5 Remedies To Help You Get Relief From Gas During Pregnancy

The beautiful experience of being pregnant is often tainted by some not-so-beautiful physiological tendencies going into overdrive, the most embarrassing being flatulence. Most pregnant women the world over report encountering unmanageable gas and bloating during their gestation period. While gas can be embarrassing and highly uncomfortable, some simple and effective home remedies can help reduce gas during pregnancy.

* Avoid Gas-Forming Foods

The food you eat has a direct impact on the amount of gas you experience, pregnant or not. During pregnancy, you need to eat a balanced, nutritious diet and avoid foods that can lead to gas buildup in the stomach and intestines. Some common foods that cause gas and bloating include cabbage, beans, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, pasta, bread, white rice, potatoes, oat bran, raspberries, and pears.One practical method is to maintain a food journal to keep track of what food you eat and the corresponding gas volume experienced with it. This will help you identify and eliminate the problematic foods from your diet.

* Drink Plenty of Fluids

Water is your best bet when it comes to improving your digestive health and preventing the formation of gas. The digestive tract functions better when the body gets an adequate amount of fluid intake.It also prevents constipation. By keeping your stools soft, water helps facilitate their smoother movement through the colon and eventually out of the system.Drink about 8 to 10 glasses of plain or flavored water every day. Also, include juice in your diet that is low in certain types of hard-to-digest sugars called FODMAPs, which lead to increased gas formation. Cranberry, grape, pineapple, and orange juice are some of the best examples.

* Up Your Fiber Intake

Foods that contain fiber may cause your body to produce more gas, but it also helps move the food more smoothly through the digestive tract and ensures regular and timely bowel movements. Thus, by preventing constipation, the problem of excessive gas is inherently kept in check as well. Including 25 to 30 grams of high-fiber foods into your daily diet can help ease gas. You can eat prunes, bananas, oats, and flaxseeds to boost your fiber intake.

* Stay Active

Pregnancy often entails an inactive and sedentary lifestyle with the objective of keeping you and your unborn child out of harm’s way. While safety and caution are paramount for an expecting mother, this does not necessarily mean that you need to lie in your bed and rest all day. Regular exercise during pregnancy is beneficial for reducing the formation of excess gas.The best thing to do after a meal is to engage in some light exercise such as washing the dishes or a short walk in the park. This is far more conducive to quick and efficient food digestion than sitting still in one place. This means your food will move through your intestinal tract more quickly and produce less gas along the way.

* Perform Yoga and Meditation

Prenatal yoga is as much a gas buster as it is a stress buster. The “cow pose” is one of the ideal yoga asanas that help with the abdominal discomfort caused by pregnancy-related gas issues.It helps open the chest and promote spinal flexibility and provides a gentle massage to the spine and belly organs. This, in turn, works to release the tightness in the abdomen, which is a huge solace during pregnancy.