No one wants to talk about it, but we all know it’s a real problem. Not to mention uncomfortable. Bloating. It can sneak up on you after a meal and all of a sudden that tightness feeling begins in your stomach. Your clothes start to feel tight as your abdomen starts to expand. It can be hard to know how to deal with it once it has started and the cause has already happened. Bloating is different from water retention and can leave you feeling much more uncomfortable.

This is the last sort of thing that you want to happen on your wedding day. You want to feel light, energized and graceful as you speak with your guests. You want to move around your reception with ease without feeling restricted by your wedding dress, especially if it’s built with a lot of structure in the bodice.

So how do you avoid bloating? First, you need to understand the causes. There are three common causes of gas and bloating. Overeating, which can be best dealt with by eating smaller portions or eating slowly. This makes it easier for your body to register when you’re full. Secondly, meals high in fat. These are slower to digest and can leave you bloated. Aim for proteins or carbohydrates that break down faster so you can be up and dancing sooner. Finally, slow down. Eating too fast can causes bloating, no matter what the food is. It can be hard on your wedding day to sit down and slowly enjoy your meal as you grab a few bites between conversations but making this a priority will help prevent any bloating in your digestive system. Eating fast makes you swallow more air, which brings more trapped gas, so eating slower will help reduce gas.

What you eat impacts the digestive process, which impacts bloating and gas. That’s why it’s important to know which foods to avoid if you want to reduce gas and bloating, especially on your wedding day.

Now you’ve got the process of eating sorted, we can look at the specific foods you want to avoid on your wedding day to reduce bloating.

7 Foods To Eat To Avoid Gas And Bloating

Beans

Many people are aware of beans as a culprit intestinal gas. While being packed full of good protein and healthy carbs, they also contain carbohydrates called FODMAPs. These basically skip past your digestive tract and are fermented by gut bacteria in the colon, which can produce gas. This whole process isn’t usually a problem as FODMAPs provide food for the good bacteria. However, for people with irritable bowel syndrome, a gas produced during this process can cause discomfort. There are ways to process beans or different types of beans that can impact on this process, but it can be a good idea to skip beans altogether if you’re not eating a diet high in them before your wedding.

Wheat

Many people choose to avoid wheat these days as it contains the protein gluten. For coeliacs, people with celiac disease, gluten can cause extreme reactions but for most people, the impacts are less severe but annoying. If you experience a strong reaction to wheat, seek medical advice around coeliacs disease. This is another food group that is relatively easy to avoid at your wedding especially if you eat a low carbohydrate diet in the lead-up.

Dairy Products

Products made from milk are packed full of protein, calcium and other nutrients. But for 75% of the world’s population is unable to actually break down lactose, making them lactose intolerant. If this is you, you’ll often experience bloating, gas, cramps or diarrhea from eating dairy products like cheese or milk. Aside from avoiding these products completely, you can look to items like cream, butter or yogurt as these are processed differently by the digestive enzymes. Or you can look to plant-based milk. There is an ever-expanding array of milk and now we’re seeing dairy-free cheeses, yogurts and more. Your wedding day isn’t the day to experiment but try some of these beforehand to see what agrees with your stomach.

Onions

A delicious ingredient that flavors so many dishes, onions can cause bloating. Onions are high in fructans. Fructans are basically soluble fibers, which act like sponges absorbing fluid and making the bowel contents softer and able to move more easily. But they can cause bloating. To understand more about these, check out this medically reviewed article from Healthline Media. For some people this is far more noticeable when consuming raw onions, so try to avoid these in your wedding menu and opt for cooked instead. 

Apples

The most popular fruit in the world! But these sweet treats are high in fructose, which is a FODMAP and can be hard for the digestive process. If they pass through the small intestine too quickly without digesting properly, they can end up fermenting in the large intestine leaving you bloated. Switch out apples for other fruits like blueberries, bananas, or strawberries. Otherwise, try cooked apples instead to lower the chance of leaving you feeling bloated. 

Beer

A beer belly usually refers to a growing midsection from consuming too much beer over a long period of time. But too much can lead to an instant beer belly from bloating. This is due to the carbonation of the beer (all those tiny bubbles you’re consuming) as well as the fermentable carbohydrates that the beer is made from, like barley, maize, wheat, or rice. Many beers also contain gluten which can cause separate issues, especially for those with Celiac disease. Skip the beer and opt for water (non-carbonated) or still alcohols that won’t be as likely to cause bloating. All carbonated beverages can make you bloated, so if you can, avoid all carbonated beverages.

Greens

I know it seems crazy that a nutritionist might suggest not eating your greens but hear me out! Certain green vegetables are high in FODMAPs alongside all those nutrients like fiber, vitamin c, iron, and potassium. Stay away from the cruciferous family, which includes broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and several others. Opt for other, equally delicious greens like spinach, lettuce, cucumbers if you want to make sure there are still greens on the plate at your wedding. That way, you’ll be able to reduce gas, while still getting your greens in.