The Simple Breathing Trick That Can Stop Bloating and the Diet That Can Fight Bloat: DR. MEGHAN ROSSI’s simple steps to a healthy gut

Burp, burp, break wind – everyone does it. And more often than you might think: the average person farts 30 times a day; and with the wind blowing past, while eight to fifteen times is average, anything up to 25 times is perfectly normal.

In both cases, it can be so subtle that you don’t notice it. But for some people it can be a problem, usually because it is too frequent, uncontrollable or spicy!

However, there are measures you can take to curb these problems.

First, belching: This is essentially the body’s way of getting rid of the excess air that ends up in the esophagus instead of the airways.

We all do this to some extent when we eat or talk, but some people swallow too much. This is called aerophagia.

Studies show that people who suffer from heartburn or indigestion are much more likely to call

Fast eaters are prone to this. Ill-fitting dentures can also cause you to take in more air when you swallow food, such as chewing gum.

However, excessive belly fat can also be a sign of an underlying health condition.

Inflammation of the lining of the stomach can lead to more belching, and studies suggest that people who suffer from heartburn or indigestion also tend to swallow more air and therefore belch more. This is because these uncomfortable sensations in the gut cause altered breathing mechanisms that cause people to inhale more air.

One way to counteract this is diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing. It only takes five to 10 minutes a day and works by using the right muscles when you breathe to prevent air from entering your esophagus.

In a 2017 study published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 80 percent of patients with acid reflux and excessive regurgitation who practiced abdominal breathing daily for four weeks saw significant improvement, compared to just 19 percent in a control group .

To do abdominal breathing, sit or lie down, then place one hand on your chest and one hand on your abdomen. Breathe in through your nose for about four seconds and feel your stomach expand. Hold your breath for two seconds. Then exhale slowly through your mouth for about six seconds and repeat for five to fifteen minutes.

Regarding gas, I want to emphasize that it is nothing to be ashamed of and it would even be unhealthy not to let wind. This is a sign that your gut bacteria are doing their job and breaking down food that cannot be digested elsewhere. A by-product of this process is gas, which then has to escape somewhere.

Did you know?

Have you ever noticed that lemons float in water and limes sink?

This has nothing to do with how fresh they are or how sour they are, but simply because limes are a bit denser (they have more weight per unit volume).

Also, fresh eggs sink while older eggs float.

Because as the egg ages, gas is produced inside, increasing its buoyancy.

One concern people have is smell. I have seen clients whose gas has a space-clearing intensity. It doesn’t have to be, because 99 percent of the gas produced by our gut bugs – hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane – is odorless. The smell comes from sulfur-containing compounds, specifically hydrogen sulfide gas.

And how much of it you shed depends on your diet. Sources of sulfur include meat, chicken, eggs, some beer and wine additives and protein supplements (see recipe below).

Another type of sulfur comes from vegetables such as broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, garlic, onions and leeks. However, studies show that vegetables have a lower odor potential than other sulfur sources.

So if you’re worried about the smell of your wind, try cutting back on meat, beer and wine for two weeks, but not your vegetables. There’s even a reason to eat more vegetables, since your bacteria prefer fiber: the more they eat, the less they’ll ferment the potentially smelly protein in your diet. For some people, it’s not the smell, but the frequency that bothers them. Excess gas can be the result of overfeeding your gut bacteria. For example, this can happen if you suffer from a travel stomach.

In this case, food moves through your intestines faster than normal, meaning by the time it reaches your gut microbes (which typically live in the last five feet of your 30-foot intestine), it’s not digested as well as it could have been. it should be. This gives the bacteria more to snack on, i.e. more gas.

This can also happen if you have a food intolerance, for example to lactose (the sugar in milk).

Since you don’t have the enzyme that breaks down lactose, the gut microbes are hit with large amounts of it, leading to a food frenzy – and lots of bloating.

Increasing fiber intake too quickly can have a similar effect and give your gut microbes plenty to eat.

The fiber-induced gas must normally be pushed into the bloodstream and thus circulated. But if you are not used to eating a lot of fiber, this mechanism does not work properly (your intestines need time to build up its efficiency) and the gas is expelled as bloating.

Don’t let this put you off a high fiber diet as it has many health benefits – just slow the rate of addition. Think of it like a marathon, not a sprint: your abs work.

Additionally, eating high-fiber foods can counteract bloating in the long term by helping to reduce the risk of constipation (if food continues to ferment in the colon, it will ferment more than usual, leading to excessive bloating). Excessive gas and bloating are also symptoms of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), in which bacteria that normally live deeper in the gut crawl higher, meaning they can feast on food before it’s broken down.

SIBO is more common in diabetics because they are at greater risk for bowel dysfunction due to damaged nerves in the gut.

In the clinic, we typically diagnose SIBO with a breath test that detects excessive hydrogen production, along with a symptom diary kept by the patient.

Finally, some people have trouble not controlling their gas when it is socially appropriate, which is known as gas incontinence.

One possible remedy is pelvic floor exercises, which can give you a little more control over the anal sphincter (the muscle that controls the release of wind).

This involves first stiffening your back, as if to stop a gas leak. Then extend that contraction forward as if you were trying to stop the flow of urine. Your pelvic floor muscles are now tight. Now squeeze that muscle and hold for 10 seconds before releasing and repeating (or hold for 3 seconds if 10 is too hard at first and work your way up).

Repeat this five times, then try ten quick snaps, quickly flexing your muscles back and forth (this works with a different type of pelvic floor muscle). It is best to do this once a day.

Like diaphragmatic breathing when on the phone, pelvic floor exercises are a simple exercise with a big impact.

TRY THIS: Coconut and Cocoa Bites

High in plant-based protein and fiber, they’re a great mid-morning or post-workout snack, minus the unwanted sulfur load you can get from protein bars.

power 10

• ¾ cup nut butter of your choice
• 3 Medjoul dates, pressed into a paste with ¼ cup boiling water or 1/4 cup sweetener of your choice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
• ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp grated coconut

Place nut butter, date paste, vanilla extract and cocoa in a bowl and mix well. Form the mixture into a large, smooth ball of dough. Tear off small pieces to make ten bite-sized balls. Freeze for 30 minutes to set the dough balls. Place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and melt slowly in the microwave or over a saucepan of hot water, stirring every 15 seconds, until smooth.

Dip the frozen pieces in the melted chocolate and sprinkle with grated coconut. (For an extra botanical kick, add additional toppings like chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or ground almonds.) Return to the freezer to set the chocolate and store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Sprinkle the bars with grated coconut

Megan asked

I just received the results of an antibody test for food intolerance. Are these tests accurate as they seem to reflect a high intolerance to certain foods I eat regularly (eg ginger root, sweet potatoes, almonds, kiwis, eggs and dairy).

Sandra Aale, E. Sussex.

Despite the convincing marketing claims, there is no valid test for food intolerance (other than lactose).

And I would be especially wary of scientific-sounding “IgG tests,” which involve exposing a blood sample to various foods and measuring the resulting antibody (IgG). Unlike IgE tests, which are valid for diagnosing certain allergies, most of us will actually develop IgG antibodies to foods at some point in our lives without showing any symptoms.

So, as you have established, the IgG is indicative of repeated exposure, not a food intolerance. As such, I wouldn’t let these results influence your food choices.

In clinical practice, we follow a three-step approach to diagnosis, which I call the 3Rs: record your food intake and symptoms; leniency of alleged offenders; and finally the reintroduction of these foods.

Contact Megan Rossi

Email drmegan@dailymail.co.uk or write to Good Health, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY – please include your contact details. DR Megan Rossi cannot comment on the personal correspondence. Answers must be taken in a general context; Always consult your doctor if you have any health problems