Food and Flatulence

Causes of Flatulence

Flatulence is mainly linked to the composition of the diet and only rarely arises due to a serious illness.

The increased production of intestinal gases is often caused by excessive ingestion of certain foods or deficiency of some digestive enzymes. Notwithstanding that the intestinal gas also derives from the swallowed air, there are foods, such as those rich in sugars, which enhance the fermentation processes and others, such as smoothies, which incorporate numerous air particles.

If produced normally, most of these gases are reabsorbed by the intestinal walls and eliminated from the blood through breathing. A small percentage (about a liter a day) finds instead vent for rectal way.

Foods Cause of Flatulence

Foods capable of causing flatulence are above all those rich in carbohydrates, in particular oligosaccharides (small carbohydrate chains, often non-digestible, which stimulate the proliferation of numerous bacteria present in the colon). Foods such as beans, onions, yeast, milk and particularly high-fiber foods fall into the category.

Meteorism and intestinal fermentation can be avoided thanks to a prolonged soaking of legumes, to their consumption in the form of puree or to their division with the spoon at mid-cooking

However, we must not forget that individuality is a fundamental component of the disorder; the lactose maldigestion, for example, can form significant amounts of gas, about 250 cc. for every undigested gram that reaches the colon. However, the lack of the enzyme capable of breaking down milk sugar (B-galactosidase or lactase) is subjective and as such causes abdominal disorders (swelling, flatulence and diarrhea) only in predisposed individuals. Often it is an acquired intolerance due, at least in part, to the reduction of milk consumption in adulthood, followed by a sudden reintroduction of food into the diet.

Similar examples could be made considering intolerance to gluten (celiac disease) or fructose.

Food associations

A certain amount of intestinal fermentation is often also due to an incorrect combination, at the same meal, of the various foods. Combining many foods in one meal, perhaps ending it with some fruit and a slice of cake, is often synonymous with increased flatulence.

Among the most prohibitive combinations we recall protein foods with sugary foods and the association of proteins of different nature (eg milk and eggs, legumes and meat).

Finally, it is good to pay attention also to artificial sweeteners and dietary foods that contain them (chewing gum, jams and dietary juices etc.). Polyalcohols (mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol) belong to this category, sugars with marked laxative properties and are difficult to digest.

CONTINUE: Cure for flatulence »