A large bowl of salad, full of fresh ingredients and all kinds of useful nutrients should be the perfect solution for lunch, right? So how can you sometimes feel bloated after such a treat? We try to solve this mystery, just read on and find out.
Even a salad isn’t immune to becoming a caloric bomb ready to blow up in your stomach and make you feel bloated for hours on end. But for every culinary challenge, there is always at least one solution. We have multiple answers for you. Experiment with them, find out what causes the bloating, and then remove that from the equation.
4 reasons your salad may make you feel bloated
1.The dressing is the problem
The reason your gorgeous salad is making you feel bloated might be in the dressing. After all, the veggies you carefully selected, chopped, and diced for it could be entirely eclipsed by the sometimes negative combo of oil, salt, and sugar. Even worse: you have a pretty chance of picking one loaded with additives and preservatives.
All of those things can bloat you, but together, they have even better odds of making your abdomen engorge.
So be a bit more careful when it comes to buying salad dressing, or even better, make it yourself at home. Start with some freshly squeezed lemon juice, which can stimulate your digestive functions.
2.Too much fiber
Can that be? Actually, yes! You can have too much fiber. How much is too much? It completely depends on your own body. Some people can digest a larger quantity of fiber, while others feel bloated after just a little. Too much fiber can get stuck in your digestive tract.
If your salad fibers come from raw veggies, you can try to steam or stir fry them a little before you add them to the salad, because they’re easier to digest. If you don’t have time, make sure then that your salad has some raw spinach. It’s full of water and easier to digest than others.
Make sure to also look at the legumes in your salad. They’re also rich in fiber and might make you feel bloated. Try to stay away from canned legumes, even though they might help you cook faster. They often have high quantities of raffinose, a sugar that your body has a hard time breaking down.
3.Too much salad
We know everything is delicious and you want to eat your salad to the last bite. To get even more nutrients, right? Well, too much of anything is bad for you, so maybe you should try to eat more mindfully and figure out what kind of a portion your body needs for lunch.
4.Go for raw nuts with no salt
Remember, every salad ingredient can add to the bloaty feeling. So if you want to use nuts in your salad, choose ones that have not been roasted or salted. You can salt them a little yourself, maybe lightly roast them in a pan for that extra crunchy step. The idea is to salt the whole salad, not the elements separately because you don’t want to overdo it.
