How to Prevent Bloating on Your Wedding Day

Are you planning your wedding? All of that stress and planning can really take a toll on your digestive system especially if you're prone to gas and bloating. These symptoms can make that beautiful wedding dress a real challenge to button! Not to mention you don't want to look five months pregnant during the ceremony. You need some quick strategies to prevent bloating on your wedding day. Here's how.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Eliminate dairy.
   
   Dairy foods can cause bloating when you have a deficiency of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down the lactose in milk. Although this may not be the cause of your symptoms, it couldn't hurt to cut back or eliminate dairy products during the week before your wedding just to be safe. You can also get the enzyme lactase at natural food stores to help with the digestion of dairy products.
2. Alter your diet.
   
   Although it would be ideal to determine exactly what foods are causing the bloating and gas, you may not have time to keep a food diary and identify the offending foods. Certain foods are known to increase the tendency to produce gas. These include beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, corn, soy, and wheat bran. You may experience some improvement in your symptoms by discontinuing these foods for at least a week before your wedding day.
3. Exercise.
   
   Make it a point to get out and walk rapidly for at least twenty minutes on the days before your wedding. Exercise can help to mobilize trapped gas and decrease abdominal distension and bloating. If you still have bloating and abdominal distension on your wedding day, do a series of sit ups and leg lifts. The increase in abdominal pressure can help to move gas through the intestinal tract and reduce bloating and distension.
4. Relax.
   
   One of the main causes of aerophagia is anxiety and stress. To prevent bloating and gas, make it a point to take a break from all the hustle, bustle, and preparation. Lie back and meditate to help relieve the tension. Make it a point to eat more slowly. When you eat rapidly, there's a tendency to swallow more air. To reduce aerophagia, it's also important to avoid drinking out of a straw and chewing gum which can also cause air to be swallowed.
5. Avoid artificial sweeteners.
   
   To help prevent bloating and gas, eliminate all artificial sweeteners from your diet the week before your wedding. Although artificial sweeteners of all types can cause
6. Try some natural remedies.
   
   On the evening before and on the day of your wedding, drink a cup of peppermint tea as well as a cup of fennel tea. Both of these herbs have been shown to increase intestinal motility and reduce flatulence. Some people also benefit from drinking diluted apple cider vinegar. This can help digestive enzymes work more efficiently to break down food that may be causing gas.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also try over the counter gas remedies such as Gas-X. These medications contain simethicone which is thought to help break up gas bubbles in the intestines, although they aren't effective for everyone.
• Activated charcoal, available at your local drugstore, may also reduce gaseousness.
• If bloating persists or if you develop abdominal tenderness, see your doctor. Rarely, more serious conditions can cause bloating and gaseous symptoms.