- Avoid raw salads: Raw veggies are harder to digest. Stick to cooked vegetables, especially leafy greens.
- Reduce stress before eating: It might be difficult to slow down mentally and physically while you’re eating at your desk (and maybe you don’t have any time to eat lunch) but here is an alternative…Use 4-7-8 breathing to shift out of “stress” mode and into “digest” mode. That means inhale for a count of 4, hold your breath for a count of 7, then exhale for a count of 8. Repeat 4-7-8 breaths for 2-5 cycles before each and every meal, especially at school.
- Chew well: When chewing is neglected, we make our stomach and intestines work extra hard. That can lead to bloating, gas, and cramping. If you have no time to chew properly, it’s time to consider easy-to digest meals such as soups or smoothies (the blender does the “chewing” for you).
- Drinking too much with a meal: Too much liquid with a meal can make you feel bloated and can take extra long for your stomach to digest all of the food, which will cause more bloating. (Focus on hydrating between meals).
- Don’t eat in excess: Eating too much will also slow down your digestion and cause bloating. Stick to your usual portion sizes.
- Identify your trigger foods: On average, people have 15 different food sensitivities that can be causing their flare-ups. We put together a short case study which shows how 97% of our clients with IBS had these 3 food sensitivities (that had nothing to do with wheat, dairy, or garlic). For privacy reasons, we couldn’t post this out to the public, but by entering your email into the form below, we can send this to your inbox for instant access.
Author: Marina Bedrossian, RDN, CDN, CLT, FMNS, CECP, CBCP
Marina is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a strong background in holistic care. She believes in encouraging the body to heal naturally, using hyper-personalized nutrition and emotional release.
Marina helps IBSers feel significantly better in just 7-10 days. Visit IBSdietitians.com to start pooping normally again.
