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1. Peppermint: Oh, come on, I am not talking about peppermint chewing gums here; they can actually worsen your bloating problem! Rather, I am talking about consuming RAW peppermint! Sometimes, the irritable bowel syndrome can occur when your digestive system finds it difficult to process certain foods; by easing up the flow of your bile movement and relaxing your muscles, peppermint helps in the proper digestion of foods and thus, provides an immediate relief from abdominal pain and stomach bloating! Massaging your stomach with peppermint oil also works wonders for bloating!
2. Dill Seeds: You may or may not be aware of it, but dill seeds extracts are excellent remedies for a bloated stomach! Dill seeds not only help improve your digestion, it also flushes out the excessive gas from your intestine. Whether you are an occasional or chronic sufferer, dill seeds should be able to help you! Ideally, dill seeds should be consumed at least thrice every day for one month! Dill seeds can be used in multiple ways: you can add them as – an ingredient when cooking food or a part of your salad!
In addition, you can also massage the painful area of your stomach with dill oil. Not only this herbal remedy does not come with any side effects, it also does not interfere with any of the other medicines you might be taking!
3. Temporarily, Cut Down on Food Intake: As a matter of fact, both obesity and bloating can make your stomach look round and large; however, there is a big difference between the two! Obesity does not cause any kind of stomach pain (not as far as I know) while abdominal bloating can be extremely painful. At the same time, the two are also quite related; people who overeat often suffer both from obesity and poor digestion. As you have probably guessed already, food intolerance can be a big reason behind a bloated stomach.
To get around this problem, an obvious solution is to cut down on your food intake; first, you should follow a very strict, nutritious diet; even if it is a bland, raw food diet, you would have to tolerate it until your stomach ache and bloating is gone! Then, re-introduce your old foods, one by one, and be on your alert all the time about any kind of negative reaction caused by any of these foods. If you start suffering from IBS after consuming a certain food, you know who the culprit is!
4. Potassium: Often, charcoal tablets, anti-spasmodic tablets, antacid tablets, diuretics, etc., are prescribed for irritable bowel syndrome and stomach bloating; however, none of these offer permanent solution because they only suppress the symptoms of IBS, rather than curing the root causes. For example, if your IBS is caused by a state known as Candidiasis (a yeast overgrowth in your intestine) then you must look for ways to get rid of that Candidiasis first, something that none of the above-mentioned medicines can do very effectively!
Especially for diuretics, their overconsumption can lead to severe dizziness and dehydration. Rather than taking the help of diuretics, you should increase the intake of foods rich in potassium, such as vegetables, nuts, pulses, milk (do not drink it if you are lactose intolerant), bananas, fishes, shellfish, poultry, beef (skip these if you are a vegan) and fruits! At the same time, you should decrease your alcohol and salt intake, and increase the consumption of water; bear in mind that you simply cannot have a good digestive system if your body is deficient in water!
5. Stress management: A lot of your tummy problems can well be attributed to the level of stress you have to go through, day after day after day; this is especially true if you have a stressful job and an equally stressful family to deal with! How many times have you reached toward food for relief from stress and depression, and how many of these times, you have been attracted to the ‘bad’ junk foods? I am sure you can understand what I am getting at! If only you can find a way to cut down on your stress level and get a proper dose of sleep at night, you’d win at least half the battle against stomach ache; note that stress can also increase the frequency of your bowel and urine urges!
6. Chew Your Food Well: It is not enough that you eat the right kind of foods; to get rid of abdominal bloating, it is equally important that you chew your food well, eat foods in small portions, and curb the urge of putting more in your mouth until you have thoroughly chewed and swallowed the food in your mouth! If you have difficulty in either chewing or swallowing your food well, drink small amounts of water in between your food intakes! DO NOT talk or watch TV while eating!
7. Hypnosis: While Hypnosis has often been used for curing mental diseases, its usage for curing IBS is rather a rarity, if not totally unknown! I already mentioned that stress can be one of the reasons behind a bloated stomach and poor digestion; with the help of relaxation methods such as hypnosis, you can get rid of stress and therefore – your stomach bloating too!
8. Do Exercises Really Work: Exercises certainly work well as far as improving your digestion is concerned! BUT, realistically speaking, when your digestive process is already a mess, you are suffering from abdominal pain and need some urgent relief – you are hardly in a position to do any exercise. A lot of people suggest workouts specially designed for trimming tummy and abdomen; what they forget is that while such exercises work well for gaining a six-pack abs, it does not work as good for curing irritable bowel syndrome! In case of IBS, you got to cure it from within, NOT outside! How in hell are you going to cure intestinal gases, unhealthy colon, stomach aches, flatulence, abdominal cramps, etc., with the help of workouts? It is just not possible!
So what really works? Well, if your intestine is full of filth such as gas and other waste products, then you can get rid of your bloated stomach only by cleaning up your intestine, something that a colon hydro cleaning therapy can do really well! You can also use supplements such as probiotics, food enzymes, vitamins, etc., to get rid of the bloating and acid reflux!
At the same time, you must work on your diet! Whether or not you are able to eat raw foods, the least you can do is to cut the junk and processed foods from your life! That means saying a big “NO” to sugar-filled chewing gums, artificial sweeteners, chocolates, foods rich in fat and cholesterol, dairy products (especially IF you are lactose-intolerant), fried stuff, etc. Remember that flatulence, burping and belching are indications of a poor lifestyle and unhealthy food habits; if you ignore these indications, you will soon be greeted by bloating, painful stomach cramps, etc. Also, smoking is big no-no: it is one of the main causes of bloating among today’s youth!
9. A Note on Herbal Remedies: A lot of remedies and supplements are being marketed as ‘natural’ and ‘herbal’; even if they are true to their words, you should STOP their consumption if you notice any side-effects through their usage; you should also not buy any over-the-counter drug without consulting a physician first!
Note that homemade remedies such as warm bath, warm tea, abdominal massage, intestine cleaning methods, etc., are usually as harmless as a healthy diet consisting of raw fruits and vegetables! Good luck!
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