Feeling bloated as if your stomach was full of gas is never a great experience, nor is it something easy to get rid of. Nevertheless, you’ll be happy to know that there are a few things you can do in order to reduce or suppress this awful feeling. That being said, is apple cider vinegar really the best way to get rid of bloating? We answer all of your questions in this quick guide down below.
What’s bloating?
Bloating is the sensation of being full, almost as if there is no airspace in your belly. In some cases, you could pretty much picture a bowling ball being stuck in your stomach. Both the ingestion and digestion processes need gas in your stomach in order to function properly.
When you eat food or drink something, the gas build up will help to break apart the food so it can be digested easily through the intestines and colon. However, if there is too much gas and/or that the gas is stuck between the food, you then get bloated. Nevertheless, bloating is often caused by many other reasons than gas build-up, which we will talk about a bit later.
Why is Apple Cider Vinegar good for bloating?
Since apple cider vinegar, or ACV, is acidic and antimicrobial, it means that it can help with the following:
- Raising the acid levels in your stomach, which helps digestion, especially if your digestive system is being a bit slower than normal
- It can kill some of the bacteria that are found in the stomach or in the intestines, thanks to its antimicrobial properties.
Furthermore, these 2 effects of apple cider vinegar are the reasons why lots of people use ACV in their daily diet. The latter is especially popular with Keto diet fans, who need a lot of digestive help since this diet relies on eating huge amounts of meat every day.
Can Apple Cider Vinegar relieve gas in the stomach?
ACV helps your stomach in the production of acid and digestive enzymes. When the acid levels are not strong enough or when there is a lack of enzymes, gas starts to build up, causing the bloating effect. Therefore, drinking apple cider vinegar on a daily basis in small portions is a good way to aid the overall digestion process of your body. That said, please note that you should be careful and not overuse ACV in your diet.
How to use ACV in your diet?
To use apple cider vinegar in your diet, you can simply put some in a glass of water, in a smoothie, or in a glass of tea. Also, you can add a bit of honey to make the taste more enjoyable. In general, you should put only one tablespoon of ACV in a typical glass format, or maybe 2 tablespoons if your glass is pretty big. You can drink it before or after the meal, it doesn’t really matter, as long you don’t abuse the amount of ACV intake per day. Finally, you can also use some ACV in a salad, it’s very delicious when mixed with some olive oil.
What ACV brand should I buy?
If you are wondering which ACV brands are the best, first you need to know that there are 2 types of ACV:
- Conventional Vinegar without the mommy
- Unfiltered Vinegar, coated with the mother
What’s the ACV mother, you may ask? It’s a coat of yeast and lactic acid bacteria that forms naturally during the fermentation process. This coat is extremely good for your health, as it contains a ton of beneficial bacteria for the human body.
Here are some of the best ACV brands with the mother on the market:
- Dynamic Health
- Fleischmann’s
- Bragg’s
- Vitacost
- Eden
If you are going to use one of those, make sure to shake it firmly beforehand so that the mother is dispersed completely within the bottle.
Does bloating last long?
It depends on what has caused the bloating in the first place. As mentioned above, there are many things that can cause bloating, such as chronic constipation or a health condition.
Commonly speaking, bloating shouldn’t last very long, and most of the time just a few changes in your diet and eating healthy will do the trick. If you feel bloated for several hours or for many days, then something is not normal, you should go see a specialist or a doctor as soon as possible.
What are the causes of bloating and how to avoid it?
Now let’s talk about what causes this bloating sensation in your stomach. Here’s a full rundown of the main bloating causes with detailed descriptions:
Water Retention
Water retention can be easily detected if you notice that your hands, ankles, feet, and legs are swollen. If you eat a lot of sodium and that you don’t move much (no exercise, work in front of a computer all day), then too much fluid may be stored in your body. Usually speaking, you can solve this problem by just cutting back on sodium and exercising a few times every week.
Constipation
Constipation can be caused by a number of different things such as a bad diet, hormonal changes, or even eating certain foods that would trigger constipation. When your small intestine has too much waste to process, it will make your stomach bloat, and give this unpleasant feeling of having a hard time digesting your food. To help relieve your digestive system from constipation, you can eat lots of bananas or other natural laxatives (like apple cider vinegar) and avoid any fast food for a while.
Overeating
Overeating is a common cause of bloating and often leads to a lot of water retention or chronic constipation if you keep doing it. Just try to balance your meals and everything should be fine.
Bad diet/fast food
Well, if you eat processed food and fatty food almost every day, there is a good chance that you are going to feel bloated. We strongly recommend avoiding that.
Health problem
Health conditions such as lactose intolerance, chronic constipation, and premenstrual syndrome may lead to bloating.
In summary, apple cider vinegar is very good as a supplement in your daily life. It can be used in a salad, in a smoothie, and it will just make your stomach happy. As a general rule of thumb, bloating can be avoided with a balanced diet and regular exercise. However, just know that ACV is in fact helpful if you feel bloated after eating lots of food.