4 Habits That Are Making You Feel Bloated

Almost 50 percent of the women in one study from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine who said they routinely went on strict diets suffered from frequent bloating, compared with 20 percent of those who said they rarely or never dieted. We're not even talking about the cabbage-soup diet that became famous-by-fax in the 1980s and has since wreaked gastrointestinal havoc on the lives of millions of women. Anytime you drastically reduce your caloric intake, you're setting yourself up for stomach and intestinal issues, says Yoshida. Our bodies become conditioned to expect food at certain times, so skipping meals on a short-term diet throws off our highly sophisticated digestive system. Yoshida says that this can lead to constipation, which is exacerbated by the fact that many dieters neglect to take in enough water or fiber to help keep food moving. And really, what's the point of any diet that says it will help you lose 10 pounds in 7 days if it makes you look like you gained 10 pounds after one meal?