After the holidays it is common to hear it—and feel it—: “I feel bloated,” “I am heavier,” “I need to deflate.” “The schedules, quantities, and type of meals change, we sleep worse, we move less. and stress usually increases. All of this is noticeable in the body, especially at the digestive and abdominal level,” he explains. the superior technician in Nutrition and Dietetics Ana Luzón. “But I don’t think that this feeling should be quickly corrected, punished or ‘fixed with miracle solutions’,” he points out.
The first thing this expert highlights is that “swelling is not synonymous with a problem.” And he explains why: “The first thing to clarify is something that is rarely explained well: not everything we perceive as swelling is fluid retention. Many times we talk about slower digestion; greater intestinal volume due to changes in diet; more salt, but also more carbohydrates, more fiber or different combinations, stress and activation of the nervous system; hormonal changes, and, very importantly, greater attention and judgment about the body.
That is to say, The body is not “failing,” Luzón insists, “it is adapting.”. “So, what do I do when I feel bloated?” continues this expert, “I don’t do cleanses or diets.” detoxis resets. “What I do is much less spectacular… and much more effective,” he says.
And then he tells it: “I return to my usual routines, without rushing; I drink enough water, without forcing myself or forcing myself; I prioritize simple, hot and easy-to-digest foods; I walk more, even if it is soft; I prioritize rest and sleep as much as possible; and, above all, I let go of the idea of compensating.” In addition, this dietary technique continues, “I do not try to ‘undo’ what I eat, I let the body do its work and I drink broth every few days, but not to deflate or to eliminate fluids.”
The reasons why Luzon drinks broth, he explains, are: “Because it hydrates me, comforts me, is easy to digest and helps me return to softer foods if I need it.“. “A broth does not detoxify,” highlights this specialist, “it does not drain and does not burn fat.” “And that does not make it useless, but rather what it is: simple and pleasant food. Because the problem is not the broth, the problem is selling it as a solution to something that is not a failure of the body.”
Furthermore, Ana Luzón says that we must keep in mind that “true relief is not physical, it is mental”: “Interestingly, many people notice that the swelling goes down when they stop looking at themselves with a magnifying glass, weighing themselves, comparing themselves to how they were ‘before Christmas’. That is, they go into “control mode.” “But when we stop fighting the body, the body usually responds better, because Taking care of yourself is not compensating, taking care of yourself is coming home, also with food“concludes this expert.