inhale a lot of extra air, which can lead to bloating.
  • Avoid chewing gums and food with artificial sweeteners
    Artificial sweeteners are difficult to digest and may cause bloating if consumed in excess.
  • Avoid gassy vegetables
    Vegetables like beans, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, onions, radishes, melons, and broccoli can cause gas during digestion.
  • Avoid foods with air whipped into them
    Foods like soufflés, sponge cakes, and milkshakes can introduce excess air into your stomach.
  • Avoid long gaps between meals
    Long gaps between meals can disrupt digestion and lead to bloating.
  • Limit sodium intake
    Processed foods are high in sodium, which can cause water retention and bloating.
  • Monitor fiber intake
    While fiber is essential, excess fiber can cause gas as gut bacteria break it down, leading to bloating.
  • Avoid milk if you’re lactose intolerant
    If your body doesn’t produce enough lactase, the enzyme needed to break down lactose, dairy can cause bloating.
  • Include Probiotics in your diet
    Probiotics contain good bacteria that aid digestion and help reduce bloating.

Yoga and Exercises to Reduce Bloating

Certain yoga poses and exercises can help relieve bloating by stimulating digestion and releasing trapped gas. Try these:

  • Leg Seated Spinal Twist

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  • Apanasan (Wind-relieving pose)

  • Spinal Twist

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  • Paschimottanasana (Seated forward bend)

Seated-forward-bend-pose

  • Seated Heart Opener

  • Adho Mukha Savanasana (Downward-Facing dog)

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Bloating is a common issue with various underlying causes. By understanding these causes and implementing simple lifestyle changes, you can reduce bloating and improve your digestive health. Remember, a healthy and comfortable digestive system is within your reach!

Bloating can be uncomfortable, but it doesn’t have to control your life. Try these tips and let us know what works for you in the comments below! For more articles on digestive health and wellness, explore Healthy Reads or speak to a certified expert by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

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Your Guide For A Happy Gut: Say bye to bloating, acidity and heartburn

Gut health Your body is constantly communicating with you. Very small episodes of acidity, bloating, indigestion, etc. says a lot about your lifestyle and overall health. Are you paying attention? It is important for us to know that about 70% of the immune system is located in our gut and the gut absorbs nutrients that support body functions from energy production to hormone balance, skin health to mental health and toxin & waste elimination too.

So how can you keep your gut healthy? Well, follow this guide for a happy gut to stay healthy!

Easy Guide For A Happy Gut 

  1. Fennel Seeds or Saunf: These seeds have antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory properties and promote the production of gastric enzymes. It works wonderfully against indigestion, bloating, acidity, heartburn post meals and constipation too. Just add 1 tbsp of raw seeds to the water bottle you carry to office or have 1 glass of fennel seed water post meals to take care of such symptoms.
  2. Basil Seeds: They work well in relieving constipation, bloating, naturally detox your body and help regulate smooth bowel movements. It works as a natural coolant. You can have a glass of milk with basil seeds few hours before bed time, or make a drink with water, honey and basil seeds and have it in mid-morning, or just make a habit of soaking it for 2-3 hours and drinking the water in the morning.
  3. Fenugreek Seeds: These are rich in fiber and antioxidants, and help in enhancing bowel movement. Take a tsp of fenugreek seeds and soak it in 1 cup of water at night and have it in the morning with a glass of lukewarm water if you have long term problems of constipation, indigestion or heartburn. *People experiencing severe acidity should avoid this.
  4. Lemon Ginger Water: This will help strengthen the digestive system and prevent indigestion, nausea, heartburn and bloating. Take a glass of lukewarm water, add 1 tsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp of ginger juice in it. This will work best for bloating post meals or occasional bloating post heavy meals.
  5. Apple Cider Vinegar: The unfiltered, unpasteurized and raw mother Apple Cider Vinegar has live micro-organisms and help to work towards heartburn & GI stress. A dilution of Apple Cider Vinegar before a meal can help you stimulate acid secretion and reduce gut symptoms. Also, having a tbsp of ACV in 300 ml water in the morning can also help in the same.
  6. Water: Is the body’s basic requirement! A constant supply of water is necessary to replenish the fluids lost through activities such as respiration, perspiration, urination, regulating body temperature, digesting food, etc. Try to drink at least 2-2.5L of water throughout the day and it is the answer to all your digestive issues.
  7. Vegetables & Fruits: Having 1 portion of vegetables in every meal is the best way to help your gut digest the food well and have enough nutrients. Plus, the fiber from them helps to ease bowel movement and acts as food for micro-organisms. Fruits are best to go for in mid meals to add more soluble fiber and get rid of acidity and bloating.
  8. Physical Activity: No escape here. Being physically active for 30-45mins is the answer to good health and a happy gut. Exercise gets your heart pumping and increases blood flow and oxygen circulation throughout the body. Blood and oxygen are necessary to aid digestion and keep the intestinal muscles healthy. So for constipation, bloating, acidity, heartburn, etc. including some walking, cycling, yoga, etc. will give you better results.
  9. No Sugar: Processed sugar, refined flour, fried and processed food should be avoided as they are not good for your gut microbes.

Just follow these simple tips for a happy gut! If this article helped you, let us know your thoughts in the comments below. You can find more articles like this on Gut Health here. If you want expert advice or further guidance on improving digestive or gut health, speak to a GOQii Coach by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for general awareness and educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for personalised medical guidance or concerns related to your health.

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Learn about your Poop and Gut Health

bowel-health

Most of us wake up and proceed to the loo. Over a period of time, this becomes a habit and we just do it blindly!

Have you ever noticed or given a thought about how is your bowel movement?

What does your poop say about your health? This may sound like a joke, but you can actually learn a lot about your health from your daily poop.

Hippocrates says…ALL DISEASE BEGINS IN THE GUT. So, we want to be sure that what’s coming out of the gut looks good.

Let’s understand more about it.

Three things to look for:

  1. FREQUENCY
  2. FORM
  3. COLOR

Frequency: Best bowel movement: It’s best to have at least one complete bowel movement a day. This should leave you feeling like you’ve fully emptied your bowels.

If you are having 2-3 bowel movements in the day then you may have a faster metabolism or good robust bacteria or it depends on the quantity of food you eat.

Going to the bathroom more than three times a day may suggest you’re approaching the diarrhoea zone.

So, having a clear bowel movement once a day daily is must as it’s one of our body’s greatest ways to eliminate toxins, acids and other stuff.

FORM: When our poops are properly formed, it ensures that we have digested and assimilated the nutrients from our food and are eliminating acids and toxins properly.

The BRISTOL CHART helps to categorize and gauge our bowel movements well:
Bristol-Stool-Chart-What-Your-Poop-Says-About-Your-Health-Mama-Natural-1024x576

Image Credit: mamanatural-mamanatural.netdna-ssl.com

Type 1: Separate hard lumps, like little balls (hard to pass)

Type 2: Sausage-shaped, but lumpy (lack of fibre and hydration)

Type 3: Like a sausage but with cracks on its surface

Type 4: Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft

Type 5: Soft blobs with clear cut edges (passed easily)

Type 6: Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool

Type 7: Watery, no solid pieces. Entirely liquid

Where do you fall on this chart?

If you are between 1-3 then it shows that your diet lacks the right amount of fibre, bacteria are missing and there is nothing to retain water. This is a sign of constipation. The lumps are hard and abrasive and may sometimes lead to anorectal bleeding.

If you are at Type 4, then you are right, It’s nice tubular shape. Think long bananas that don’t break apart when you flush. The Perfect poop comes out with ease, smells more like super-ripe fruit than something terrible and you barely need to wipe.

If you are between 5-7—then you have diarrhoea. This may also give rise to malabsorption as there is no proper assimilation of nutrients.

If your stool is too LOOSE, SOFT, watery, MUSHY then – it indicates a lack of fibre and thus you can go for BRAT Diet.(Banana, rice, apple and toast). These foods have qualities like tannins that can actually help firm up a stool for better bowel movements.

If you find your stool is TOO HARD or infrequent, add more of soluble fibre and add magnesium-rich foods to your diet. Magnesium draws water into the bowel, making the stool softer and easier to eliminate. It also relaxes the muscles in the intestinal wall, which helps with constipation.

Apples and Pears are also wonderful – two a day will keep things moving. Yoga and abdominal massage are great tools. Another trick you can try is to drop 1 drop of Peppermint essential oil into your toilet and sit down. It will stimulate your bowels and often result in a movement.

If your poop…Floats instead of sinks- You have excess gas in your digestive tract. “If you’ve been eating lots of beans, sprouts, cabbage, or very large meals, it’s perfectly normal for stool to float because of gas, and it’s not a cause for concern. However, if floaters become more common for you or you spot an oil-slick appearance, it could mean something is preventing your body’s ability to absorb fats from food. For instance, inflammation or an infection in your pancreas could prevent you from producing enough digestive enzymes. A food allergy or infection could be damaging the lining of your intestines that’s affecting absorption, too.

What does Colour indicate?

Believe it or not, colour matters!  We want our stool to be a nice medium – to dark-brown colour (Think milk chocolate). Poop is normally brown. The colour is the result of what you eat and how much bile is in your stool. Bile is a fluid your liver makes to digest fats. It starts out as a yellowish green colour. But as the pigments that give bile its colour travel through your digestive system, they go through chemical changes and turn brown.

Black Poop: If your stool is black, it could be a sign of blood in your upper GI tract.

Yellow poop: This shade is also normal for many people. It’s common for babies, especially those who breastfeed. But if you have yellow poop that looks greasy and smells very bad, it may have too much fat. That could be a sign your body isn’t digesting food properly.

Green poop: If you have green poop for many days, the colour of your food may not be to blame. It’s likely that your meal moved through your gut too quickly, so the fat digesting bile didn’t have time to turn brown. It could be from fat malabsorption or liver or gallbladder stress.

PS NOTE: Keep in mind if you eat certain foods or food dyes your stool colour may change. For example, if you eat lots of beets, your stools could take on a reddish hue. And eating tonnes of leafy greens may explain why your poop is green but this colour change is temporary.

White Poop: Medicines for diarrhoea like bismuth sub-salicylate can sometimes cause pale or clay coloured poop. A more serious cause is a lack of bile in your stool. As bile gives its brown colour

Bright red: If it’s bright red, the blood likely comes from the lower part of your digestive tract. It could be due to inflammation in the colon, haemorrhoids, diverticular disease or tumour.

So, where do your poops fall on the Bristol Stool Chart? Do you have an to oy tips or practices to optimise your daily poop? Share them in the comments below. For more health-related content, explore Healthy Reads or for further guidance speak to a certified expert by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for general awareness and educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for personalised medical guidance or concerns related to your health.

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Your Gut Health: Why It Matters More Than You Think

You would have heard of the saying, ‘Almost all diseases begin in the gut’. Well, it’s true. Maintaining the right ‘microflora’ (balance of good bacteria) in the gut is crucial for great health, immunity and even preventing, healing and recovering from serious diseases like cancer.

Your intestines (gut) contain pounds of good bacteria that help with the absorption of nutrients from the food you eat. These ‘good bacteria’ determine the strength of your immunity, regulate weight loss, aid recovery, support colon health, manage body toxicity, and handle several other functions.

The gut also contains yeast (fungals), which, if exceeds in number compared to the good bacteria, cause serious digestive issues, affect nutrient assimilation, and can cause leaky gut, vaginal rashes, IBS and other bowel and GI tract disorders. It is crucial to maintain the proportion of good bacteria, especially in children.

A shortage of good bacteria can lead to allergies, skin problems, headaches, migraines, inability to lose weight, and even contribute to fat accumulation. Energy levels can fall when there is an imbalance.

Everything we eat and drink passes through the gut along the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This tube-like GI tract, lined with a thin, sticky mucous, is embedded with millions of bacteria that live, grow, and metabolize (digesting and absorbing) in a complex ecosystem comprised of both beneficial and harmful bacteria.

Maintaining gut health is one of the most important and least addressed aspects of overall health. Many lifestyles choices deplete the gut of the ‘good’ bacteria’, leading to health problems ranging from acne to deadly diseases like cancer.

If you have more bad bacteria (fungus) than good bacteria in your gut, even the healthy food you eat will not be assimilated the right way. Even if you eat clean, organic, or expensive foods, it does not matter if your gut microflora is out of balance. This is where probiotics come in.

Probiotic bacteria do several things that contribute to good health and immunity.

Their most basic function is to fight harmful foreign substances that enter the body by detoxifying them and easing their elimination. Probiotics can prevent the growth of harmful bacteria, which thrive and grow within a neutral pH environment, by producing organic acids such as acetic and lactic acids that, in turn, lower the pH of the large intestine.

This lower pH also prevents the metabolism of cholesterol and bile acids in the colon. Since cholesterol and bile metabolites act as cancer-causing agents, they can play an important role in the prevention of cancers of the GI tract and other organs as well. These helpful bacteria can even lower serum cholesterol levels along with cardiovascular disease risk by preventing the activity of an enzyme involved in the synthesis of cholesterol.

Inside the gut are about 100 trillion live microorganisms that promote normal GI (gastro intestinal tracts) function, protect the body from infection, and regulate metabolism and the mucosal immune system. They comprise more than 75% of the immune system.

Also important is their role in maintaining and protecting the GI barrier. An intact GI barrier maintains gut health, while a problem with its microbiota composition will affect the body’s defense systems and can create a condition known as leaky gut syndrome, which can compromise gut health and lead to diseases such as inflammatory breast cancer, obesity, chronic fatigue syndrome, and depression.

Your diet is the most important element for building gut health. Include curds or probiotic supplement if you are vegan or cannot have yogurt. Some top natural probiotic-rich foods include:

  • Yogurt (plain kind)
  • Miso
  • Sauekraut
  • Kimchi
  • Kefir
  • Kombucha tea
  • Pickled gherkins
  • Spirulina
  • Chlorella

Ensure your diet is rich in complex carbs, fiber, fruits, vegetables, and omega – 3, with a healthy water intake and low intake of sugar, processed foods and red meat.

Avoid sodas, processed foods, and sugar as they quickly depletes the gut of good bacteria, dropping immunity almost instantly, making it the worst thing your child or you can consume. I constantly tell parents that giving your child aerated drinks is worse than drugs.

Your gut health plays a pivotal role in your overall well-being. By maintaining a balanced gut microflora through a healthy diet and probiotics, you can prevent diseases, boost immunity, and ensure optimal nutrient absorption. Prioritize your gut health to experience better health and vitality.

We hope this article helps you. For further information or guidance, reach out to our certified experts by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for general awareness and educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for personalised medical guidance or concerns related to your health.

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