Is there anything more annoying than being bloated during swimsuit season? Ugh! If you've already tried on your two-piece when packing for your summer vacation, you know what we're talking about. But it's not just about looking good half-naked. Bloating can feel really uncomfortable, and it's a signal from our bodies trying to tell us to tweak our diet a little.
Whether you're on vacation or staycation, bloat can happen: maybe your body is retaining water, maybe you're PMS-ing, or maybe you just overdid it with the salty and spicy treats.
Of course, you don't want to be lying on the couch until it's over—so take action! Luckily, there are foods our bodies love that will actually help us achieve a flat belly, and we're sharing our favorites in these debloating recipes.
And if you're looking for a complete meal plan? Try our 24-hour flat belly detox!
Jump to:
- Best Foods for Bloating
- 14 Recipes To Reduce Bloating
- 1. Start Your Day with Lemon Water
- 2. Drink Ginger Tea
- 3. Sip on a Pineapple Smoothie
- 4. Nix Dairy with Banana Milk
- 5. Load Up a Salad with Cucumber
- 6. Use Squash to Make Creamy Soup
- 7. Add Activated Charcoal to a Smoothie
- 8. Mash Up Some Avocado Toast
- 9. Make Iced Green Tea with Chia Seeds
- 10. Up Your Water Intake with Watermelon Slush
- 11. Start Juicing with Celery
- 12. Up Your Probiotics with Yogurt
- 13. Warm Up with Peppermint Tea
- 14. Make CCF Tea with Fennel Seeds
- Foods to Avoid
- What Else Can You Do to Beat Bloat?
Best Foods for Bloating
Take the next 24 hours to improve the quality of your digestion, which will lessen the belly bloat. Here's a list of some of the best foods to eat if you're feeling bloated along with easy debloat recipe ideas:
- Ginger: Known for its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to aid digestion. Ginger can help reduce bloating and gas.
- Bananas: Rich in potassium, bananas can help counteract sodium's bloating effects and reduce water retention.
- Yogurt with probiotics: Probiotics are beneficial for gut health and can improve digestion, potentially reducing bloating caused by an imbalance of gut bacteria.
- Peppermint tea: Peppermint has antispasmodic properties, which can help relax the digestive tract and ease bloating.
- Cucumber: High in water and low in fiber, cucumbers can help hydrate your body and reduce swelling.
- Papaya: Contains the enzyme papain, which aids in the digestion of proteins and can help reduce bloating.
- Fennel seeds: Often used as a digestive aid, fennel seeds can help relax the muscles in the gastrointestinal tract, reducing gas and bloating.
- Avocado: Rich in potassium and healthy fats, avocados can help manage sodium levels and reduce bloating.
- Lemon water: Helps improve digestion and encourage the body to flush out toxins, potentially reducing bloating.
- Watermelon: As a diuretic and high in water content, watermelon can help increase urination and reduce water retention.
14 Recipes To Reduce Bloating
Incorporate these debloating meals and debloat drink recipes in your diet when you're feeling puffy and uncomfortable to help alleviate symptoms.
1. Start Your Day with Lemon Water
How It Helps: Lemon water can improve digestion and encourage the liver to produce bile, which is an acid required for digestion. This helps in reducing indigestion and bloating by ensuring a smoother digestion process.
Recipe Suggestion: Yep, drinking water is good for everything. Drink it instead of carbonated drinks, and try infused water if you just can't live without the taste.
Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into a cup of warm water (or make lemon water ice cubes) and drink first thing in the morning to kickstart your digestion for the day.
Rosemary and grapefruit infused water is the perfect debloat drink recipe. The former improves digestion and minimizes gas, while the latter gets rid of the extra water retained by your body.
2. Drink Ginger Tea
Why and How It Helps: Ginger is a powerful anti-inflammatory and digestive aid that helps dispel gas and calm your stomach [source].
Recipe Suggestion: Debloat by drinking a cup of lemon ginger tea. Slice about one inch of fresh ginger root and add it to boiling water. Let it steep for 10 minutes, then strain and drink. For added flavor, you can add a teaspoon of honey and a squeeze of lemon.
You can also take ginger in supplement form or eat it raw.
3. Sip on a Pineapple Smoothie
Why and How It Helps: Pineapple is an excellent food for reducing bloating thanks to its high content of bromelain, an enzyme that helps in breaking down proteins in the digestive tract, facilitating digestion, and reducing the risk of bloating and indigestion. Bromelain's anti-inflammatory properties also help to soothe the stomach and reduce swelling.
Ppineapple is also rich in fiber and water, which can help to prevent constipation and promote a healthy digestive system.
Recipe Suggestion: Naturally sweet and packed with antioxidants, fiber, and enzymes, this pineapple smoothie is our number one weapon against bloating! Make it with diuretic pineapple and cucumber, as well as the well-known aid for digestion, ginger.
4. Nix Dairy with Banana Milk
Why and How It Helps: Bananas are rich in potassium, which helps regulate fluid balance and counteracts the effects of sodium in the body, reducing water retention and bloating. If your bloating is caused by salt (processed food, take-out), balance it out with a banana.
Plus, the soluble fiber in bananas can also help improve digestion and prevent constipation, a common cause of bloating.
Recipe Suggestion: Banana milk is the perfect solution for avoiding dairy and increasing your potassium intake. Just blend one ripe banana with a cup of almond milk, a dash of cinnamon, and a tablespoon of honey for a soothing, bloat-reducing drink. Use it to make your morning chia pudding for even more added benefits.
5. Load Up a Salad with Cucumber
Why and How It Helps: Cucumber is packed with antioxidants that work to detoxify the body [source]. It also has potent anti-inflammatory action and fights fluid retention [source].
Cucumbers have a high water content and contain silica, caffeic acid, and vitamin C, which help reduce swelling and aid in the removal of excess water from the body, alleviating bloating.
Recipe Suggestion: Not all debloating recipes have to be smoothies. Try a simple cucumber salad by slicing cucumbers thinly, add a pinch of salt, a splash of apple cider vinegar, and a drizzle of olive oil.
This belly-bloat busting salad is loaded with cucumber, too. Steam your veggies if you're bloated because raw cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower can cause tummy issues.
6. Use Squash to Make Creamy Soup
Why and How It Helps: Squash, particularly varieties like zucchini and yellow squash, is high in water content and low in calories, making it excellent for digestion and reducing bloating. It's also a good source of fiber and contains several vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C and potassium, which can help in managing fluid balance.
Recipe Suggestion: Squash is packed with potassium, which makes this creamy soup the ideal debloating dinner. Since it's also dairy-free, you can be sure it won't be adding to the problem.
7. Add Activated Charcoal to a Smoothie
Why and How It Helps: Activated charcoal is a well-known remedy for absorbing toxins in the stomach [source], which also helps reduce gas and bloat. It's thought to trap excess gas in the stomach, although it should be used cautiously as it can also absorb nutrients and medications, making them less effective.
Recipe Suggestion: Add some to your morning smoothie, or try these homemade charcoal gummies.
Activated charcoal lemonade: Mix the juice of 1 lemon, 1-2 teaspoons of activated charcoal powder (from capsules or as a powder), a tablespoon of honey, and a glass of water. Drink this detoxifying lemonade occasionally, not regularly, to help reduce bloating and cleanse the digestive system.
8. Mash Up Some Avocado Toast
Why and How It Helps: Avocado has more than enough beauty benefits, and guess what? It also helps you debloat!
That is due to the potassium it contains (about 60% more than banana) [source], which helps reduce sodium levels and eliminate excess water in the body. Plus its fiber helps keep you regular.
Recipe Suggestion: Mash ripe avocado on whole-grain toast, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice for a fiber-rich, bloat-reducing snack.
This avocado debloat smoothie recipe has plenty of healthy fats to support glowing skin!
- 1 ripe avocado peeled and cut into chunks
- ½ ripe banana
- 1 cup fresh spinach leaves
- ½ cup coconut water
- ½ cup almond milk
- 2 tablespoon almond butter
- 1 celery stalk chopped
- ½-inch piece ginger peeled and grated
Blend all the ingredients until creamy; serve immediately.
9. Make Iced Green Tea with Chia Seeds
Why and How It Helps: Green tea is known for speeding up the metabolism and aiding digestion, both of which will make a flat belly more achievable. Chia seeds are an excellent source of fiber, which helps reduce constipation and bloating.
Recipe Suggestion: Try this chilled green tea with chia seeds to benefit from the extra omega-3 fatty acids and fiber, in one of our favorite ever debloating recipes.
10. Up Your Water Intake with Watermelon Slush
How It Helps: Being 92% water, this refreshing fruit has a natural diuretic property [source], and it's another great source of potassium, both of which aid in controlling bloating.
Watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe are all filled with water. Eat them to detox your body from the sodium that's causing you to bloat—natural fruit slushies are a great way to do that!
Recipe Suggestion: This Watermelon Slush Recipe that combines watermelon with bloat-busting cucumber and peppermint.
Or combine cubed watermelon with slices of cucumber, feta cheese, and fresh mint leaves for a refreshing and hydrating salad. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
11. Start Juicing with Celery
How It Helps: The crunchy stalk regulates bowel movements, controls intestinal gas, and it detoxifies the body with its high water content.
Recipe Suggestion: Juice a few stalks of celery to make a refreshing, detoxifying drink. For added flavor and digestive benefits, you can add a small piece of ginger or apple. Or add celery to a carrot blast juice. Drink in the morning on an empty stomach for best results.
12. Up Your Probiotics with Yogurt
Why and How It Helps: The probiotics in yogurt introduce beneficial bacteria to the gut, improving gut health and digestion. These bacteria help balance the gut microbiome.
Recipe Suggestion: Try a probiotic smoothie or mix up a yogurt parfait with sliced bananas, a handful of blueberries, and a sprinkle of chia seeds for a gut-friendly breakfast or snack.
13. Warm Up with Peppermint Tea
Why and How It Helps: Peppermint relaxes the muscles of the digestive system, reducing spasms that can cause gas and bloating. The menthol in peppermint has a soothing effect that can also relieve pain and discomfort associated with bloating.
Recipe Suggestion: Steep a peppermint tea bag or fresh peppermint leaves in hot water for 5-10 minutes. You can add honey for sweetness if desired.
14. Make CCF Tea with Fennel Seeds
Why and How It Helps: Fennel seeds contain compounds that relax the gastrointestinal tract's smooth muscles, reducing gas, bloating, and cramps. They also have a diuretic effect, helping to flush out excess water.
Recipe Suggestion: Make belly-soothing CCF tea with cumin, corriander and fennel seeds or simply crush a teaspoon of fennel seeds and steep in hot water for 5-10 minutes. Strain and drink warm to soothe digestion.
Foods to Avoid
It's also essential to avoid foods known to cause bloating for many people, such as beans, lentils, broccoli, cabbage, onions, and carbonated drinks.
Sugar, processed foods, and salt are just some of the things we ingest that cause bloat. Before we get to what you should eat, here are a few things to steer clear of.
Sodium: Keep your salt intake low and avoid processed foods.
Booze: The mega sugars and the alcohol in mixed drinks aren't doing you any favors. And, honestly, your body—especially your liver—might enjoy the break. Reach for water instead.
Dairy: A large percentage of people have some measure of lactase deficiency, which is the enzyme that digests lactose—the sugar in dairy products. If the quantity of lactose you ingest is more than your lactase can handle, gas and bloating result [source].
Processed sugar and carbs: Not only will you cut out empty calories, but your digestion will thank you, especially if you have any gluten sensitivities or blood sugar issues.
What Else Can You Do to Beat Bloat?
Along with simple meals that give your digestion a rest, practice dry skin brushing and try a castor oil pack. Taking an Epsom salt bath also helps detox through your skin and ups your intake of magnesium needed for good digestion and healthy detoxification, which leads to weight loss and a flatter belly.
This article was medically reviewed by Dr. Gina Jansheski, a licensed, board-certified physician who has been practicing for more than 20 years. Learn more about Hello Glow's medical reviewers here. As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor.
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