When you’re at the beach strutting your stuff in your new bikini, unattractive and uncomfortable bloating is not something you want to have to worry about. Fortunately, there are many easy ways to effortlessly manipulate your daily lifestyle in order to eliminate any causes of bloating that have the potential to ruin your beach day. Keep reading to learn about seven ways to beat bloating this summer so you can instantly increase your bikini confidence and enjoy summer fun.
1. Avoid Swallowing Air
While this tip might seem a bit difficult and you are likely thinking “Who swallows air on purpose?”, swallowing air can be a big cause of bloating and it is one hundred percent preventable.
The number-one culprit for excessive air swallowing is carbonated beverages. On days when you want to fend off bloating, stay away from sodas, sparkling water, or any other bubbly drinks that include big air bubbles that you don’t want to ingest if you’re trying to avoid bloating. You should also say no to gum, as chewing gum can cause you to swallow an excessive amount of air as well.
2. Stay Away From Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners are a surprising cause of bloating. While it might be tempting to ingest foods that claim to include no sugar because they’re full of aspartame instead, avoid any foods or drinks that include artificial sweeteners if you want to combat bloating.
Aspartame, sorbitol, stevia, and other common artificial sweeteners cannot be properly digested by your body. Because of this, they stay in your belly and cause bloating.
3. Don’t Snack on Fruit Salad
Cold, raw fruits and vegetables can be super healthy for you. However, they are also a particularly unfortunate cause of bloating, seeing as fruit salads and vegetable trays are big staples at summer parties and beach barbecues.
Raw fruits and vegetables, especially uncooked vegetables, can be a challenge for your body to break down and can take a while to be fully digested by your body. While this slow digestion process is underway, you will likely become a victim to bloating.
4. Take a Walk
Taking a brisk walk can help prevent and reverse bloating. Getting your body moving through low-intensive exercise like a fast walk can help move the gas bubbles that cause bloating out of your stomach to help eliminate your bloating altogether.
Don’t try to do any high-intensive aerobics if you don’t feel like a walk is doing the trick to get rid of your bloating, however. Heavy cardio like running or dancing can cause you to swallow more air as you breathe quickly and heavily, which can worsen your bloating problem rather than relieve it.
5. Nix the Dairy
Even if you don’t consider yourself lactose intolerant, dairy products such as milk, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese, can be difficult for any body to digest.
This digestion difficulty derives from the lactose present within dairy products that is challenging for most bodies to digest. If you don’t want to feel and look bloated, skip the ice cream run at the beach and stay away from milk in your morning cereal before you head to the pool.
6. Don’t Choose Whole Grain
Whole grain products are a great alternative to white bread, rice, and pasta in terms of health benefits. However, in terms of bloating, whole grains are not necessarily a great substitute for white products.
Whole grains include a lot of fiber, which is healthy but takes a while for your body to digest. This gradual digestion process can lead to bloating. For days when you really want to avoid bloating at all costs, you might want to choose white bread for your sandwich just this once.
7. Stay Hydrated
Insufficient hydration is a hugely common cause of bloating. A lack of proper hydration is an especially common cause of bloating during the summer months, when the weather is warmer and drier and you are likely outside more often experiencing increased exposure to the sun.
While bloating is often misnamed “water weight”, drinking enough water does not contribute to bloating. On the contrary, it helps flush out your body and keep your digestion process moving along to prevent and reverse the negative physical and aesthetic consequences of bloating.
On any given summer day, you should drink at least six to eight cups of water. A great rule of thumb to use to estimate the amount of water you should be drinking is to drink half of your body weight in pounds in ounces of water every day to stay sufficiently hydrated.
Bloating is never any fun, but it can be especially unpleasant in the summertime when you want to show off your hot body in skimpy shorts or a swimsuit. Fortunately, bloating doesn’t have to happen to you. Use the tips in this post to beat bloating this summer once and for all.
