EDIT: I just found this article through Google. I hope others here find it helpful:
5 Foods That Cause Bloating
Unless you are suffering from some terrible stomach disease (in which case, you need the attention of a physician), your stomach bloating is probably just a result of some of your poor food habits. Often, replacing the bad foods (that cause bloating) with healthier substitutes can offer you permanent relief from bloating and flatulence. In this article, I will tell you about the foods that can make your stomach bloated and constipated! Don't be surprised if some of these foods form the core of your daily diet!
Processed Foods: Processed foods such as carbonated drinks (energy drinks, soft drinks, diet soda, diet coke, etc), potato chips, coffee, tea, alcohol (especially beer and wine), etc., can be the cause of stomach bloating. They are at best - avoided!
Meat: Meat is pretty hard to digest; no wonder that meat eaters are some of the biggest sufferers of abdominal bloating! Then again, how you consume meat is also a determining factor in whether you would be able to digest or not. Raw meat is perhaps the easiest one to digest, but hey, a human being usually cannot eat raw meat, so let us not kid ourselves! The second best option is to boil meat, which is probably the closest form of 'digestible' cooked meat you could have. If you eat heavily fried meat then it is going to cause rumblings and gas in your stomach. Meat in smoked form is generally considered to be the one that is hardest to digest, and therefore, should be avoided at all costs!
Of course, it is not just meat that is to blame for stomach troubles; in fact, just about any kind of fatty foods can trigger abdominal bloating, gas and constipation!
Milk: Milk is one of the causes behind an unhealthy stomach, and so is any dairy product (such as cheese)! The fact remains that a lot of adults are in general lactose-intolerant, a condition where one cannot digest lactose (of milk). It is therefore, little surprise indeed that people who drink milk heavily are the ones who suffer from bloating pretty frequently. Undigested milk often results in stomach bloating and gas! Personally, I stay away from milk no matter what, but if you cannot live without milk at all, then stuff such as Lactaid (which is available over-the-counter) can help you digest lactose!
Natural Foods: Of course, even if you never drink milk, it does not mean that you won't suffer from abdominal bloating at all! There are a lot of solid foods that have been scientifically proven to be the cause of bloating; examples of such foods are beans, bran, lentils, bagels, broccoli, legumes, cabbage, onions, Brussels sprouts, pulses, cauliflower, etc. It would be good if you don't eat these foods at all, unless of course you enjoy farting and belching in public!
And you thought that any kind of natural food is good for your stomach? If so, you better think again!
Especially for beans, there is a way to keep them from forming gas in your stomach. Soak the beans in water and leave them like that for one whole night. Then, discard the water and cook them for at least thirty minutes. Once done, discard the water you used in boiling these beans and then cook them again for another thirty minutes - using NEW water!
Then there are certain foods which are known to cause slight bloating; while a moderate intake of such foods should not cause a problem, their overconsumption may certainly result in irritable bowel syndrome! Such foods are apricots, bananas, raw apples, citrus fruits (rich in Vitamin C), lettuce, potatoes, wheat bread, celery, carrots, cucumbers, eggplants, pretzels, soybeans, raisins, etc.
Chocolate: If you love chocolate, I have got bad news for you. Since it cannot be easily digested by your stomach (one of the reasons being the presence of high concentration of sugar in it), it makes a mess of your digestive system. I know how you feel about reading this, but believe me, I love dark chocolates, but even I usually stay away from them; occasionally, whenever I break that rule and grab a bite of chocolate, I start suffering from irritable bowel syndrome! Bottom line, eating chocolate means inviting stomach trouble!
Other Culprits: These culprits are not foods but still, are indirectly related to foods, which is why I thought to elaborate on it on a separate paragraph. If you eat foods too fast, and don't chew them well, you are forcing your stomach to work harder to digest that 'unchewed' food, which in turn would result in stomach gas.
Bloating is also sometimes caused by parasites; believe it or not, parasites inhabit the surfaces of most of the fruits and vegetables we consume daily; you can discard these parasites by washing the foods well before cooking them! If you are not washing your food well, those parasites would certainly entire your digestive tract and wreak havoc inside by giving you a bloated stomach!
Then of course, there is constipation to consider. Foods that trigger constipation are often also the ones that can trigger stomach bloating; for this reason, such foods should be avoided, or at best, their intake moderated. If you suffer from chronic constipation, you should visit a physician urgently, as chances are that this is the root cause behind your current digestion problems!
Article Source:
5 Foods That Cause Bloating
