Smoothie causes Bloating and Gas on empty Stomach

Neha is a restaurant owner and many of the students from our school during the Ayurveda course go to eat at her place.

So one day Neha walked up to the school as she had heard from the students that Ayurvedic diet can bring balance as she was suffering from Bloating.

As we sat down for consultation on her diet. Questions asked were what does she eat regularly throughout the day for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and in between meals or snacks.

It is important to understand the diet of the person, according to Ayurveda. Diet is a very important aspect of Ayurveda.

Her response was “I eat very Healthy” which comes naturally from most of the consultations. The Ayurvedic practitioner during consultation needs to look in detail at the client’s daily intake of food. As probably the client does not have the right food or drink at the right time.

As we got into more detailed discussion about her diet, she said she stopped eating normal warm breakfast as she used to eat earlier and replaced it with having smoothies made of raw vegetables and fresh fruits. As it is very Healthy. At this point, many people also ask can we drink smoothie in morning empty stomach or can I drink smoothie empty stomach, thinking it’s a healthy choice.

A warm, moist breakfast would be poha, savory crepes made from buckwheat or chickpea flour, oatmeal, porridge, eggs and fresh bread, Suji Chila, Rice pancake, sabudana khichdi, tapioca and so on.

First of all, raw vegetables on an empty stomach in the morning are gas causing plus mixed with fresh fruits, confuses the digestive juices or enzymes. The digestive system does not know what Rasa or enzymes to produce to digest. So in the process it frements the fruits which digests quickly and creates gas and bloating. Moreover raw vegetables and fresh fruits are cold for the warm environment of the stomach especially in the morning as the digestive fire is rising along with the sun. This is why drinking smoothie on empty stomach or taking a smoothie on empty stomach often worsens bloating instead of helping digestion.

Even though Smoothie is good for health and has many benefits, it is not to be taken on an empty stomach or after 4pm.

It is best to have smoothie in between meals or by 4pm and not have dinner after that. So that body gets time to digest. Also make vegetable smoothies or fruit smoothies, do not mix them together. They are not compatible with each other according to Ayurveda.