BRAT diet is one good for bloating symptoms. When you don’t know what’s going on with your gut, it’s good to keep it simple for a day or so.
Because most and many foods are acidic, and too much, or something spicy can trigger and bother the gut lining. So a simple diet like a BRAT diet can reset your system.
But before that, you may need to start with a liquid diet of water, decaf teas like rooibos and peppermint (my fave!).
These are in my drinks-as-medicine kitchen cabinets. I also like to keep collagen broth from low and slow cooking chicken bones.
And when you feel bloated, that’s not the time to try new foods. Especially if you don’t know what the cause is.
Bananas and rice are safe. And for protein, when you can eat solids, egg whites are a great source.
My thought is eat as soon as you can, because the sooner you can, the sooner you get things moving in your body. The goal being to empty your intestines so you can bounce back to your normal feeling self as soon as possible. That’s all our goals.
And restoring the gut with a list of healthy, and selective food choices that will please and soothe the tummy is the fastest remedy.
You don’t want to add insult to injury by continuing to eat offending foods.
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.
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 the BRAT diet saved me.
Because 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 BRAT diet that were simple to digest foods: bananas, rice, apple(sauce) 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. And cooked egg whites.
Yogurt has probiotics and protein. And egg whites has protein, potassium, and magnesium which are minerals needed when you’re dehydrated. They’re electrolytes.
And finding the lowest sugar (no added sugar) yogurt option optimizes the good bacteria count.
And the BRAT diet or B.R.A.T.Y. (I added the “y”) diet is a simple digestive diet that 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) and if you eat it with the skin.
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 are very forgiving… otherwise none of us would be still be on the planet with all the potential food borne offenders.
And variety in food helps our gut.
When you’re feeling a little better, you’ll want to add some additional foods. If you find you need to go on a low FODMAP diet, a list like this would include:
-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 fan of sourdough, 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: herbal teas (chamomile, chicory root, peppermint).
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.