Do you ever feel your tummy is growing and growing, and that too without even eating anything? Or have you ever felt the need of changing your name to balloon owing to the inflating properties of your tummy? If so, then my dear friends, blame it on bloating. Bloating generally occurs due to the gas in our intestines, which can be caused by many things, including your first few days of experimenting with raw foods. Let’s understand what raw foods are and how to reduce bloating.
Raw foods and their health benefits
Raw food, one of nature’s most nutritious and original ways to eat food, could be challenging for newbies and that’s what we are about to discuss today. Salads, smoothies, and juices are some of the most common ways of enhancing the proportion of raw food in your diet. The idea behind raw food consumption is, to eat food in its natural, unprocessed, and nutrient-rich state. So, if someday you want your kitchen to have a day off, you can switch to the raw food diet. When you cook or process food, it loses many beneficial nutrients and natural enzymes due to heat. So, let’s have a look at the benefits of raw foods:
- More fiber
- More vitamins and minerals
- Plant compounds and phytochemicals
- Low calories and fat, which helps in losing weight
Raw foods have uncountable benefits. Nutrition is the prime. However, in this case, taking things slow would be best as directly jumping to a 100% raw food diet can perhaps boost your transformation into a balloon, and trust me you would never want that. Raw food also helps in lowering cholesterol level in the body. Think this way, you are in a close relationship with junk food but suddenly you break up and start full-fledged bonding with raw food, you might find this new company good but your body needs time to adjust, it just can’t change as fast as your mood so you might feel problems regarding digestion, and if you already have weaker digestion or Vata Pradhan Prakriti then things can get worse. So before giving commitment to raw food, take your time.
Let’s understand why bonding with raw foods is tricky, initially. Some raw foods have rigid cell walls, which only get broken down in the cooking process, so eating them raw requires a little hard work by our body but once we get accustomed to it our body starts taking it easy and we don’t face problems like bloating, stomachache and gas. In fact, raw foods are beneficial for our stomachs as they contain a lot of natural enzymes, which help us break down food. The more raw foods we eat, the fewer enzymes our body has to use from existing stock, which ultimately results in better digestion. So, you see, it is all a matter of time.
How to avoid bloating?
You try everything under the sun to cure it when you feel bloated. However, when nothing works, you get helpless and visit your doctor. But we recommend you try out the following tips to reduce bloating with raw foods before you take any other action. So, let’s have a look:
1. Go slow
Here, we need time for our bodies to adapt to this new but healthy food habit. It’s not like an animated movie, where you just eat spinach and get muscles instantly. Instead, you have to be patient with your body and wait for its response. So, just take time and everything will be fine. We all know slow and steady wins the race.
2. Know your stomach
Not all humans are created equally. In the same manner, different people have different types of digestion. So, the key here is to know your digestion and act accordingly. People with strong digestive fire may have no issues at all with a raw food lifestyle but people with weak digestion should go slow as per the guidance of their bodies. No matter how much you hate reading between the lines, when it comes to your body you got to read its signals and eat accordingly and if you pay close attention, you will understand what your body likes and what your body struggles with.
- Eat steamed and sauteed food
If eating more veggies is your goal, but you want to reduce bloating then go for a steamed or sauteed bowl. You can choose Steaming for a couple of weeks to see how it works on your body. You can also sauté specific foods to see how your body responds to them. However, do not overcook the veggies as it may lead to a loss of nutrients. Thus, it is recommended to sauté the raw food for as little time as your body demands.
3. Start with less quantity
They say practice makes a man perfect. Remember how many times you practiced smiling before the mirror to get that fake candid pose? Similarly, before depending on raw food, start with fewer quantities to practice. This will help you understand your body and digestive system better. In addition to that, it will also help you reduce bloating.
4. Take probiotics
Probiotics work wonders for our gut health. Probiotics are available in our bodies in their natural form, but when you feel bloated, consuming more probiotics can provide you relief. You can intake kanji, buttermilk, coconut buttermilk, sauerkraut, and other healthy probiotics to prevent your body from turning into a gas chamber.
- Gut bacteria and bloating
Our stomach has many bacteria, known as microbiomes, which help in digestion. These bacteria digest the food for us, making it easier for our intestines to absorb all the nutrients. Apart from that, raw food contains a high amount of fiber, which is food for the microbiomes. The fiber content is fermented in the colon by our buddy microbiomes, which produce gas during the process. However, when we eat new raw food every other day, being new to the fiber content of that particular raw food, our stomach requires some time to produce enough gut bacteria colonies to digest it. Since our gut doesn’t have the microbiota to digest that specific food immediately, the process takes time, and we feel bloated. But remember, this is all temporary!
So, we must be patient and consume probiotics of as many types as possible. This way, we can take care of our gut health and reduce bloating while eating raw foods.
Wrap it up!
Including colorful raw fruits and veggies in your diet can provide you with immense health benefits. However, for some people, it can cause bloating in the first few weeks. To avoid this discomfort, you can go slow in the process of increasing your consumption of raw foods and avoid any sudden shock. You can gradually increase consumption over a 6-week period.
Apart from that, you should take care of your gut health and consume different types of probiotics every day. So, the key is to know your body’s needs and then consume the raw foods accordingly. Moreover, you can head towards our cooking section to find more exciting recipes to enjoy raw foods. Feel free to contact us for any queries, suggestions, or recipe ideas. Till then, take care and stay free from bloating!
References: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16177198/#:~:text=This%20study%20indicates%20that%20consumption,to%20vitamin%20B%2D12%20deficiency.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4045285/
Priyanka Khurana Goyal is a prominent Indian figure renowned for her diverse accomplishments and contributions across various fields.. Read more
