Herbal Anti-Bloating Shots
The occasional bloated feeling after over-indulging in your favorite dish is to be expected, but for some people, that feeling can occur after every meal and is usually associated with too much gas in your gut. In this article, I’ll share with you my go-to herbal anti-bloating shots that I make whenever I feel the need.
Reasons of Bloating
- Indigestion
- Constipation
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Eating too fast
- Swallowing air while eating
- A food intolerance
- Processed foods and fizzy beverages
- Eating vegetables that cause gas, such as beans and cabbage
- Sugar, dairy products, or high-fiber foods
This variety of causes means that you have a wide variety of treatments. Therefore, the next step is to determine the cause of your bloating, and this is where making a record of what you eat can help narrow down the suspects. Good record keeping may help to determine that you’re only bloated after eating raw red onion or drinking a beer, for example.
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Other tests you can perform on yourself include concentrating on chewing with your mouth closed to reduce swallowing air, taking smaller bites, eating smaller portion sizes, and avoid slouching while eating.
Of course, there are a couple of herbs that have carminative actions (decreases gas) or improve digestion which you can whip up into an easy anti-bloating herbal shot.
Herbs that Reduce Bloating
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a well-known digestive aid which heals your entire gastrointestinal tract.
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) seeds are carminative and a gastric stimulant.
Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) leaves have gastroprotective effects and a long history of being used as a carminative.
Fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare) are mentioned in many studies as an anti-flatulence remedy and were traditionally mixed with water and sodium bicarbonate.
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) works as a digestive aid throughout your whole GI tract but particularly in the small intestine.
Mint (mentha sp.) and many others from the Lamiaceae family are common treatments for flatulence, possibly by stimulating burping by relaxing the esophageal sphincter. I will be using fresh mint in the recipe below, but you can also use 1 or 2 drops of peppermint essential oil.
Lavender is a mild relaxant, and English lavender flowers can be eaten in small quantities to reduce bloating. You can purchase your own non-GMO Lavender seeds here.
Sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana) flowering stems are used as a carminative and digestive aid, and studies show that it has gastroprotective effects.
As always, I encourage you to use what you have in your garden and what you can find in season locally. Obviously, there are going to be times when certain ingredients aren’t going to be in supply, for example, sweet marjoram and lavender aren’t going to be in flower all year, so if you need to substitute fresh with dried ingredients, just halve the fresh amount.
Herbal Anti-Bloating Shots
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 tbsp of fennel seeds
- 2 tbsp of fresh mint
- 2 tbsp of fresh sweet marjoram
- 1 tbsp of fresh lavender flowers
- 1 tbsp of fresh hyssop leaves
- 1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger
- 1 thumb sized piece of fresh turmeric or 1 tsp of powdered turmeric
Method:
-
- Roughly crush the fennel and fenugreek seeds first.
- Then add the ginger, turmeric, the remaining dried ingredients and mix with the seeds and 1 teaspoon of water to make a rough paste.
- Bring 1 cup of water to the boil, add to the paste and allow to brew for 10 minutes.
- Strain the mixture.
- Now add the fresh ingredients.
- Blend well, until it’s smooth. Now you should have about 1-2 days’ worth of anti-bloating shots. Make sure to store this mixture in the fridge.
- Roughly crush the fennel and fenugreek seeds first.
Dosage: Take 2 – 3 tablespoons about 5 – 10 minutes before eating lunch and dinner. I promise you will feel much better.
As with many ailments, there is rarely an easy and fast remedy that works effectively for absolutely everyone, but this recipe can act as a quick solution to bloating for most people. Ideally, you should investigate the cause of your bloating so that your long-term treatment is suited to your own needs.
This looks wonderful! We have your herbal remedies book, and the fennel infusion alone did wonders after a hearty meal of stewed beans 🙂 Thank you for sharing your wisdom and the healing powers of nature.