Space Out Meals
Nutrition · Intermediate
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If you feel bloated in the afternoon, leave about four hours between meals so your gut can run its housekeeping cycle.
Micro-habits to get started
Small actions of a few minutes to start this habit:
Four hours without snacking
Leave roughly four hours between one meal and the next, with no snacking in between.
Water, black coffee, or unsweetened tea won't disrupt the cycle. Does not apply if taking medication for diabetes, pregnant, or frail: follow your physician's advice.
1 minDrop sugar-free gum
Avoid sugar-free gum and mints for one week.
They cause swallowed air and contain sugar alcohols, two well-known culprits of bloating.
1 minLog your afternoon
Note how your abdomen feels mid-afternoon for seven days.
If it improves, you have your answer; if not, that log is the first thing your doctor will ask for.
1 min