5 Bad Foods for Your Belly

THESE ‘BELLY BULLIES’ are likely to challenge your digestive system, interfere with your gut bacteria, cause inflammation and pack on the kilos.

CARB-DENSE FOODS

can alter the balance of our gut flora, triggering inflammation. Foods are considered carb-dense if they have a high ratio of carb grams relative to their weight. A small potato weighs 170 grams, but it’s mostly water; only about 23 per cent of it is carbohydrate. A plain rice cake, by contrast, weighs only nine grams, but almost 80 per cent of it is carbohydrate. Found in: bread (including wholegrain breads), bagels, crackers, pasta, cereals, white rice.

NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

Sugar alcohols and low-carb sweeteners naturally found in some foods and added to others don’t easily pass through our cell walls, so gut bacteria must digest them, which can cause gas and bloating. Found in: some fruits (apples, nectarines, peaches, pears), vegetables (cauliflower, mushrooms, snow peas), artificial sweeteners, sugar-free foods.

EXCESS FRUCTOSE

Foods with a lot of fructose compared with glucose can contribute to gas, bloating and diarrhoea. Found in: certain fruits (apples, mangoes, watermelons), certain vegetables (asparagus, sugar snap peas), sweeteners (high-fructose corn syrup, agave nectar, honey).

HIGH FIBRE

The body’s inability to digest a kind of fibre called fructan can cause flatulence. Found in: grains (barley, wheat), vegetables (artichokes, onions, garlic), legumes (kidney beans, soybeans), additives (inulin).

BEANS

contain a lot of raffinose, which is a complex sugar that the body has trouble digesting. Found in: Most beans and some nuts (cashews, pistachios).