Your wedding dress fits, your skin is co-operating, D-day is almost here – the last thing you want is to jinx it and become a bloated or pimply bride. Never fear, we have tracked down the 10 biggest food culprits. Just say no to them the week (heck, make it two weeks) before your wedding and you will look and feel your best.
1. Salty food
Dial down the salt in your food. Sodium makes you retain water so you’ll feel and look puffy. By all means, stay away from potato chips. Not only do they contain outrageous amounts of salt, ‘Once you pop, you can’t stop’. Oops, there goes an entire can.
2. Sweets
Processed sugar makes you gain weight. Even if that is your aim, sugar is not the right way to do it. Your blood glucose spikes and you have a brief high, but then your energy drops, you get cranky and start craving more sugar. On top of that, it does your skin no favours – a dull complexion and breakouts are not cute.
3. Beans
The effects of beans are famous. They contain a complex sugar that can only be broken down by bacteria in the colon. By-product: gas, lots of it. The kind that will bring tears to the eyes of your guests as you walk down the aisle... for all the wrong reasons.
4. Fatty foods
We know, they’re the yummiest. Get your eyes off the picture for a second and ponder this. Fatty foods digest slowwwwly. They’ll stay in your tummy for longer, and you’ll feel too full around the tummy while wearing your once-upon-a-time-perfect-fit dress.
5. Carbonated drinks
Basically any drinks with bubbles. Soda, sparkling water and even champagne must be saved for later. The bubbles are pockets of air that’ll make you feel all gassy and belchy. Ugh.
6. Alcohol
Anyone can testify to how puffy they feel the morning after they’ve had a little too much. Alcohol can cause water retention, irritate your stomach, make you anxious the next day and make your face look bloated and puffy. All enough reason to abstain for two weeks and then enjoy the toast on D-day.
7. Dairy
Not everyone is lactose-intolerant but with people of African descent making up majority, this is good advice. For those who are, dairy products will make you bloat and set up camp in the bathroom. They are also notorious for worsening acne in some people. That creamy ice cream just isn’t worth it Fam.
8. Cruciferous vegetables
Surprising right? Veggies like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and (gasp!) even the beloved kale contain a sugar that will give you gas like beans. Now these vegetables are actually very nutritious and full of cancer-blasting antioxidants; but on your wedding day you want a flat tummy. Eat a little and choose cooked to help break down the sugar, instead of raw.
9. Caffeine
Coffee and black tea in addition to taking away sleep, can make you anxious. The last thing you need is more anxiety on a day that is naturally fraught with it.
10. Chewing gum
In addition to the sugar in it, chewing gum also makes you swallow air, which equals bloating. It also happens when you drink too fast or use a straw.
So what can you eat? Have a high fibre meal with fruit for breakfast, like oatmeal and bananas. For lunch, a good salad with healthy lean protein and a little complex starch all prepared in a healthy way (i.e. no frying, easy on the oil and salt). For dinner, keep it light, so less fat and carbs.
Stay beautiful!
