Tips to Avoid Bloating and Gas at Christmas Dinner: Expert Advice

25 dec 2023 om 05:08

Burping and farting at Christmas dinner with your mother-in-law on the left and your new girlfriend on the right: fun is different. There are tricks to getting through all the Christmas dinners and breakfasts without bloating, smelly gases and belching, these gut experts tell us.

The best advice to avoid smelly intestinal gas, diarrhea or stomach pain during a lavish meal is to chew – very well and very slowly. This is what Eline Meijer, orthomolecular dietician and specialist in intestinal health, says.

“Chew a bite of food fifteen to twenty times. That seems like a lot, and it is. But this way you help your digestive system. The stomach doesn’t have to work hard to process all those large chunks.”

For many people, an average Christmas day will be all about food: starting the day with a piece of stollen, some snacks early on, alcohol, an lavish Christmas menu, even more alcohol, a cheese board, coffee, chocolate. “Then it starts to pile up in the stomach. Fat, sugar, alcohol and caffeine are huge triggers for your intestines,” says Meijer.

How does it work again?

When you eat something, the bite ends up in the stomach via the esophagus. Your stomach contents shake back and forth, so that the food becomes smaller and smaller. In the stomach it is mixed with the acidic gastric juice. If there is a lot of fatty food in your stomach, it will take longer than normal. Your Christmas dinner then travels to the toilet via the small intestine, large intestine and rectum.

Many people suffer from sensitive intestines

Every body is different, she emphasizes. A consequence of this accumulation can be that not enough stomach acid can be produced and that it rises: acid reflux.

Or the proteins are not processed properly. That gives those typical rotten egg winds, says Meijer. Eating too much fatty food produces wet ‘greasy’ winds, which also stink.

“Intestinal gases are normal and do not always smell. But they do if your digestion is not completely in order or if you have sensitive intestines,” Meijer explains.

And many people suffer from the latter. There will always be a few at a large family table, says Marloes Collins. Collins is a knowledge expert in the field of irritable bowel syndrome and works for doctor Tamara Leefstijl.

Lots of fat and lactose

Your intestines have a brain, says Collins. They remember what they can handle and when something new comes along, they react. “A lot of fat from your gourmet snacks, for example. Or if you never eat fruit and eat a gigantic fruit salad at Christmas.”

According to Collins, anyone who eats little dairy products and suddenly ingests a lot of lactose from a large amount of ice cream can count on a one-way ticket to the toilet during the meal.

If you have too much fat in your stomach, it has a laxative effect. As a result, your food is sent to the rectum, half-digested. Or that your body is holding it in: constipation.

It doesn’t have to be at the dinner table, but let those winds and belches flow freely, says Collins. Otherwise you will get a stomach ache and your stomach will become swollen.

Hot water gives rest to a full belly

Chewing helps, and so does not drinking. Meijer: “Try not to drink half an hour before eating and wait another half hour after the meal. By drinking a lot you dilute the stomach acid again, so it cannot do its job properly.”

After a meal, a glass of hot, boiled water is very nice, she says. No tea. “This relaxes your digestive system a bit, and it provides relief from a full belly.”

Another tip is to keep calm. “By talking a lot while eating, you unknowingly swallow even more air. It ends up in the intestines and comes out again through farting and burping.”

If you plan to eat a whole turkey at Christmas and drink it, don’t forget that you can still make good choices at other times, says Meijer. “Eat an easily digestible lunch and see if you can grab some fresh vegetables for breakfast.”

Six tips against irritating intestines

• It’s Christmas, and you can enjoy it, say both intestinal experts. But you don’t enjoy being sick. So try not to eat too much.
• Before you sit down to dinner, take a long Christmas walk, says Collins. Then your intestines are nice and active and put to work, and are up to the task that lies ahead.
• Enzymes are available at the drugstore to help with digestion. If you know that your intestines can act up, that can be a nice addition, say both experts.
• Excuse yourself from the table if you have to pass wind and say that you are having trouble with your intestines. That will undoubtedly ensure recognition.
• A good and delicious Christmas breakfast? Two boiled eggs, an avocado and then your croissant. Then you’ve got your fiber and proteins.
• Are you going to cook yourself? In addition to all the fatty food, also make sure there is a healthy soup and raw vegetable salad on the table.

2023-12-25 04:08:09
#Burping #farting #Christmas #dinner #prevent #NU.nl