These foods are secretly making you super bloated

Do you ever feel like a basketball is stuck in your stomach, or your entire belly is full of water?

Whatever bloating feels like to you, one thing’s for sure: it’s uncomfortable. So what causes bloating?

The uncomfortable feeling can occur at any time of the day, and you may be surprised by some of the foods that may cause it. Even healthy foods can cause bloating, but that doesn’t mean you need to stay away from them. Bloating typically subsides after several hours, so if you have a special occasion coming up, it may be best to avoid them the day of and the night before!

Top offenders include:

• Sugar free gum surprisingly can lead to pain and bloating. When chewing gum, you are swallowing a lot of air, which then turns into trapped gas in the digestive system. Sugar alcohol in gum is a type of a carbohydrate that is not well absorbed. This will leave you feeling bloated.
• Sparkling water may seem like the perfect summer drink to quench your thirst. And while it may do just that, your stomach might be saying something else. The carbonated gas from sparkling water can inflate your stomach, leaving you puffy. Try drinking a cup of tap water before drinking sparkling water. That may help with the bloated feeling.
• Garlic has so many great health benefits, but it has a hard time being absorbed from the GI tract into the blood. Why? Water will be pulled into the intestine and gets unsettled by bacteria, which builds up gas inside the intestines.
• Popcorn is a great snack and low in calories if you don’t put all the butter on it! But popcorn takes up a lot of space in your stomach.
• Similarly, salads are healthy and refreshing, but like popcorn, they are full of volume and can lead to bloating.
• Whether at home or at a local coffee shop, Americans drink over 400 million cups of coffee per day. As popular as coffee is, it contains acids that can irritate your intestines, causing your stomach to puff out. Try limiting coffee to one cup per day.

These six foods might cause bloating, but that doesn’t mean you should remove them from your diet. In fact, many of them have a variety of health benefits that should not be avoided. So if you start feeling bloated after eating any of the top offenders, try one of these “bloating” tips. Lie on your stomach, exercise and drink some water until that uncomfortable feeling goes away.