You know that feeling of bloating you can get sometimes from drinking your food on the go; meal replacement shakes have the tendency to give you the feeling of being bloated sometimes. The good news is that even though meal replacement shakes can cause bloating, this can be somewhat avoided. While it doesn’t happen to literally everyone, it usually does at least some point in time, especially if you drink a meal replacement shake regularly.
Go Green
Organic forms of meal replacement shakes don’t have any sugars or sugar alcohols. These are actually the best shakes when a regular one, because sorbitol, xylitol, erythritol, isomalt and other sugar alcohol and starches can be the leading cause of shake bloatage.
Fiber is your Friend
Sometimes not getting enough fiber is actually the culprit of feeling bloated. Your body can produce extra gas as well as other things, such as excess stomach acids and more. Because of this, you actually need a little more fiber, and you can usually fix this by increasing your fiber some. You don’t have to drink a whole high fiber shake all at one time. You can actually be able to take it slow and increase from about a quarter of a fiber shake up to a full shake in about a week. This will help your body adjust properly in order to not cause any excess gas and bloating.
Less Time Can Mean Less Gas
When you’re blending your shake, you’re also whipping air into it. By blending your shake, a little less, or for shorter amounts of time, you can minimize the amount of air that you’re putting into your shake as it blends. If you’re having trouble mixing it up, you can even use the short burst blending trick (blending it up in short bursts rather than one long blender session).
Take Your Time
While it may be easier to stomach in a sense by chugging your shake, you can actually be causing yourself to end up being more bloated. Take your time when drinking a shake, and not only can it help you feel a lot less bloated (even after your drink is finished), but it can also help curb your appetite if you’re not chugging it too fast, which can also leave you feeling hungry in a shorter amount of time after drinking it.
Don’t Skip Eating Altogether
Meal replacement shakes are meant to give you additional protein, and extra vitamins and minerals. Even if you’re wanting to cut out food as much as possible, try to at least eat one meal a day. By eating meats that are healthy or high in Omega-3 fatty acids, as well as red grass-fed meats, and other healthy options for a well-balanced meal at least once a day, you can help to avoid not only that bloated feeling, but also it can help you have a little less problems with bowel movements and more.
Conclusion
Certain ingredients in your meal replacement shake (like flavors) can also be a benefactor of the bloated feeling. For example, even though it’s a more popular flavor, sometimes shakes that have whey protein and things like banana can actually cause more bloating (especially if it has banana powder in it) due to the higher sulfides and potassium content.