There are few discomforts quite as annoying as the “water balloon inside your belly” feeling known as bloating. But luckily there are some tricks you can try to help limit the swelling. We enlisted a few experts—a heralded doctor who specializes in digestion and inflammation, a clean-eating expert, and a hormone specialist—to share their tips for beating bloat, both in the moment and before it happens.
There are few discomforts quite as annoying as the “water balloon inside your belly” feeling known as bloating. But luckily there are some tricks you can try to help limit the swelling. We enlisted a few experts—a heralded doctor who specializes in digestion and inflammation, a clean-eating expert, and a hormone specialist—to share their tips for beating bloat, both in the moment and before it happens.
If you’re reading this: Drink a glass of water. You likely need it, as 75 percent of Americans are described as “chronically dehydrated.” While achieving a state of hydration might seem enviable and impossible, fret not because it’s doable. And the health benefits are not only encouraging, but they are also downright inspiring in the immediate short term, but especially in the long run. “Long-term hydration is the single best thing we can do to prevent chronic illness,” says Dr. Dana Cohen, an integrative medicine specialist in New York and coauthor of Quench: Beat Fatigue, Drop Weight, and Heal Your Body Through the New Science of Optimum Hydration.
There are plenty of things we hold onto for good reason. Treasures from our travels, family heirlooms, sentimental birthday cards—all justifiable keepsakes. Then there are the odds and ends we accumulate just because we have the space to store them. You know, the “But what if I need this one day?” items. It seems like a rather harmless habit—until those nonessentials add up and turn your cabinets and closets into living nightmares. The chaos stops here. It’s time to repurpose, recycle, or kick ’em to the curb.