5 Tips For A Flatter Tummy
895 tips for a flatter tummy is a guide to beat the bloat - the dreaded bloat that we all love to hate. There are ways and means of avoiding a swollen tummy and they all involve very little effort. Current lifestyles force us to eat on the hoof, rush through meals, all the while paying little or no attention to our dietary intake or physical needs. Most of us are guilty of causing our bellies to bloat and it’s surprising just how easily we can avoid it.
5 Tips For A Flatter Tummy
Here are the top 5 tips for a flatter tummy. None are difficult and all are common sense answers to a self-inflicted dilemma. How many times have you still been eating breakfast whilst setting out to work, or eating lunch whilst on the go? I know I’ve done it a hundred times … or more. Many of us run busy homes; work full time, all the while juggling family commitments.
Paying just a little more attention to what we’re eating and how we’re eating will go a long way towards calming down excess gases and help reduce the bloated look/feeling. Even better you’ll find that your clothes fit a little better and more important of all, you’ll feel healthier.
Flatter Tummy Tip #1
Bloated Belly
Carbs are a great food source. However, try to steer clear of anything carb-related, late at night. No munching on stacks of hot buttered toast or raiding the fridge for left over pasta. Carbohydrates are starchy and starch aides water retention. And what does water retention cause? You got it … a bloated tummy.
Flatter Tummy Tip #2
Do you use artificial sweeteners? If so, it’s entirely possible that you struggle to process one of the key ingredients found in most artificial sweeteners – sorbitol. It metabolizes slowly in the digestive system and can cause excess gas (read:wind!) and upset tummies.
It’s sometimes found in laxatives – surprise surprise – and that helps explain why it can cause diarrhoea in some individuals. Interestingly, you don’t need to be using artificial sweeteners to fall victim to it as it’s found in a multitude of diet drinks and other foods/drinks that are sugar-free. It’s also known to exacerbate Irritable Bowel Syndrome so if you’re a sufferer, think twice before you use anything that may contain it.
Flatter Tummy Tip #3
Do you like carbonated drinks? Your tummy doesn’t, simple fact. One sure fire way to bloat up that belly is to sup/sip or quaff fizzy sodas. More so if you gulp it down in an effort to quench your thirst. Gulping anything means taking in air. Air and carbonated liquids together are a fabulously easy way to cause belly bloat. Therefore an equally fabulous way to calm down your swollen belly is to … you got it … bin the soda.
Switch to water or water based drinks. And don’t forget, anything that doesn’t come from the tap – check it doesn’t contain sorbitol. See #2
Flatter Tummy Tip #4
Go easy on the salt. Salt attracts water. They go together like birds of a feather. Honest. Sodium (salt) is found in processed foods, seasonings and used as a food preservative. Meaning that you’d be surprised how much salt you may ingest on a day to day basis. Oddly, salt regulates the amount of water found within our bodies – and as a mineral, it’s something that we can’t live without.
However, too much salt in your system just encourages water retention. Next time you feel like adding a little more flavour to your food, think again.
Flatter Tummy Tip #5
Limit spicy foods. Certain flavourings and seasonings encourage stomach acids. In turn, stomach acids, when excessive, cause belly bloat. Vinegar, chilli, spicy sauces, garlic – anything along the lines of ‘spicy’ will stimulate acid production, and we all know what happens when acid indigestion kicks in. Plus there’s always the risk of creating heartburn. Another digestive nasty.
Step away from the chilli con carne and go easy on the hot n’ spicy chicken wings.
Of course there’s another benefit to be gained when we avoid eating too much of the above foods. Excess wind in the belly not only causes bloating but … trapped gas. And without stating the obvious – you all know what happens when we get a little too much gas trapped in our digestive systems.
You … burp a lot!
Patti - me too. Carbs in general. Bread is probably my biggest downfall ... the rest I have no real problem with. I rarely if ever drink anything carbonated, spicy foods are rare and the less salt the better!
Guilty of #1 right now and of #5 all the time. I just love spicy food, all of it.
Thanks, frog. :)
Pacal - step away from the plate lol it's now the pm! Tuts!
And thankyou right back :)
Thanks for the info- I never knew about artificial sweeteners!
SWM - I knew sorbitol was widely used though not how it affects folks in general. Good to know huh?! As an IBS sufferer, I'm glad it's one less thing to worry about as I doubt I eat anything that contains it ;)
Excellent hub. I can't live without spicy foods but try to eat a lot of healthy steamed unseasoned veggies and drink tons of water so hopefully it balances out (fingers crossed!).
Mardi - hey! I should add or maybe write another ... too much veg can be a bloat causer. Raw veg (too much of) and too many leafy green veg. I think it goes back to the old saying 'everything in moderation' :) You've got a great diet though, I wish I could say the same. I'm more for olive oil, fresh meat, pasta, rice, fruit juice, fruit - I rarely if ever eat processed foods, sweets etc, so I'm not too bad.
Ahhhh!!! How come everything I love is so BAD for me? I'm sure that beer is also bad for you as it contains lots of carbs (not to mention that it makes you hungry...afterwards).
Thank you sharing such great tips and reconfirming why I'm getting a bit chubby :D Love the wings and beer come Sunday watching my New York Giants!
Maltilol gives me diarrhea every time I accidentally eat it. Chewing gum with maltilol is enough to set it off.
#5. Sorry Froggy, but I wont quit my roasted jalapenos. No way. Such a fiendishly good aroma, Mama mia.
Limit spicy foods??? Ah.. you cut me!! I would take spicy over any of the others you mentioned. Fine.. I'll cut back! Great hub FD!
Those are 5 tips I needed and I am so glad you wrote this. Really well written too. Thanks
Very good FD, just another reminder of the fluid retention issues.
I like spicy foods so much too. In particular Garlic I use alot of that . I guess I am gonna have to tough It out .
dohn - I believe you know well how beer affects our stomachs ... I thought it best not to labor a point none actually needed. No salvation here. Beer = bloating. And well you know it lol!
Raven - you eat girl! Moderation is the key. I'm not giving up pasta etc, I don't want to. Far too tasty :)
Candie - hey there :) You can do what you like, eat what you want. You're just gorgeous to the chromosones :):)
lyric - great! Now you know. We need 'before and after' pictures please!
Jewels - you nailed it. It's water retention and excess gas. Did you know that by moderating the above, by actually adjusting what you eat, when and how, you can lose up to 5/6lbs without doing exercises? If not - now you do. Though it's not an overnight thing, takes a week or two. But an easy few pounds in my book!
Tony - moderation. That's all it is. I love garlic and use it a lot. Mustard is another one.
Hey Froggy,
I am guilty of all of them. MH will look 6 months pregnant already. Oh dear crap.
lol Meehoo ... eat, drink ... or not! I'm still eating and drinking. Sat here with my little belly bloat. I earned mine ;)
Did you know smoking, even tho it SEEMS to cause you to keep weight off, can keep you from loosing belly fat? Although you might look slimmer, your not healthier. And if you have to drink, Vodka is beter then beer or whiskey for less weight gain, as its clear. I actualy read that in a diet magazine!!
Red - why do you think I drink Vodka :) Smoking is a filthy habit. I'm on with disgusting myself enough that I give the habit up. Smoking not also draw filth into our lungs but air too. And more air causes bloating.
I read magazines sooooo rarely Red. Never a big fan of them when I was in the UK and even less so here because they're all in Portuguese ;)
ok I can handle everything except the no soda one and the no salt one. I loves my Coke and salty food LOL Whuch could explain my spare tire :o
Janetta - no lol too much soda and salt makes you bloat. Spare tires are just evidence of mommy love. I have a little one, when I sit. My baby belly. I earned it :)
haha you're trying to make me feel better aren't you.. ;)
Nope. I mean what I say. You're a mommy. You've earned the right to a little extra weight. We're not superhuman. pregnancy and labor puts our bodies through soooooo much. I'm not ashamed of the fact that I was once a stone lighter. I feel and look better. And I've got wonderful kids to boot :)
Good post this is. Very Very Very Very good.
mag - thankyou, very much. And welcome to HubPages ... I notice that you're quite new :)
Good call on #4.
Nice article!
:)
whoa! i didn't know that spicy food can make my tummy to bloat!..thanks for that info.!
Claudyne - I think it's try it and see. I reckon some could stomach (pardon the pun) spicy foods better than others, and vice versa :)
Soda evil evil soda. I just can't stay away. My love affair with it. I'm so ashamed lol.
messer - you know you can do it. Put the can down. Step away. Don't look at it. Or think about it. Step into the light ... ;)
Drinking water is the best way to flat tummy.
Alone it's not. Instead of soda it's a definite plus, providing you don't go mad with the salt ;)
Ok, gonna test your knowledge... I am an occasional #1, no spice, no artificial sweeteners, no soda, very little salt, exercise regularly. Still trying to flatten the spare tire... Is it perhaps my eating pattern? Anything I eat makes me feel bloated, I eat very little or too much at any sitting and skip the occasional breakfast or lunch if I'm on the run. Could you maybe suggest a better routine and foods to avoid? This maybe a new hub topic for you...hmm...
Coincidentally, I'm a 38 year old man who probably shouldn't be too concerned about this stuff - but I am. Colour me red and tag me guilty!
Ok Dom - a test! What else do you eat? You said what you don't eat, not what you do :)
And this isn't just for the girls. Men suffer with it too. And there's nothing wrong with a guy wanting to take care of himself!
Hello frogdroping, very good hub as always. Thank you.
Keira - thankyou ... may your tummy always be flat!
Great tips! Didn't know about number 2 nor number 5. Now I have to watch that sort of thing.
frogdropping: Let's see, breakfast is either a bowl of cereal (Life, SpecialK, Cheerios, that sort of thing) or two slices of toast, never both. Lunch (when I get to it), if it has to be fast food I try for Subway or something similar - occasionally have to go a larger restaurant with the boss and stuff a greasy burger, not very often. Supper is usually light, more rice than potatoes, not a lot of red meat, not enough salad. Exercise is either 5k bike ride in good weather or 200 reps on a rowing machine 2-4 times a week. Good luck...
Oh man, spicy foods with a soda chaser... GONE! Thanks, great information tho.
Good tip,Great hub
keep this hub
noeir - like I've said in reply to others - moderation is the key. I would never cut things out that I enjoy. At best, I just eat or drink them less. But that's just me :)
Dom - what a puzzle. I know fatty foods (take aways) are pretty damn bad for the gut. The fat content is way less than healthy and as you'll know, fat doesn't move well through the gut. But I don't know that you eat loads of it. The most onvious thing that stands out is the amount of complex carbs that you're eating.
Do you have an intolerance to them? Why not carb reduce and see if there's a difference? There's an enzyme that's required that aids digestion, important when it comes to carbs. It's possible to lack it. Maybe you should check this out? And I'm no doctor - so at best I can only surmise. I suffer IBS (quite badly at times) and have picked on up a lot about digestion along the way - I've had no choice ;)
Thanks guys - and I will be keeping it. I didn't write it for the good of my health ... I wrote it for yours ;)
Lol...as I sit here on my couch reading your hub I sip on my tea that I just made in which I just added artificial sweetener to... lol. Thanks for the heads up :) Great hub.
~Stacey~ now that's irony - tea is great and sweeteners far from it. Wonderfully healthy/unhealthy drink!
Awesome, thanks for the tip! I will follow up on your suggestion!
Hey Froggy, thanks for the tips. Didn't know about the artificial sweeteners. I drink sugar-free coffee now, I think they have those sweeteners. Darn, and I thought I was being clever in my diet by drinking those :(.
No salt?!?!?! Oh no. I love junk foods a.k.a. my comfort foods and I love dipping my food in what we call fish sauce (locally called 'patis') which is very very very salty. *sigh* you just love rubbing it in dontcha? LOL j/k I'll steer clear of those, promise =).
You tip no 4 seems to be a good one. I wish to try it out.
Dom - I really don't know if I'm right, it's a suggestion. But let me know.
Emie - lol you can use salt. I was meaning the ones that pour it over cooked food like it's going out of fashion :)
Pete - good, I hope it works for you :)
Sorbitol only processes slowly and with gas in SOME people. Also, its only found in about 1/2 of the artificial sweeteners out there. But, great tips.
you forgot one thing though in my case my tummy is fat cuz of giving birth so your tips which are great don't help me mayb u gt something else?please..,
LOL, froggy that's good to know.
: ( what is good to eat?
Great Tips, Well Done!
Hub - you're right. But I wasn't saying sorbitol affects everyone adversely. I said might, not will. But thanks for the heads up :)
csd - I will have to see what I can dig up for you but if it's a baby belly you don't want, it's going to involve exersise I'm afraid :)
emie - I'm full of you know ... info :)
Valerie - almost everything ... in moderation :)
BnL - Thankyou :) You found that missing eyeball yet?
thanks frog.
I really like the tip about salt intake. Do you maybe have suggestions to add flavor instead of salt?
Joe - you're welcome :)
Sammy - you can use salt. It's when you use too much that it can be a problem. As for adding salt in general, you should add it to your food as you cook, a little at a time. Never just grab a small handful and throw it into the pan.
Little and often as your food cooks. That way you avoid over-salting.
As for other flavors - read up on the wonders than you can do with common garden herbs. Mayve you could learn how to grow a few in a window box :)
Great tips Froggy. Thanks for sharing. The spicey foods have to go. Oh well:)
Great tips.
thanks for this. wwaaaa, i love spicy foods! super need these tips and try them if they work for me.
Wow I didn't know about the tips you discussed. Well, deep back in the crevices of my mind, I have heard of them but thank you for listing them here clearly and with good explanation.
Thanks everyone :) Just don't stop enjoying your food! It's for eating - not avoiding. And some of the above won't affect you. We're all different :)
Ha! ha! ha! I enjoy this hub...though Im kinda skinny, I have a "little tummy" though,itisn't that obvious because I "suck it in" to appear flatter.
maudine - I'm a champion belly sucker hehe!
Patti Ann says:
2 months ago
Excellent! I'm guilty of #1 - love popcorn at night.