Natural yogurt at breakfast: Your ally against bloating

Bloating is a common ailment. Over 20% of people complain about it, and its causes are not always easy to determine. However, even small changes in diet can often help. An expert discussed one such change, pointing out a product worth eating in the morning.

When bloating problems begin, we usually focus on dinner the most. This is because the stomach resembles a balloon only in the evening. However, a doctor and a dietitian who spoke to Vogue magazine advise paying attention to what you eat in the morning at breakfast.

Dr. Fermín Mearin Manrique from Teknon Medical Center and a member of the Top Doctors association claims that bloating often intensifies throughout the day but is least noticeable upon waking and most bothersome in the evening. This may be because gases gradually accumulate in the abdominal cavity during the day and fill it, weakening the abdominal muscles. Therefore, to ease bloating, it is good to start preventing it in the morning.

How to do it? It's necessary to start strengthening gut flora in the morning. Enriching your breakfast with natural yogurt is a simple way to do this.

— Many scientific studies show that a diet rich in natural probiotics, including yoghurts, enables the diversification of gut flora and alleviates bloating. Yoghurts contain live bacterial cultures that inhabit the digestive tract, facilitating digestive processes, and therefore play an extremely important role in gut health care — explains dietitian Paula Martín Clares.

The specialist recommends natural yogurts, especially those with a concise list of ingredients. She also warns that fruit yogurts are not as effective.

— You should be careful with flavoured yoghurts because they contain sugar, sweeteners, and dyes. To enhance the taste, as a dietitian, I recommend buying 100% natural yoghurt and adding fruit to it — she adds.

Yogurt can alternatively be consumed with kefir. This is another product that greatly benefits gut flora. Kefir is one of the best probiotic products, contributing to the balance of gut flora, facilitating digestion, and regulating constipation, bloating, and gas.