One of the most frustrating conditions that afflicts everyone at one point or another is excess gas. It’s uncomfortable, embarrassing and very unpleasant in general. While a lot of the problems with gas have to do with individual body chemistry, there are a lot of ways you can control your gas. The first step is learning about all of the foods that cause gas so you can avoid them or minimize your intake.
In order to fully understand why the foods that cause gas actually cause gas in your body, you first have to understand exactly what’s going on when you have gas. Your body is constantly working to break down the food that you eat in order to deliver the proper nutrients to your body. Your stomach is the first organ that your food reaches, and as such it is the first line of defense for your digestive system. Here, the food is broken down into tiny pieces that can then be split into individual proteins, minerals, vitamins, fats and carbohydrates.
Every now and then you eat a food that is particularly hard to digest. This means that the food remains in a more solid form than the rest of the food that is more easily digestible. Foods that cause gas are the different foods that you eat that your stomach and intestines have a very hard time breaking down. When food makes it past the stomach undigested, it can just sit there in your intestines for a while until it starts to break down naturally by bacterial action. The bacteria who feed on this food release gas as a waste product, and this is what causes the gassy and bloated feeling that you get after you eat certain types of foods.
Gassy Foods List
The list of foods that cause gas is surprisingly large, encompassing a lot of different types of food. The thing to remember is that you don’t need to completely eliminate all of these foods to relieve your gas problem. You simply need to take stock of how much you’re eating of any of these food groups and see if there is room to cut back. Here’s a short list of some of these foods:
- Anything in the legume family (lentils and beans)
- Many different fruits (prunes, raisins, bananas, apricots, apples, and peaches are among the worst offenders)
- Anything that has an artificially sweetener as a main ingredient (diet sodas, candies and ice creams)
- Anything that contains dairy products (milk, eggs, cheeses and yogurts)
- Starch based foods (potatoes, yams, pastas)
- Certain vegetables (onions, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli)
Now, like we have stated above, this is a large list of foods. It seems like it would be impossible to fully eliminate all of these foods from your diet – and you’re right! It would be silly to not eat ANY of these foods. You simply need to cut back on the ones that you’re eating a lot of and do some experimentation.
After you figure out which foods cause you more gas than others, you need to break down and start to cut these out of your diet. It can be tough at the start, but in the end what is more worth it to you – sacrificing some of your favorite foods for better health, or suffering the consequences of having gas all time. I personally think that the decision is easy and you should too!
One thing to keep in mind is that gas is not your enemy. Some gas cannot be avoided, simply because it is a natural part of the digestive process. Without just a little bit of gas, you would have a very hard time digesting all of your food properly. The bacteria in your gut actually help you fight digesting this food quickly and efficiently – so long as you help them by not eating too many of the “problem foods.” It can be a real challenge to cut these out of your diet, but remember the key is moderation.
You don’t need to stop eating all beans and lentils, all vegetables, all fruits, and all dairy products. That would be very silly and it would actually not help you at all. You would find yourself eating chicken noodle soup day after day, and not feeling very good despite the fact that you may or may not have any gas or.
One last thing to consider is the fact that some foods may cause gas that isn’t very unpleasant, and other foods may cause little gas that is very unpleasant. In this case, you will want to avoid the foods that cause you minimal gas that is very unpleasant, and go ahead and keep eating the foods that cause a lot of gas that isn’t really very unpleasant at all. This is a great way to start testing your diet for the different types of gas that it can cause.
