8 Ways to De-Bloat Fast from a Sugar (or other) Binge
I just got back from a weekend away with my best girlfriends from high school. Each year we pick a weekend and a suitable location and we leave everything behind and just go hang out with each other, catch up, laugh and of course, eat.
As you may or may not be able to imagine, during these weekends there is a higher consumption of wine, cheese and (potentially) hand crafted confections from local sweet spots.
Of course I would not trade these weekends, nor would I alter the way I eat or drink during them. It is important to be in the world and enjoy occasionally and let your pink highlights down (it IS breast cancer awareness month, and so I?ve got some pink highlights for October).
Sometimes I come back from these weekends feeling a bit bloated or like I am holding water. Of course this is not a comfortable feeling. Who enjoys feeling stuffed into clothes?
Luckily, things go back to normal as my consumption of wine and cheese goes back to their standard dull roar. As does yours, if you happen to eat things that are out of the norm, or increase consumption of foods that could be problematic in your normal repertoire.
Perhaps, though, you are looking for specific things that you can do to debloat quickly and get back to normal. I want to stress that these tips, tricks and tools are for those here and there indulgences and you don?t want to use them as a crutch to pound cookie dough because they will stop working :)
1. First, please know that there is no need to starve yourself the day after you come home from a bender or weekend away. In fact, starving yourself will likely set you up to binge later or have cravings for sweet or starchy foods – the most common ones to bring on the bloat.
2. Green drink: Rich in minerals and electrolytes that help maintain fluid balance and help you shed extra water that you may be hanging on to, green drinks can help you debloat. I put a big handful of microgreens, raspberries, parsley and the juice of a lemon in mine along with some vanilla and blend it up in the Vitamix.
3. Watery greens: think cucumbers, lettuces, spinach, celery. These foods help add water to your system, which helps to hydrate you. Hydration is key in shedding water. Many of these foods often have diuretic action as well.
4. Chew your food: You guys hear me talk about this all the time, and I cannot emphasize it enough. Chewing your food well ensures that there is less burden on your stomach to mechanically crush it up. It also puts less burden on the biochemical breakdown of your food. This translates into less gas and bloating and gives your quite-likely-already-overworked system a breather.
5. Extra enzymes: If you are having a day where you feel particularly full of air or holding water, taking extra enzymes both with and in between meals can help your body return to normal. Enzymes will help break down food and chew up any inflammatory molecules that may be floating around, which will help you shed water.
6. Extra water: Dilution is the solution, have you ever heard that one? Extra water will help clear out the inflammatory compounds that are generated with extra sugar, salt or alcohol consumption. Water will also help flush out your system by increasing urine output.
7. Walk for at least 60 minutes: A slow leisure walk will help balance your nervous system, ensuring adequate digestive factors are produced and that gut motility is optimal. By moving, you will also biomechanically help everything trace down and out. Walking also helps to soothe the mind and take your thoughts off the fact that you are bloated in the first place.
8. Lastly, understand that it can take up to 72 hours – that is three days – to clear out the inflammation and antibodies that are generated in an indulgence situation. Remember, it is these inflammatory compounds that are pulling water into your body and making you feel bloated and puffy. So be patient with your body as you de-puff and know it can take a few days ;)
