Bloating symptoms from acidic foods are no fun that trigger and bother the gut lining. Following a low FODMAP list of food helps to recover quicker.
It’s a part of living.
And when you feel bloated, that’s not the time to try new foods.
When that happens, restoring the gut with a list of healthy, and selective food choices that will please and soothe the tummy is the fastest remedy.
It’s easy to do when you know what to do and which foods are safe.
And following a low FODMAP diet (at least temporarily) is a good food map to follow.
You can start with simple foods, but that’s generally good for 1-3 days and then you want to get back to some other foods with vitamins and minerals.
When you have bloating flare-up, that can also be a time to do a digestive reset, supporting a healthy eating lifestyle.
The safer foods to eat are mostly all plant-based and anti-inflammatory. 🌱
So a low FODMAP diet can be a reset diet to optimize healthy eating year round.
It helps to lowering gut acidity that can show up as heartburn, upper GI inflammation, or lower bloating abdominal discomfort.
Many of our American or Western world diet foods are higher acidity and can tip the cause to a condition called GERD… that I can attest to feels like amped up heartburn. Like eating tomatoes often is not acidic helpful, even though it’s a healthy food.
…So it’s good to keep a handy list of Low FODMAP foods that won’t 🌱 exacerbate stomach acidity.
Some foods are tricky.
Coffee is one such example. It’s a Low FODMAP healthy ingredient. But the way it’s prepared (like as a regular hot brewed coffee) makes it more acidic.
That’s why daily home cold brew coffee is my safer choice so I don’t have to give up the healthy caffeine starter. Cold brew is easy to make and an easy tweak change from regular coffee. But I still cushion with food like a banana. 🍌
Because I learned from my experiences that coffee alone on an empty stomach can play gut havoc.
Another example is nuts where walnuts and peanuts can be good and okay… that is, assuming you can even eat nuts.
But then other types of nuts, like cashews can be digestive havocs.
There’s no specific, easy rhyme or reason way to remember which foods are better and ones to avoid (other than with a handy list) or from memory recall from your past experiences.
And, I’ve had many adult experiences.
Where even healthy foods and that are good for triggered food bloating gut issues, that didn’t play well with my gut.
It was timing related.
Your gut looks at what else is not digested in the gut or if you have an empty stomach. Those can be sensitive times for the gut, and can cause heartburn symptom triggers.
Or if you eat at a time you don’t normally eat that breaks routine like just before bed. The gut likes a break and then in the morning likes to have an an opener.
Like you waking up, the gut is waking up to a new day.
And with any food going down at the wrong time to the gut, we can feel poked and burdened with the weight of lead after it goes down. It’s always after the chewing part in the gut.
Which is important too, to try and chew your food more to be able to digest foods better.
…Early on, we relied on a B.R.A.T. diet that were simple to digest foods: bananas, rice, apples and toast. It was easy to remember and you didn’t have to break out a list.
It was so short and easy to remember that I also added yogurt on my stomach-friendly list.
Yogurt has probiotics and protein.
And finding the lowest sugar (no added sugar) yogurt option optimizes the good bacteria count.
And the B.R.A.T.Y. (I added the “y”) simple digestive diet still works today.
But these days… NOT ALL SO SIMPLE with all the food choices we have.
So a personal bloating food or Low FODMAP list that works for your palate and body is good to compile, so you can reach for the safe decisions made when needed. You can even set the list in your pantry cupboard for your emergency convenience.
I keep a label on my Five-Spice and this article list as my reference.
Another one that has worked for me that’s a bit controversial is apple cider vinegar that naturally is an acidic ingredient.
But it works for heartburn symptoms. It’s best to mix apple cider vinegar with water.
It’s a passed down tip from those of the past and I was brave enough to give it a try.
In my world, it works. But everyone is different. So it’s always good to test.
How it works…
Apples cider vinegar signals to the stomach to stop producing acid that it does. And if you have heartburn symptoms, if you try, you may even get some burping up trapped gas that’s needed relief. Babies burp a lot. Adults need to too.
Our bodies are all about being counterintuitive mystery curve balls where the best proof is our baby steps and trial-and-error.
That’s how we learn specifics that work in our lives.
We test the apples…
And apple fruit is another one that is low FODMAP food questionable depending on the apple type (for us apples).
I like unsweetened applesauce as it’s like baby food so there’s no issue.
But another tip is do not, not eat. Your stomach will work better with some food.
Most guts aren’t happy on an empty stomach and that delays our happy restoration.
Our guts have been very forgiving… otherwise none of us would be still be on the planet.
Variety in food helps our gut.
And is a good diversifying principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket.
Eggs, btw, are generally ok too. 🥚
And even if we make a one-time triggered bloating food mistake, we can cushion with foods and ingredients that are generally safe on a low FODMAP list, including:
-bell peppers and most veggies
-avocado
-many fruits (and believe it or not… green bananas are lower FODMAP than soft, ripe ones).
-Yogurt (low-sugar Greek yogurt)
-quinoa, oatmeal, cooked soft rice (e.g. white rice)
Amaranth is one grain I discovered to be super gut-friendly. It has a Cream of Wheat bowl texture… but is gluten-free.
If you’re a sourdough or bread making person, for Low FODMAP you can even add amaranth to your whole grain roll or bread loaf.
And, some other Low FODMAP list adds:
-herbs/spices: fennel (in Five Spice powder), anise, peppermint
-teas: green, black, and some herbal teas (chamomile, chicory root, peppermint).
Peppermint tea is something I always keep in my “food-as-medicine” cabinet. It does wonders for some stomaches and other body aches like headaches. If it’s heartburn you’re experiencing, it will not feel like it’s helping so much and then it’s good to use food variety with the teas in the list above.
I have found peppermint is good for middle (or general) stomach aches and ginger tea is good for upper-stomach pains (e.g. bloating or heartburn) and chicory is good for lower stomach or upper intestine discomfort. But again, test on yourself.
And instead of reaching for candy or sugar sweets, you can chew on an anise star (like licorice) or make a simple applesauce blueberry cobbler.
Eating low FODMAP foods are healthy foods so you can eat them when you’re feeling 100% too. You can also check out a GERD grocery list to help healthy food guide you next time you’re food shopping.