12 simple steps to a flat and healthy tummy
You’re going to the gym or committing to your home workouts and putting in the hours of work but you feel that you’re getting nowhere. No matter what you do you feel that you’re not getting the results you deserve and your stomach is still as bloated as it was before. You’ve started to eat the right food and got into a routine in helping your body achieve the goals you’ve set but you’re just not getting the result you expected. There could be something not quite right with your gut…
We can remove the culprits responsible for bloating, support the gut with probiotics and speed up digestion with enzymes to have the dream tummy of a teen
Good digestion can flatten your stomach.
The gut has lots of sugar-loving bacteria because we feed them often but, when it comes to lentils, beans, seeds and grains we don’t regularly eat enough fibre in the western diet. When we do, it leaves us bloated and uncomfortable. We can take probiotics to help digestion but it is a bit like sending unarmed solders to war when we eat probiotics but fail to feed them the food they need to grow.
These 12 steps will help flatten your tummy and improve your gut health.
- Stress away from mealtime. Take a few deep breaths before eating to stimulate the vagus nerve and the parasympathetic nervous system to aid digestion.
2. Keep to a routine. Allow 4 hours between each meal and a 12-hour window fast overnight.
3. Eat less food. The Japanese believe in Hara hichi bu which is repeated before or after eating and means “fill your belly until it is 80% full”. This prevents tiring the body with a long digestive processes that accelerates ageing.
If you have a history of taking antibiotics or consume wheat and dairy, you are likely to suffer from an unbalanced gut, bloating and discomfort.
4. Eat Mindfully. Think about enjoying your food and chew it slowly. Chewing increases the surface area of the food so digestion is easier and bloating is reduced.
5. Keep water away from meals. Water dilutes stomach acid so keep water to a period 20-minutes before or 1-hour after meals.
6. Eat 3 meals a day. If this seems too much, make the portions smaller and avoid snacking in between.
7. Eat away from distractions. Phones, TV or computers and instead eat at a table.
8. Eat at least 2-hours before bedtime. The body will have time to focus on rest and repair during sleep.
9. Keep a food diary for any bloating reflux or discomfort. This will help you establish if there are foods that maybe triggering a digestive issue. If so a remove, repair and restore protocol can be advised.
Drinking 2 litres of water throughout the day will support good detoxification for glowing skin, balanced energy and a flat stomach.
10. Try a good quality probiotic. Restore your gut bacteria 15-minutes before a meal. Try 11/50 Advanced Live culture formula. £32.99.
11. Eat a Mediterranean diet. A diet consisting of fresh fish, fruit, vegetables, olive oil, nuts and seeds. Families in this part of the world eat together, enjoy good quality food, lots of sunshine and live in a community where they thrive.
12. Help your enzymes. We produce digestive enzymes to breakdown protein, carbohydrates and fats, which lower with age. We can take a supplement of digestive enzymes to help this process. Digestive enzymes from Terranova.£20.
