Swallowing air may lead to gas. To reduce the amount of air swallowed, chew and swallow slowly, and take small sips of beverages. Avoid carbonated beverages like soda, seltzer, and beer. Chewing gum and sucking on candy may also increase the amount of air swallowed.
Some foods are "gassier" than others. For example, cabbage typically leads to more gas production than carrots. Keep track of which foods give you the most and least gas, and adjust your diet accordingly.
In general, smaller beans (lentils, split peas) produce less gas than larger beans (like fava beans and lima beans), so choose smaller beans more often.
If you use canned beans, rinse them very well before eating them.
If you make beans from scratch, soak them overnight first, rinse them well, and rinse them several times during the cooking process, as this will help get rid of more of the gas-causing oligosaccharides. Also, the longer you cook beans (with rinsing), the better.
Eat small, frequent meals rather than few large meals. Avoid overeating.
For those situations where you need a little extra digestive help, try Bean-zyme, which is a vegan form of Beano.
Reduce gas by limiting or avoiding gas-forming foods. Many normally desirable foods, including high-fiber fruits and vegetables, can cause gas and pain. Raw salads, raw vegetables, the cabbage family of vegetables, and beans may cause more gas to be produced in your digestive tract. Other gas-forming foods to avoid include carbonated beverages and chewing gum. Also, avoid sipping any beverages with straws.
Most foods that contain carbohydrates can cause gas. By contrast, fats and proteins cause little gas. Carbohydrates that commonly cause gas are raffinose and stachyose, found in large quantities in beans; lactose, the natural sugar in milk, fructose, a common sweetener in soft drinks and fruit drinks; and sorbitol, found naturally in fruits and used as an artificial sweetener. 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. The fiber in oat bran, beans, peas, and most fruits is not broken down until it reaches the large intestine, where digestion causes gas. In contrast, the fiber in wheat bran and some vegetables passes essentially unchanged through the intestines and produces little gas.
Antacids create gas when they neutralize stomach acid. If you commonly take antacids, consider buying products that also contain ingredients for gas.
Problem: excessive gas (abnormal amount of air in the intestinal tract).
Signs: Bloating of the abdomen. Frequent passing of gas that may or may not result in a bowel accident. Abdominal pain.
Causes: Consumption of gas-forming foods. Constipation. Swallowing air while eating or drinking. Artificial sweeteners (mannitol, sorbitol). Carbonated beverages.
What to do: Eat food slowly, chew with mouth closed. Establish a bowel care program. Certain foods may cause gas (especially fruits such as apples, honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, or vegetables such as beans, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, onion, also carbonated beverages). Trial periods of omitting food one at a time can help determine the cause.
Foods and agents that cause gas vary greatly between individuals; and because of the highly individualized nature of such a condition, there is not one blanket diet therapy that will be beneficial for all who experience this uncomfortable GI problem.
High-fiber diets can cause gas and bloating, but in general this goes away when your body adapts to the change. Add these foods gradually to prevent bloating and gas. Eating smaller portions may help symptoms. Drinking lots of plain water is important no matter what condition you are in. Drink six to eight glassfuls a day. And don't confuse other liquids with water. Caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea, or cola, while made with water, actually dehydrate you.
Sounds like they're working on "bread and butter" there.Soaking of legumes results in the loss of macronutrients, micronutrients and phytochemicals... Insoluble fibre was the main constituent of haricot beans legume soaking water, while water-soluble carbohydrates and protein were the major fraction of split yellow peas. High quantities of phenolics and saponins were found in the legume soaking water of haricot beans, whole green lentils and split yellow peas. High emulsifying activity was found for the legume soaking water of garbanzo chickpeas and split yellow peas, probably due to their protein content and high ratio of water-soluble carbohydrates to dry matter.—Composition of legume soaking water and emulsifying properties in gluten-free bread
That's weird, why would it be insoluble fiber instead of soluble fiber? I thought the insoluble/soluble referred to solubility in water?
It's just something I was looking at the other day. Sounds like they are referring to fat solubility, but I'm not interested as much in differentiating between fiber solutions at the moment, because I'm more into cooking with pulse flour lately, which soaks up all the water anyway. As far as that goes, it may reduce gas. It seemed like lentils were better after being ground up, to me (there are home flour mills for making it easily).Legumes have more dietary fiber than any major food group.
Some fibers are soluble and others insoluble. Most plant foods contain some of each kind. Soluble fiber can slow the absorption of lipids and lower blood cholesterol. It can also slow the increase of fecal bile excretion, promoting reduced intestinal absorption of fat and cholesterol. Insoluble fiber assists in maintaining regularity and helps prevent gastrointestinal problems.
In most legumes consumed by humans, the content ranges from 8 percent to nearly 28 percent, with soluble fiber in the range 3.3 percent to 13.8 percent.
—General Properties of Dry Peas, Lentils & Chickpeas