Do you feel the gassy after a meal? Or randomly during the day? Do you feel gassy more often than not—especially in the Fall?
Gas and flatulence are related to a vata imbalance. It’s an indication that there is a disturbance in the colon—the main seat of vata dosha. Excess gas is something we are all vulnerable to at some time or another. In Ayurveda, gas and flatulence is due to excess amount of air+ether in the colon. During the Fall season, when vata dosha predominates, imbalances in the colon can become more common.
Here’s 9 tips to help aide and prevent gas and flatulence.
1. Enjoy foods that are warm, cooked, and fresh over foods that are cold, raw and old. Raw foods and cold foods are harder to digest out out the fire we need to metabolize food. When digestion is weak, food can ferment in our system creating gas within the body. Cold, hard and dry are the qualities of vata. Since gas is vata predominant energy—counter-balancing it with warm, cooked and soft foods, will bring balance and help prevent gas.
2. Squeeze some lemon juice. Sour tastes help activate digestion, and a big squeeze of lemon can help digest foods that are harder to digest like lentils, beans, broccoli or bitter greens.
3. After a meal, eat 1/2 tsp of roasted fennel seeds or 1/2 tsp of grated ginger mixed in with a little lemon juice. Both have carminative properties and will aide digestion and help dispel any excess gas in the body.
4. Drink a strong cup of mint-ginger tea if you feel gassy. The warm with help balance the accumulation of cold within the body and the carminative properties of mint and ginger will help kindle the digestive fire and dispel excess gas.
5. Enjoy a nice warm bath with some epsom salts. Sitting in hot water will help to relax and aide any discomfort that can come with excess gas. While the heat will also help to balance the cold that has accumulated.
6. Spice it up! Increase the digestive fire to aide metabolization and prevent gas to begin with. Add a little ginger, cumin, fennel, coriander, mint, cilantro, or oregano to your warm meal. Check out my list of carminative spices and learn about their benefits too.
7. Eat slowly, chew your food well, and leave room in your stomach. All three are habits that will help support digestion and prevent putting out the digestive fire.
8. Start your morning off with a cup of hot water and a squeeze of lemon juice. This will help kick-start the digestive fire after a long resting time. The stronger the digestion the less gas and flatulence.
9. Avoid cold, carbonated or icy drinks. Cold kills the digestive fire and the heat we need to metabolize food. Carbonation is gas. The more air you take in the more air within you. Remember like increases like and opposites decrease.
