Bloated after eating?

There are many reasons you may feel bloated after eating. Here are some of the top reasons and ways to change and support your body.

Over eating:  when we over eat digestive enzymes have a harder time breaking down our food, our stomach expands, pushes on organs and therefore making us feel bloated, tired and sluggish. Ways to avoid this is EAT SLOWER, use chopsticks or a small spoon. Allow time for the stomach to communicate to the hypothalamus, this is how we know we are full.  Another way to not over eat is by CHEWING YOUR FOOD,  this will help your body break down food quicker. Over eating has be come a huge pandemic in this country. We are given serving sizes that are too large, we eat in front of the tv or phone, or we use food as a way to cope with emotional imbalances. It is important that we take the time, and savor every bite. 

Food combing: One of the worst foods to eat with anything else is melons. They should always be eaten by themselves. When it comes to fruit. Keep it simple.  Eat fruit by itself (no melon) but you can add honey and cinnamon! This can be great for keeping vata in check. Whole foods should be eaten either all cooked or all raw, as these differences digest at a different rate. When it comes to milk it shouldn’t be mixed with bananas! Or acidic fruits. Milk takes a long time to digest. Consider a milk alternative for your smoothies. In ayurveda meat isn’t considered a source of food unless you are taking bone broth for healing. However, if you are to partake in meat, consider, fish and eggs (don’t eat with beans, cheese or yogurt) as a source of protein. They are easier to digest and less harmful for the planet to sustain.  

Night Shades: Night shades increase excess heat and acidity to the body, and can create inflammatory symptoms. The most common night shades are tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, goji berries and beans. They also contain lectins and can bind to the digestive wall and wreak havoc on your stomach lining. When it comes to beans if you pre soak and cook them you can remove most of these harmful proteins.

The Pancreas:  The pancreas is an organ and glad. It provides stomach enzymes to digest your food and sends out hormones to control blood sugar levels. A weak pancreas can cause terrible digestive issues, and cause diabetes.  The pancreas can be one of the harder organs to diagnose. Check out our Pancreas Support - Shilajit Rasayana for a healthy lifestyle. 

Wrong Foods: “One man’s food is another man’s poison”.  In ayurveda this rings true if you are not eating according to your body type (dosha).  I am referring to the vata pitta kapha body type in ayurveda.  Vata rules air energy so it is cold and light. That is why eating too much cold and light meals only makes thing worse. Digestive issues occur, sleeps gets out of balance and nervous tendencies arise. Pitta rules fire and so when we drink too much coffee (acidic = fire) and eat to much spicy food, we can become irritated, have breakouts, get angry or increased anxiety. Kapha is ruled by earth/water, so too many heavy/salty food like grains/chips or dairy will make the body heavy, sluggish, depressed, and increase weight gain. What we want to do is eat the element we are lacking. Eating the wrong foods for you body type can cause digestive issues. If you want to know your body type then check out our private in depth Ayurvedic Consultations. If you would like to eat for your body type then check out Diet Charts.  

Additives and Processed Foods: Food has become more and more modified and has changed over the years. Our breads have Potassium bromate, ammonium sulfate, L-cysteine sulfate,( mostly banned in other countries) high fructose corn syrup and refined grains. Read your bread labels and avoid at all cost! With cost of food on the rise and money in the pocket being less, if you can’t afford to eat organic (foods without harmful additives), then learning how to make food from scratch may actually save you money, and your health. There is nothing more satisfying than pulling fresh baked bread out of the oven. It really is more simple than you think. Don’t get me started on high fructose corn syrup. Did you know that HFCS is the number one cause of obesity in America and is the result of child obesity, and it creates metabolic disorder. 

Ulcerative Colitis is swelling or inflammation of the large intestine. Ulcerative Colitis may be acute and self-limited or long term. It is a form of Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) One of the best ways to help support IBD and IBS is to eat an anti inflammatory diet, drink fresh aloe juice or gel, avoid all night shades, and add things like Triphala - Internal Cleanse on a regular bases.

Thyroid: This small shaped gland in your neck can have a huge impact on your metabolism. If your concerned about this then please see a doctor for tests. If you do know that this may be a case of your digestive issues than working on these topics above can play a huge role in supporting these glands. The thyroid responds to stress, so the less unhealthy things we eat or put on our body the less stress it will feel. 

Blog By 

Lavanya Kruger

Owner of Ayurvedic Rasayanas