If you've been feeling overly gassy or you've been experiencing bloating and abdominal pain, a simple change in diet may help relieve your symptoms.
Different foods produce different amounts of gas, which varies from person to person. The only way to know your own limits is through trial and error. These are some foods that cause gas:
- beans
- vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, onions, artichokes, and asparagus
- fruits such as pears, apples, and peaches
- whole grains such as whole wheat and bran
- soft drinks and fruit drinks
- milk and milk products, such as cheese and ice cream
- packaged foods that have lactose (the primary sugar in milk) in them, such as bread, cereal, and salad dressing
- dietetic foods and sugar-free candies and gums
If you try changing your diet and still have problems with gas, consult your physician. He or she may be able to prescribe medications that will reduce discomfort.
Got Gas?
You Can Modify Your Diet and Eating Habits to Prevent the Discomfort.
- Eat and drink slowly, in a calm environment. Chew your food thoroughly before you swallow.
- For a few days, avoid the foods that most commonly cause flatulence, such as beans, high-fiber foods, cruciferous vegetables, carbonated beverages and sugar-free products containing sorbitol. Then gradually add them to your diet again, one by one, while keeping track of your symptoms. This should let you determine which foods trigger flatulence for you. Then you can avoid them.
- If you need to add more fiber to your diet, increase your fiber slowly over a period of days or weeks. A sudden increase in dietary fiber often triggers flatulence, but a gradual increase may not.
- If you eat beans, try a nonprescription product, such as Beano, containing enzymes that break up the poorly digested sugars found in beans.
A Few Dietary Changes Could Bring Much Needed Relief.
- Sugars: The sugars that cause gas are raffinose, lactose, fructose, and sorbitol.
- Raffinose: Beans contain large amounts of the complex sugar raffinose. Smaller amounts are found in cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, other vegetables, and whole grains.
- Lactose: The natural sugar in milk, lactose is also found in milk products, such as cheese and ice cream, and processed foods, such as bread, cereal, and salad dressing. Many people, particularly those of African, Native American, or Asian background, normally have low levels of the enzyme lactase needed to digest lactose after childhood. Also, as people age, their enzyme levels decrease. As a result, over time people may experience increasing amounts of gas after eating food containing lactose.
- Fructose: Known as a healthy sugar, fructose is naturally present in onions, artichokes, pears, and wheat. It is also used as a sweetener in some soft drinks and fruit drinks.
- Sorbitol: This sugar is found naturally in fruits, including apples, pears, peaches, and prunes. It is also used as an artificial sweetener in many dietetic foods and sugarfree candies and gums.
- Starches: Most starches, including potatoes, corn, noodles, and wheat, produce gas as they are broken down in the large intestine. Rice is the only starch that does not cause gas.
- Fiber: Many foods contain soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves easily in water and takes on a soft, gel-like texture in the intestines. Found in oat bran, beans, peas, and most fruits, soluble fiber is not broken down until it reaches the large intestine, where digestion causes gas. Insoluble fiber, on the other hand, passes essentially unchanged through the intestines and produces little gas. Wheat bran and some vegetables contain this kind of fiber.
3 Easy Cures for Gas
Is Gas Causing You Pain and Embarrassment? You Don't Have to Just Live With It.
Many nonprescription medicines, including antacids, are available to help reduce symptoms. Digestive enzymes, such as lactase supplements, actually help digest carbohydrates and may allow people to eat foods that normally cause gas.
If you have gas in your stomach, try antacids such as Mylanta II, Maalox II, and Di-Gel. These products contain simethicone, a foaming agent that joins gas bubbles in the stomach so that gas is more easily belched away. However, these medicines have no effect on intestinal gas. Dosage varies depending on the form of medication and your age.
The enzyme lactase, which aids with lactose digestion, is available in caplet and chewable tablet form without a prescription. It's called Lactaid or Lactrase. Chewing lactase tablets just before eating helps digest foods that contain lactose. You can also buy lactose-reduced milk and dairy products at many grocery stores (sold under brands such as Lactaid and Dairy Ease).
Beano, an over-the-counter digestive aid, contains the sugar-digesting enzyme that the body lacks to digest the sugar in beans and many vegetables. The enzyme comes in liquid and tablet form.
By Everyday Health Network
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