If, like us, you’ve spent many an evening sat on the couch wincing with a glass of water and a painfully bloated stomach, there's probably something in your diet causing a problem.
While we don’t recommend eating nuts and berries for the rest of your days to avoid the issue, there are some things you can cut out of your diet that might be causing you to feel sluggish.
1. Spices
Spicy foods can cause irritation to your bowels and gut, resulting in indigestion, vomiting and even diarrhoea.
If you find yourself adding extra chilli to every meal, this could be the reason you’re feeling so rough.
As a general rule, you should avoid strong flavours in general if your digestive system isn’t performing as it should.
2. Acidic food
Those words alone should be warning enough, but things like tomato ketchup, citrus fruits, and processed meats could be the root of your problems.
Fizzy drinks also fall into this category, so ditch the sparkling drinks for something a little softer on the stomach.
3. Caffeine
Yes, saying goodbye to your afternoon coffee could prevent your stomach from sounding like a mating whale come nighttime.
Caffeine makes everything in your tummy move a lot quicker, resulting in irritation and, possibly, diarrhoea.
And while decaf might sound like an easy-out, it’s still not entirely caffeine-free so it might still cause you discomfort.
It’s trial and error with this one.
4. Dairy
The lactose present in dairy products can cause major bloating and irritation if you’re body isn’t digesting it properly.
Yogurt and hard cheese shouldn’t cause too much of a problem, as they have no lactose in them, but for everything else, try a lactose-free version and see if it makes a difference.
5. Artificial Sweetener
Sorbitol is an artificial sweetener found in many chewing gums and ‘diet’ foods.
As its presence in this list would suggest, it can cause painful digestive problems, gas, and inflammation.
Check food labels on these types of foods to see if this pesky sweetener is in there - if so, we’d shop around if we were you.
