How to deflate the belly: diet and chewing

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The swollen belly and full of air is one of the most common ailments and is often linked to the need to eat meals quickly. So, the first tip is to avoid eating large meals in a few moments.

The role of chewing

One of the great strategies to avoid this problem is to learn to chew slowly and carve out the right time for feeding, which is to allow at least half an hour at the appointment with food.

The rapid introduction of lightly chewed foods tends to put a strain on the stomach where many important processes for digestion take place that take time. Then the stomach is connected with the duodenum through a relatively small valve, the pylorus, which does not allow the passage of large quantities of food. If you overdo the quantity and even if you choose certain types of foods, the stomach struggles to empty and you have this feeling of bloating and tiredness, the typical yawns of slow digestion.

The diet

For those who often have a swollen belly, in addition to talking to the doctor, it is advisable to pay attention to certain foods. For example, excess salt tends to cause liquids to be retained in the tissues.

Attention must be paid to foods that ferment, such as legumes. This does not mean eliminating them from the diet, but gradually training to take them with increasing doses. It is important to minimize, if not eliminate, carbonated drinks.

It should also be limited to gfermentable starches and sugars. Some people may also need milk sugars such as lactose not broken down properly within the digestive tract. Consequently, these sugars can be attacked by intestinal bacteria, ferment and thus produce a large amount of gas. This is also the case when you consume sweeteners in large quantities, such as sorbitol, which is found in chewing gum.

It is essential to chew slowly, follow a varied diet such as the Mediterranean one, without exaggerating with salt and using spices instead.

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“Daily Health Pills” is the podcast series by DiLei TakeCare, curated by Federico Mereta. In each episode we talk about prevention, care and good habits.