Fighting The Gassy Effects Of Good Eating, From The Harvard Health Letter

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology;  Public Health
Article Date: 03 Oct 2007 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Flatulence isn't much fun for the person having it - or those nearby. The October 2007 issue of the Harvard Health Letter lists tips for dealing with intestinal gas. For example:

-- Slow down your eating: A little bit of air goes down with everything you swallow. To reduce the amount of air, eat and drink slowly and chew food thoroughly.

-- Avoid airy drinks and foods: Air also gets into the gut if it's incorporated into food and drinks like beer, soda, or sponge cake.

-- Don't smoke: Some air gets swallowed when people smoke. Perhaps flatulence should be added to the list of ill consequences of smoking.

-- Shun sulfur: The bad smell of flatus comes from gases that contain sulfur. Putting less sulfur into your system can reduce the amount that comes out. Avoid sulfur-rich foods like eggs, meat, and cauliflower.

-- Cook those beans: When colon bacteria feed on the sugars in beans, they produce a gas by-product. You can reduce beans' gas potential by boiling them briefly, letting them sit, and then cooking them again in fresh water--or just by cooking them longer.

-- Consider Beano: A study found that high doses of the over-the-counter product Beano reduced flatulence, but a normal dose did not produce statistically significant results.

-- Go low on high-fructose corn syrup: Foods containing this sweetener can cause bloating and flatulence in people whose small intestines can't absorb large amounts of fructose.

-- Adjust the ecosystem: Too few or too much of particular bacterial species in the intestines can produce excessive flatulence. Talk to your doctor about probiotics; in certain cases, an antibiotic might be worth considering.

Harvard Health Publications
http://www.health.harvard.edu/health