Not sure about you, but I have a bloating issue and this gets worse during PMS as well as during menstruation. In all of my years here at The Wellness Insider, we’ve come across several causes of bloating such as leaky gut syndrome and solutions on how to ensure gut health such as eating kefir as well as other sources of probiotics, cutting out diary and beans, together with cutting back on processed foods and sugar. Even gluten became something to cut back on if you want to get rid of the bloat.
Yours truly has cut back on gluten, diary, beans, sugar and processed foods while increasing consumption on probiotics as well as diary-alternatives such as nut milks. Has the bloating gone down? Well…not significantly, although it does get worse for those days where I do eat one too many slices of pizza…nonetheless, I was intrigued at products that then claim to help stop the bloating. And curious me decided to either try out the products or to figure out whether they’re even worth trying out to begin with.
Let’s begin!
Plant-based Milk Alternatives
Bare Coco is one of the latest diary-free milk alternatives to hit the shelves. Made with hand-picked coconuts from Fair Trade certified small-scale farmers from Bến Tre in Vietnam, their ready-to-drink range from Coffee Coconut Milk, Pandan Coconut Water to Dark Chocolate Coconut Milk.
Besides coconut-based drinks, there are other plant-based milk alternatives to try, such as Oatly, Oatside, MILKLAB and WhatIF Food’s Bamnut Milk.
It does bank on the fact that a lot of Asians lack the genotype for digesting lactose, which causes a lot of discomfort to one’s guts when diary products are consumed. Moreover, all these milk alternatives have launched right at the time where veganism is on the rise and people are looking for more vegetarian-friendly and products that are also gluten-free as well as environmentally and/or socially friendly.
But do these non-dairy products really stop the bloat? Honestly, this really depends on the individual. If you’re lactose intolerant or sensitive, then it makes a lot of sense to switch to milk alternatives so that it’ll stop your guts from churning, which causes the gas build up. And the switch isn’t too hard because they taste just as good as the usual milk or chocolate milk that we grew up loving!
Cleanse and detox supplements
Xndo recently launched their Xit™ Cleanse And D’tox (S$64.95) and Viscerin™ Visceral Fat Burner (S$99.95) as a powerful combo to help individuals support toxin elimination, help stubborn visceral fat burning and relieving water retention.
Made from a unique blend of fruits and vegetables fermented for 540 days, the Xit™ Cleanse And D’tox is a jelly supplement that contains an array of probiotic strains and further enhanced with Cassia occidentalis L. extract (which contains sennosides) to help:
- Improve bowel movement regularity
- Support toxin elimination
- Promote healthy gut balance
- Alleviate gastrointestinal issues
- Strengthen the digestive system
- Improve overall health and wellbeing
Due to the packaging, it is easy to carry a couple of sticks along with you in your bag or in your pocket so that you can eat 1 to 2 sticks daily after meals. It is only recommended to take the Xit™ Cleanse And D’tox for 14 days and taking another 14 days break before starting a new course. This is because while you want a healthy bowel movement, you do not want to overstimulate your gut so then have diarrhoea, which is not ideal.
While cleansing and detoxing, Xndo also recommends eating the Viscerin™ Visceral Fat Burner alongside. It is specially formulated with Corn Silk Extract, Lemon Balm Extract, Lotus Leaf Extract and Eucommia Leaf Extract with Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT). It comes as strawberry flavoured and is a powder that can be consumed on its own or mixed with a glass of water, which you’re supposed to take 1 to 3 times daily. It is supposed to help:
- Burn visceral fat
- Promote fat metabolism
- Relieve water retention
- Support healthy weight management
So I tried this Bundle out for 30 days and I really put it to the test as Week 1 also coincided with my PMS, where my bloating and water retention is usually at its worst.
Did it help?
I would say, it did help to a certain extent. There wasn’t much significant difference in term of fat burning but I did realise that instead of my usual 1kg water retention and rounded belly, it was half of that. What was more interesting was that the day after my period ended, I did see a very unusually flat belly. However, I have a feeling that it has to be a combination of the two to get these results because I stopped taking the Xit as per recommendation but continued the Viscerin for the whole 30 days, however the results was seen only in the 2nd week. From the 3rd week onwards where I was only taking the Viscerin, the bloating and water retention was back to its normal levels.
Not sure whether this is a good long term solution as it would mean spending S$264.85 every month, although Xndo is having a limited time bundle for only S$99.90, consisting of 1 box of Xit and 2 boxes of Viscerin.
Conclusion
No doubt that our diet and lifestyle affects our bloating which is why it is important to find out which foods do cause you to bloat so that you can avoid them; take a variety of fermented foods (including supplements) to ensure that you have sufficient strains of probiotics so that you have good gut health; and maintain a balanced lifestyle where you exercise at least two to three times a week and get enough sleep.
But of course, if you do find supplements that work and you can afford it, then you can stick to it so as to ensure that you no longer have bloating woes! Nonetheless, it is important to understand your body well so that you can further improve the efficacy of these supplements.
Images: Bare Coco, Envato and Xndo