1. Hold the Salt
Salt is an essential electrolyte, especially if you’re working out and sweating a lot, but you need to avoid consuming too much of it, as this can lead to water retention, which causes bloating.
Salt is a big culprit in packaged or processed foods, so check the nutrition facts label for sodium levels, or do all of your cooking at home and carefully monitor the salt you add to dishes, as well as opting for low-sodium ingredients.
2. Skip the Diet Soda
Any beverages with bubbles will make you bloat, but some research suggests that diet sodas might lead to increased belly fat on top of the bloating! Studies found that people who drank diet soda gained almost triple the abdominal fat over nine years as those who didn’t drink diet soda.
3. Say “No” to Bread, Even Whole Wheat!
Most bread causes a spike in blood sugar followed by a crash, and all without any real nutritional value. Wheat has been found to stimulate hunger. Additionally, most store-bought breads contain hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, and preservatives. Nothing you really want to be putting into your body!
4. Avoid Refined Carbohydrates
Not all carbohydrates are created equal. Carbohydrates generally get a bad rap, but they aren’t the problem, refined carbohydrates are. Refined carbohydrates are pure sugar; they are completely stripped of their fiber leaving only simple carbohydrates behind. This makes foods containing them addictive, and plenty of emerging research is showing that refined carbs are the real culprit behind metabolic damage.
Look out for them in breads, white pastas, and breakfast cereals, and avoid them where possible.
5. Cut the Junk Out
This goes without saying, but the majority of junk foods really aren’t doing you any favors in the waistline department. In fact, one study showed that for some people with metabolic disease, just one high-calorie milkshake was enough to make it even worse, and in other people, relatively short periods of overeating could trigger the beginnings of metabolic disease.
6. Steer Clear from Processed Foods
So many of the packaged foods we buy from stores have been processed in some way or other. Even supposedly healthy foods, when made at such a large scale for the masses, have to be processed in some way or other. This often means adding lots of chemicals that can wreak havoc on our bodies.
One study from Georgia State University looked at the effects of preservatives on mice. In only 12 weeks, mice that had been fed with emulsifiers (a common preservative used to maintain food texture) ate more food, and gained more weight. Those mice also become glucose intolerant, setting them up for diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Flavor enhancing chemicals added to foods to make them more ‘satisfying’ can also lead to overconsumption and even addiction to these foods.
Health and Fitness 