Do you suffer from any of the following symptoms: bloating, gas, burping, diarrhea, constipation or acid reflux?  If your answer is yes, I am sure you have been trying hard to be very careful with the type of food that you eat, when you eat them and even tried to reduce the portion, only to have the problems revisiting you time and again.

Have you ever taken the time to look at your posture?

Bad posture is the new first-world problem that is causing more mental and physical health complications than most people realize.

The human body was designed to move and  not to sit on a chair or couch for several hours at a time. Look at the cavemen. They moved around to hunt for food.  They were fit, trim and lived over a hundred years of age.

I have always been experimenting on different postures whenever I have a distended abdomen with gas — sitting and walking upright vs sitting and walking with a slouched back.  I find that I feel better when I sit and walk with a straight back, with tummy tucked in. Of course this takes more effort but if we do it continuously, over time, it becomes a habit that we carry ourselves with a straight back.

Over time, bad posture habits lead to fatigue, depression, pain and headaches. There’s the reason why your mother told you to sit and walk straight as poor posture causes a host of ailments. I am sure you never thought of that, except that people with poor posture look sloppy.

Sitting does more than just constrict your heart and lungs, it also constricts your intestines. This can make digestion uncomfortable and cause a host of issues. If you are experiencing digestive distress, you may want to take a closer look at your posture and how much time you are spending sitting each day.

Digestive problems are a very common reason people alter their diet. But specific foods aren’t the only reason why your digestion might be in trouble – and one of the other potential factors is posture.

Bad posture constricts the blood vessels, starving the organs of oxygen and nutrients, cramping digestion. Posture defects may compound existing health problems such as indigestion and asthma by compressing the lungs and stomach.

Many of us have a sedentary lifestyle. We spend too much time sitting at our desks, in cars or watching TV. We tend to slouch and slump as the lower back muscles tire. Eventually, our hunched positions fossilise as the muscles give in and reluctantly adapt to the demands placed on them.

When it comes to the digestive system, proper posture allows the internal organs in the abdomen to assume their natural position without undue compression, which can interfere with the normal flow and function of the gastrointestinal apparatus.

Standing up straight not only allows the abdominal organs to function better, but it also improves the shape of the body in ways that are immediate and profound. For instance, one of the major complaints of mature women (and men) is a growing “belly pouch,” an abdominal distention that afflicts even thin people as they age and that can’t be resolved by liposuction or sit-ups alone because it is due to the protruding viscera pushing against the abdominal wall.

By straightening up the body you can trim several inches from the waist simply by increasing the distance between your lower ribs and the pelvis, allowing greater volume for the internal organs to spread, and instantaneously reducing an unsightly “beer belly” or a grandmotherly bulge.

I have to remind myself to sit and walk upright all the time to look and feel better.  If you slouch, slump on your chair or have bad posture, make the change today too!