Gas & bloating
If you're reading this, we're sorry to hear you're experiencing bloating issues! At the Meal Planner, we don't give individual medical or dietetic advice and you'll certainly want to consult your healthcare provider if you feel your symptoms are related to something more serious. However, there are definitely some general tips we're happy to share to hopefully ease your discomfort.
1. Check your fiber: As you may already know, most plant-based foods contain fiber, and whenever you increase the amount of fiber you're eating, many people experience some gassiness at first. Fiber is essential, but just like having too little can cause issues, having too much can be hard on our digestive systems as well. Pairing a fat source with your fiber can also aid in digestion. (example: adding some avocado into your salad or steamed vegetables, or adding some coconut meat into your fruit bowl).
2. Take it easy: Adding foods in slowly can be really helpful for the issues you may be experiencing. In general, most peoples' bodies will adjust to an increase in fiber after some time.
3. Give your digestive tract a hand: Oftentimes, blended and cooked foods are easier to digest too. For example, cooked vs. raw veggies, or blended smoothies, hummus, and pureed soups.
If you are cooking dry beans, discarding the water you soaked your beans in and then cooking the soaked beans in a fresh pot of water may help reduce the gas- or bloat-causing compound in beans. You can also try adding some kombu seaweed to beans while they're cooking to help break down the gas-causing compounds. A brand of canned beans, Eden Foods, already does this step for you!
Fermented foods like tempeh and kimchi can help with digestion too. Drinking plenty of water and getting regular physical activity can also help keep things moving regularly.
4. Narrow it down: You could also try a form of an 'elimination diet,' and take out or lessen particular ingredients from your diet for a day up to a week. Check in with how you feel, and if that's not what's bothering you, try another ingredient. Start with beans, and then try lowering your fruit, if not that your vegetables, so on and so forth and write down how you feel day to day. You may find that there is a specific food that is a bit harder for you to digest and encourages gas and bloating for you, or it may simply be the quantity of fiber you're consuming rather than a specific food causing issues. Either way, this can be a very helpful tool to find out!