How to Get Rid of Bloating

1. Make a Metabolism Tea

A sluggish digestive system equals a slower metabolic rate. Wake up your innards by starting the morning with a cup of ginger tea. This fast-friendly drink will help improve the digestion and elimination of your food and cut unhealthy cravings for salt or sugar, and is a key part of The 7-Day Flat-Belly Tea Cleanse—test panelists lost 10 pounds! Boil 1/2 tsp grated ginger with 1 cup of water and pour into a cup with your favorite tea bag.

2. Take a Bath With Epsom Salt

Relaxing in any tub is always nice, adding two cups of Epsom salt may help deflate your belly more effectively by pulling excess water out of your body. To avoid dehydration, only do this ritual once a week.

3. Eat a Banana

Bananas are packed with potassium, a nutrient that helps regulate fluid balance to flatten belly bloat. It’s just one of the 21 Amazing Things That Happen to Your Body When You Eat Bananas!

4. Avoid Certain Veggies

Even though they’re filled with health-promoting nutrients, these are also contain sneaky belly-bloaters that may be contributing to your ever-clinging food baby: White onions, artichokes, corn, brocolli, cauliflower, kale, raw spinach, and button mushrooms.

5. Spit Out The Gum

Not only does chewing gum cause you to swallow tummy-bloating air, many gums also contain sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners like sorbitol and xylitol that can cause bloat. If you have to have something to chomp on, go for an organic variety like Glee gum or Simply gum instead. They’re still low-cal, but they don’t use those sweeteners that’ll make you puff up. If that makes you cringe, then you’ll definitely want to see the 40 Most Horrifying Things Found in Food!

6. Skip the Protein Bar

You probably don’t think “beans” when you unwrap a protein bar, but a lot of them include protein isolate derived from soybeans—something many people find just as gas-inducing as the musical fruit. Like other beans, soy contains oligosaccharides, sugar molecules that the body can’t break down entirely. With nowhere to go, these oligosaccharides hang out in the where they ferment, causing gas and bloating of the stomach.

7. Pile on the Cilantro

Research shows that cilatnro’s unique blend of oils (specifically, linalool and geranyl acetate) work like over-the-counter meds to relax digestive muscles and alleviate an “overactive” gut. A study published in the journal Digestive Diseases and Science found that patients with IBS benefited from supplementing with coriander (also known as cilantro) as opposed to placebo. Cilantro is just one of the 25 Best Foods That Beat Bloat!

8. Have Some Dark Chocolate

You don’t need to tell us twice! But the catch is that the chocolatehas to have a cacao content of 70 percent or above. Chocolate-loving microbes in the gut convert the candy into anti-inflammatory compounds, researchers at the American Chemical Society found. When the cocoa reaches your belly’s digestive juices and enzymes, it’s feasted on by your belly’s good gut bugs, which ferment it into anti-inflammatory compounds. Bingo: You lose belly bloat.

9. Eat Several Teeny-Tiny Meals

To keep your metabolism revving throughout the day, focus on small, protein- and fiber-packed snacks or small meals every 3 to 4 hours. You will not only burn more calories eating a series of smaller meals, but also avoid the afternoon crash and end of the workday slump. (Make sure to eat that first protein-packed meal; skipped breakfasts leave many of us grabbing for more food than we really need.) Use your smartphone or computer to remind you of these intervals. An apple with peanut butter, some nuts and berries, hummus or yogurt all make great go-to snacks. Speaking of peanut butter, find out What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Peanut Butter!

10. Eat Slowly So You Don’t Gulp Air

When you finally get home after a long day, you’re totally famished — we get it. But that doesn’t mean you should scarf down your dinner in a hurry. Eating too quickly causes you to swallow excess air, which can lead to uncomfortable gas and bloating. Slowing down the chewing with your mouth closed, on the other hand, can have the opposite effect. Fight off the urge to vacuum your entire meal by snacking on something like a small piece of fruit or an ounce of nuts on your way home. Then, after you’ve settled in, sit down and have a leisurely supper.

11. Swap Your Happy Hour Drink for Lemon Water

When people retain fluid, they tend to skimp on water because they think it will make their bloating worse. Since water retention is the body’s way of holding onto fluid so it doesn’t dehydrate, the opposite is true. Drinking lots of water (and skipping dehydrating booze) signals the body that it no longer needs to hold onto every last drop to stay hydrated. Lemons are a natural diuretic, so adding them to your glass will speed up the process. (Not a lemon fan? Whip up a glass of detox water instead.)

12. Skip the Straws

Just like sucking in air by inhaling your meals can cause you to feel puffy, sipping through a straw can cause you to take in extra air and experience a bloating.

13. Seriously, Only Drink Water or Tea

As much as we love the benefits of coffee and hate soda, they’re both no-no’s when trying to shrink your bloat, fast. “Fluids, specifically water, are absolutely key for optimal digestion,” says Isabel Smith, MS, RD, CDN, registered dietitian and founder of Isabel Smith Nutrition. “Consuming beverages that are high in sugar or caffeine can not only be dehydrating, but in some cases can add to excess calorie intake, too.”

14. Find Fiber; Lose White Flour

Foods made with white flour like white bread, white pasta, and white rice are relatively low in fiber and may cause you to get a little, uh, backed up. Choosing whole grains can help with this,” says Smith. A simple switch from white bread to whole wheat or from white rice to brown will keep things moving along smoothly.

15. Don’t Eat Anything Greasy

Foods that are high in grease or are really fatty, like a McDonald’s breakfast, can cause gastrointestinal upset. While some fats are great for your gut, like omega-3s found in fish or nuts, these fats don’t interact with your body the same way. Stuff like fast food often contains high levels of unhealthy fats like saturated and trans fatty acids that cause an inflammatory response in the body, meaning your body wants it out!