Do You Get Bloated After Eating (Even Healthy Foods)? Here’s Why & How to Fix It!

Alright, got the recording going, and we will go ahead and get started again. Welcome! Thank you for being here, and if you'd like, let me know where you're— where you're here from, where you're— where you are from. Hey, Dallas! Nice! I apologize, I can't seem to figure out how to open my— how to get back to my chat. There we go. Dallas, Australia. Nice! I mean, Dallas is nice too, but come on, Australia. Texas, another one from Texas. North Central British Columbia, Canada. Alberta, Canada. Very nice. I'm in Louisiana, so, you know, hello, my Texas neighbors. Okay, so we'll go ahead and get started. As soon as I pull up my notes. Because I do need notes. I need notes. So today we're going to talk about how to fix your gut for better energy. So let, let me just start off by saying, does your hor— does your stomach seem to bloat after everything that you eat? I know that that's what, that's what I've been talking about in the, in the group today or this week. Bloating after everything you eat, no matter, no matter how healthy it is, we just bloat for no apparent reason. Yes, Rebecca, same. I had that same issue. If that sounds like you, you're not alone. So many women I talk to are frustrated because they're eating clean, they're doing all of the right things, and they're still dealing with bloating, sluggish digestion, fatigue, and stubborn weight. Yes, since menopause, Rebecca. We're going to talk about why that happens. Don't worry, we'll get to that. And Sandy, yeah, bread. Bread's definitely, definitely And it can be an issue for some people. So we'll get into that too a bit. So yes, here's the thing. Gut health isn't just about digestion. You may have heard the saying that all illness starts in the gut. It's so true. Your gut affects everything from your hormones to your energy levels to your immune system and even your mood. That's why today we're diving into why your gut health impacts your hormones and your overall wellness. The biggest signs that your gut is struggling, even if you don't have digestive issues, and simple daily shifts to support your gut without extreme diets or expensive supplements. And before— but before we jump in, if you're new here, I want to say welcome. I am Eliza Riley, your holistic menopause coaching specialist. And inside this group, I help women like you to balance your hormones, restore your energy, and feel like yourselves again without extreme diets, without endless supplementation, Or feeling overwhelmed. So thank you guys for letting me know that you also experience the bloating. So why is it, or why does gut health matter? And just to share, most people think that gut health is just about digestion. But here's the real deal. Your gut is running the show for your entire body. If your gut is struggling, everything else— your hormones, your metabolism, your energy levels— everything gets thrown off. So let me break this down. Hormone balance. Your gut plays a key role in breaking down and eliminating excess estrogen and, and other hormones. So if your gut is sluggish, you might experience things like PMS symptoms. especially if you're still cycling. You can have mood swings. You can, you can even experience weight gain. Energy and metabolism, because when your gut is inflamed, it affects how your body absorbs nutrients, which make you feel— which can make you feel exhausted, sluggish, and foggy. Brain function and mood. Did you guys know that 90% of your serotonin, you know, the feel-good hormone, is actually made in your gut? Not in the brain. So if your gut is out of balance, you may notice things like more anxiety, more depression, or brain fog, or just, you know, the inability to like grab the word or remember why you went into the room. Like all of those things go up. We start to have, have more of them when we have gut issues. And finally, inflammation and bloating. Of course, poor gut health leads to chronic inflammation. Which can show up as joint pain, skin issues, and as well as digestive problems. It's amazing. You know, our gut really does affect everything else in our body. And, you know, saying that, when I share that, it makes me think of my mom, who she's in her 70s now. And she's always, her entire adult life, probably, you know, probably since she reached menopause, she's dealt with, extreme pain in her fingers. And she— I mean, to the point where she didn't want to, like, she couldn't hold pens. She couldn't, like, even hold a book to read. She used to love to read, but she stopped reading books because it hurt just to hold the book open to read it. And of course, she went to her doctor and the medications that she took— she took medications to fix it. But even with those, she still had so much pain. And Her doctors, of course, like doctors do, like what happens typically in allopathic medicine is they focused on her fingers, right? They focused on, here's the pain, here's the issue, here's the medication to make that feel better. And they didn't even consider that her slow digestion, which she'd struggled with for many years, for decades before that, was causing inflammation throughout her body. And this is why so many symptoms get dismissed. I think we focus on the surface issue, the the the joint pain, the the the the fatigue, the weight gain, without looking at what's actually fueling the fire, which happens in your gut. So the question that we start to ask ourselves is: Why does this issue, this digestive issue, get worse in menopause and and in perimenopause? Well, you have— I got— guys, I have to tell you, it's not in your head. It actually does get worse because estrogen and progesterone affect gut motility. That's the way that things move through your gut. It also affects stomach acid production. So you may not be making as much as you once were, and you may not have been making enough before. And even your microbiome balance is thrown off by the changes of perimenopause and menopause. When our hormone levels shift, digestion slows down, inflammation increases, and suddenly your gut isn't processing food the way that it used to. Even the foods that you used to be able to eat with no issues, the foods that may have even made you feel really good, can start to make you feel really not good. So if your gut can't process food well, You get nutrient deficiencies, you get inflammation, and you get even more hormone imbalance. It's a vicious cycle. But I'm here to tell you that it is one that you can break. So how do you know if your gut is struggling? As I've said, the gut is at the center of our body's entire ecosystem. When it's off, everything else struggles. But the tricky part is that you may not even realize that your gut is the root cause, like my mom with her fingers. So here's how to tell. Some, some simple things that you may— that you, if you pick up on these, if you have these, then you, then you need to consider that there's something going on in your gut. You bloat after meals, as we've talked about, where even healthy foods cause you discomfort. And, and, you know, when I was asking this question in the group, I asked about bloating because that is the one thing that we tend to We tend to sort of be really aware of. But it can be anything. It can be, it can be gut pain after even healthy meals. It can be constipation or loose stools after meals. You know, all of these things can, can indicate that there's something going on with your gut, and those are fairly obvious. But also, if you feel tired after eating instead of energized, It's probably your gut. If you wake up between 1 and 3 AM most nights, can come back to your gut. If you deal with random skin issues, breakouts, rashes, sensitivities, like suddenly now that food make you like you can't eat it without feeling bad or without getting a rash. Again, gut issues, or if you have sugar cravings. And mood swings. Like, strangely enough, those things can be indicative of, of a gut issue. So if you're, if you're nodding along like, yes, this is me. Yeah, Sandy, exactly. Most, most of us do develop more allergies after menopause. And this is why. This is, this is exactly why. So this next part is for you. So some simple fixes for a happier gut. Now that you know what's going on, let's talk about how to fix it. And I— you guys know, if you know me, you know that I am all about natural, simple things that we can do day in and day out. I don't believe in extreme cleanses, and I don't promote extreme cleanses or complicated protocols. And again, if you've been following me for a while, you're going to— you could probably guess without me even saying it. You probably guess what number 1 is. Number 1 is to start your day with gut-friendly hydration. So instead of having coffee first thing in the morning, you can still have it later. That's okay. I'm not going to— I'm not going to like be at your door banging on it and telling you to put the coffee down. You can still have it later, but start off with warm water and you can add either lemon or apple cider vinegar just a little bit. This kickstarts your digestion so that— so that when you do start— when you do add that coffee or when you do have breakfast, your stomach isn't— your gut isn't surprised. It's like, It's, it's prepared, it's ready. And you should, or you can add a pinch of a good quality Himalayan sea salt, which will add essential minerals and bonus, it helps with adrenal support. So number 2, you want to eat the right fiber, but also not too much of it, at least not all at once, especially if you are new to something like fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kefir. Those are so full of gut-friendly bacteria. And one of the most important things that we can do to get our gut happy again and working properly is to have— is to add gut-friendly bacteria. And you can do this naturally through fermented foods. But you don't want to— like, don't go and buy a thing of sauerkraut and eat it all. Because what happens is that you are adding bacteria. You are adding to the good bacteria. And you're also feeding the good bacteria. And that can cause more bloating and discomfort. So you want to start small, have a bite, have half a bite if you're brand new to it and you're just wanting to try it out. And then add it slowly. So you want to— you do want to get to the point where you're able to have it, to tolerate it more easily. Another thing that you can add to your diet is chia seeds and flaxseeds. Those are gentle fibers. So you're not going to the doctor and getting some kind of a medication to help you go to the bathroom. These are easy ways to gently encourage bowel movements instead of forcing them. And number 3, you want to remove sneaky gut disruptors. And by that, I mean things like— you may not realize, but stuff like artificial sweeteners, processed foods, and too much coffee can irritate your gut lining. And for some of us, dairy can be difficult. Most of us have— not all. Some people thrive on dairy, and that's amazing. But, but many of us have some degree of lactose intolerance. So if you have— if, if you can't tolerate any dairy, that's fine. Remove it. Because if you, if you have lactose intolerance, you know, eating dairy is going to cause stomach discomfort at the best, in the best case scenario. But if you can if you can tolerate some dairy, things like Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and kefir can be really good for the gut. It's again, where it's, it's all about that good bacteria. And those things, those items are really full of this healthy bacteria that's going to feed, feed your gut and, and heal your gut. And then the 4th one is to stress less. And I know Everywhere we turn lately, lately, you know, that we have all these gurus talking about less stress, less stress, and it's like, oh my gosh, how do I— it's almost stressful how much we hear about how stress is bad for us. But your gut and stress levels are directly connected. So while we cannot cut out— I mean, in our modern world, we simply can't cut out all of the stress throughout the day. It's important to take a moment to slow down when it comes to eating, when it's time for a meal. I'm I'm really big on just taking, taking a moment, you know, if you pray, great. If you're not, if you don't pray like, like I, I'm not, I'm not big on praying on prayer, but I do think that it's an amazing thing that we, that we do for ourselves to just slow down, take some deep breaths, take a moment to like show gratitude for the food that's in front of you, for the farmers who grew it, things like that, you know, whatever it's gonna take for you to Get out of the stressful day that you've had, or the, the bad traffic, or the big fight that you just had. You know, whatever it is that's, that's causing you stress in that moment, to get into, to drop into this nourishing meal that you're going to put into your body. So deep breathing. Mind and bringing your mind into the meal. So important. Yeah, I know, Lucy. I can only imagine that it would be difficult when you're working in an elementary school to slow down and eat. But just do what you can, you know, hope maybe breakfast and dinner you have more opportunities, or even if it's just dinner, even if it's just one meal a day. And the other thing, now this you can, you hopefully you can control a bit, chew slower. Really take your time chewing your food and remember that digestion begins In the mouth. If you can remember that, if you can remember actually these 2 things, deep breathing before meals, chewing slower, these 2 things alone can really go so far in improving your digestion. It's really helpful. So I have to ask you guys, another chance for you to join me in the chat. Tell me, what is one of— one small gut-friendly habit that I just mentioned that you're gonna try this week? I'd love to hear from you guys. Have coffee later. That's a good idea. Slow down and chew more also. Wonderful. Great. Warm water in the morning. Yeah, that's— I'll share with you guys in the group. I have a recipe that I drink every morning, and I can just tell you because it's not like it's a recipe, but it's not like you have to be super, super careful with you know, the proportions, but warm water with a little ginger. Fresh ginger is great, but I use powdered ginger, organic, of course, organic ginger, or fresh, a squeeze of fresh lemon, just a touch of honey, because honey, especially first thing in the morning, it's really good for replenishing the glycogen stores that get depleted overnight. So it can be very good for you. And of course, this is, this is generic. So, you know, you have to listen to your body and, and, and go with what works for you and what doesn't, or what doesn't— avoid what doesn't. Um, and, uh, let's see, a pinch of salt. I make it, I make it out of habit now. I'm, I'm trying to remember what, uh, what else goes into it. Yes, thank you, Sandy. So Sandy says she started warm water, lemon, Himalayan salt after the adrenal talk, and she likes how she feels after. Yeah, it's really good. It's so nourishing to our body. And it's a great way to start the day, and, and it does get your digestion working. So lots of really— 8 ounces, 12 ounces, 16 ounces. It's— I try to go for somewhere between 8 and 12 each morning. But yeah, the more the better. It's not— you're not gonna hurt yourself by having more water. But yeah, you wanna, you wanna do at least 8 ounces. So by now you may be thinking, okay, this makes sense, but how do I actually fix it for my body? How do I fix my, my personal digestive issues? And that's exactly why I work one-on-one with women to take out the guesswork and help to help you to restore your energy, balance your hormones, and feel good in your body today. Or not today. Well, maybe today, but again. So if you're nodding along and thinking, I really need to figure this out, I have something, I have something just for you. I have opened up a few spots for a free strategy session next week. This is a chance to get clear on what's actually happening with your body, what's keeping you stuck, and how to finally move forward. Drop ready in the chat if you are ready to start feeling better in your body. And I'll personally reach out with the next steps. Thank you guys so much for joining me today. Thank you for participating in the chat. I really appreciate you. And if you're watching the replay, I would love to hear what resonated most with you. The key thing to remember with this is that small daily shifts add up to big changes. Your gut is the foundation of your health. So start giving it the support it needs today for a happier you and a happier gut tomorrow. Thank you again for being here, and I will see you guys next week for another Weekly Wellness Live. Have a great day.