Stop the flatulence!

March 7, 2005 10:12 AM

How can I stop being so flatulent?

I've always been pretty gassy, and it's pretty annoying. I think that it has been exacerbated by a higher intake of tofu products over the last year or two; I've read that your body will acclimate itself to the bean intake, but mine doesn't seem to have. I also have a pretty high carb intake (screw Atkins). What can I do to alleviate my "problem," even somewhat, without significantly altering my diet?

posted by The Michael The to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

Sounds like you need to improve your digestion. Try taking a regular dose of acidophilus and/or papaya extract, and increasing your intake of fiber and roughage.

Also, you might want to entertain the idea that you might be slightly allergic to soy; it's not an uncommon allergy.
posted by Specklet at 10:37 AM on March 7, 2005

I've tried Beano, and it seems to work. Available in most drugstores. (But a friend of mine is still searching for "Beanyes", to no avail.)
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 10:38 AM on March 7, 2005

Specklet, do you mean acidophilus in pill form? Papaya extract - how?
posted by fionab at 10:42 AM on March 7, 2005

LOL GAS

Some brands of tofu are just inferior. You might try a different brand and/or density. Like "silken" or "soft" if you're using "firm."

You might try adding some epazote (aka "pigweed") to your dishes or fresh in a salad. It's a strong flavored green so if you're not into mustard greens or endive, you might not like it.
posted by nearlife at 10:49 AM on March 7, 2005

IIRC, They make acidophilus and papaya extract in yummy chewable tablets.
posted by AllesKlar at 10:51 AM on March 7, 2005

I, too, have found Beano to be effective. You take two or three before a meal and it pretty much takes care of the problem.
posted by wsg at 10:53 AM on March 7, 2005

Before you try "taking something," try eating slower, eating less, chewing more thoroughly.

I used to have the same problem and I read somewhere that most of the gas people pass comes from air they swallow while eating and drinking. I started being more conscious of the WAY I ate and it actually made an immediate, noticible difference.

I used to just chow my food and swallow it too fast. If you break the food down into a fine paste in your mouth before you swallow it, there's less work for your digestive system to do and less air going into your stomach. It really makes a difference...

Well, it did for me anyway.
posted by evoo at 11:27 AM on March 7, 2005

Here it is: From the Wikipedia entry on Flatulence:

Causes of flatulence
Intestinal gas comes from exogenous (90%) and endogenous (10%) sources. Exogenous gas is air that is ingested through the nose and mouth. Endogenous gas is produced within the digestive tract...

posted by evoo at 11:35 AM on March 7, 2005

I second Specklet--soy allergies aren't uncommon--and also want to add that it could be a wheat allergy too. You say you eat a lot of carbs: are these mostly in the unprocessed form (like brown rice, whole grains) or are they highly processed (white flour, pasta)?
posted by veronica sawyer at 11:37 AM on March 7, 2005

You might try adding some epazote (aka "pigweed") to your dishes or fresh in a salad. It's a strong flavored green so if you're not into mustard greens or endive, you might not like it.

Dried epazote has a very mild flavor, one of the reasons it's added in liberal amounts to bean dishes.

If you break the food down into a fine paste in your mouth before you swallow it, there's less work for your digestive system to do and less air going into your stomach.

I'll second this, and add that mastication is the first step in digestion. If you chew well, you are starting the break-down of the food with the enzymes in your saliva, in addition to mechanically making it easier to digest.
posted by Specklet at 11:49 AM on March 7, 2005

Response by poster: are these mostly in the unprocessed form (like brown rice, whole grains) or are they highly processed (white flour, pasta)?

Mostly whole grains, but a lot of pasta too.

I used to just chow my food and swallow it too fast. If you break the food down into a fine paste in your mouth before you swallow it, there's less work for your digestive system to do and less air going into your stomach. It really makes a difference...

Yeah, I'm a chow-er. Slow food, here I come. Thanks, everyone.
posted by The Michael The at 12:30 PM on March 7, 2005

Have you considered charcoal tablets? Not sure if they actually work but it's worth thinking about...
posted by dmt at 2:38 PM on March 7, 2005

Dried epazote has a very mild flavor, one of the reasons it's added in liberal amounts to bean dishes.

The epazote in my garden is fairly pungent fresh. Is there variation on how it's grown or does it just dry mild? (Never tried drying it)
posted by nearlife at 2:49 PM on March 7, 2005

I've found that soy products where the soy is not cooked (soy milk, soy ice cream, uncooked tofu) invariably give me gas. I think I've read that really, we're not meant to eat raw beans, soy or otherwise, so this isn't too surprising. I don't seem to have a problem with well-cooked soy products.

Soaking most beans overnight, then rinsing, before cooking helps a lot with their tendency to give people gas.

In addition to soy allergy, you might also be lactose (milk) intolerant. So you could experiment with cutting out all dairy products, or trying lactose-free milk.
posted by amtho at 3:06 PM on March 7, 2005

The epazote in my garden is fairly pungent fresh. Is there variation on how it's grown or does it just dry mild?

It just dries mild.

Have you considered charcoal tablets?

Activated charcoal is usually used to treat diarrhea, as the main function of the tablets are to absorb smelly and/or toxic substances from gases or liquids.

My hunch is that since your chow hound tendencies are the culprit, but if that doesn't solve it for you, amtho makes a good point about dairy.
posted by Specklet at 3:28 PM on March 7, 2005

I cut down a lot (a lot!) by cutting out the carbonated drinks. Like many geeks I used to guzzle Mountain Dew for the caffeine kick (large amounts of coffee gives me indigestion and makes my mouth taste awful.) Well, all that CO2 fizz has to get out somehow because it isn't absorbed. Now like Dr. Johnson I guzzle tea. At 2 tea bags per cup it's got about the same jolt as coffee but seems to lack the various bad aftereffects of coffee and fizzy soft drinks.
posted by jfuller at 5:00 PM on March 7, 2005 [1 favorite]