Friends who fart frequently, pay attention to these 7 things!

How many of you fart too much? It’s okay to fart when you’re alone, after all, you’re the only one to bear it.

But if you fart frequently in public, it would be really embarrassing. You could probably dig out a three-bedroom apartment on the ground with your feet!

Farts are mostly caused by the fact that some ingredients in the food we eat are broken down by bacteria in the intestines, which produces gas. The gas is excreted from the body with gastrointestinal peristalsis, forming farts. In addition, swallowing air when eating is also related to farting.

What should you do if you fart a lot? What should you pay attention to in your life to reduce the frequency of farting? In this article, we will talk about things related to farting.

01

Eat fast

If you eat too fast or keep talking while eating, air will be swallowed along with the food, increasing the possibility of farting. People who are used to eating quickly are prone to farting.

Therefore, if you want to fart less, you must first control your eating speed and try to chew slowly.

This will not only make you fart less, but also bring other benefits, such as effectively controlling appetite, avoiding overeating, controlling weight, and being more conducive to controlling blood sugar after meals.

02

Beans

Soybean oligosaccharides are found in legumes such as soybeans, chickpeas, lentils, and mung beans. They are a type of soluble dietary fiber. Soybean oligosaccharides mainly include stachyose, raffinose, and sucrose. Raffinose sugars in particular are widely considered to be the main component that causes flatulence in humans and animals. [1]

Digestion of raffinose requires α-l,6-galactosidase, but the human intestinal mucosa lacks this enzyme, so the raffinose eaten cannot be broken down by the intestines, and is instead broken down by microorganisms in the intestines. At the same time, carbon dioxide and hydrogen, as well as a small amount of methane gas, are produced and excreted from the body in the form of farts. [1]

In addition to soy oligosaccharides that can cause the body to produce gas, beans also contain other ingredients that can cause flatulence, such as hemicellulose, indigestible starch, etc. It is still unclear which component of the desugared soybean residue causes flatulence, and further research is needed.

If you want to reduce the phenomenon of farting after eating beans, you can try to eat further processed soy products, such as northern tofu, soy milk, dried tofu, and tofu skin. Because raffinose and stachyose are soluble sugars, most beans need to be fully soaked before processing. Discarding the aqueous solution can greatly reduce the sugar in the soybeans.

Some researchers soaked beans and then boiled them in a ratio of 1:10, removing 33% to 59% of the flatulent sugars in the beans. Germinating beans may also reduce the raffinose content and reduce the degree of flatulence. [1] In addition, fermentation can not only improve the flavor and nutrition of soy products, but also reduce or eliminate the flatulent components in beans. For example, fermented black beans, natto, fermented bean curd, stinky tofu, soybean paste, etc.

03

Sweet potato foods

Eating too much sweet potato, purple potato, potato and other sweet potato foods can also cause people to fart frequently. The sweet potato starch in these foods is the main cause of flatulence after consumption. The higher the sweet potato starch content, the more likely it is to cause flatulence. [2]

However, after sweet potato foods are processed through heat treatment such as steaming or boiling, the starch content and structure change, and the degree of bloating is greatly reduced. [2] Eating them occasionally or in small amounts will not cause obvious gastrointestinal discomfort.

However, if sweet potatoes are the staple food for three meals a day or if you eat potato foods frequently, gases such as hydrogen and methane will be continuously produced by fermentation in the human intestine.

Once they cannot be effectively metabolized, these gases will accumulate in the body day after day, eventually leading to abdominal bloating, gastrointestinal discomfort, and frequent farting.

Another study mentioned that microwave processing of sweet potato foods can better reduce flatulence, because microwaves not only achieve heat treatment, but also ultra-fine grinding and irradiation can reduce flatulence to a certain extent. [2] Therefore, if you want to eat potatoes and fart less, in addition to cooking, you must control the amount you eat, up to 100 grams per day, which is about the amount of a female fist.

04

milk

Milk contains lactose. Many people experience noticeable bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea after drinking milk. This is mainly because these people lack lactase in their intestines, which breaks down lactose. Lactose cannot be broken down normally and will be broken down and utilized by other microorganisms in the intestines. Lactose will produce short-chain fatty acids, hydrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide after being fermented by colon bacteria, increasing the pressure in the colon and intestinal transit time. Fermentation will also produce acidic components such as acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, and lactic acid, which will further stimulate the intestines.

Therefore, people with lactose intolerance will experience abdominal pain, flatulence, and diarrhea after drinking milk. For this type of people, it is best to choose lactose-free milk, cheese, or yogurt.

05

Vegetables containing sulfides

Some farts are just gas, while others are extremely lethal and smell like biological weapons. A fart usually contains nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, and oxygen, which are odorless. But if a fart is mixed with indole, skatole, and hydrogen sulfide, then the "little smell will come up immediately." Especially after eating foods containing sulfides, farts will become particularly smelly. For example, onions, garlic, green onions, garlic sprouts, leeks, radishes, and other foods.

06

Gluten allergy

Gluten is mainly found in foods such as wheat, barley, and rye. It is a protein component in these foods, namely gluten protein.

If you are allergic to gluten, you are likely to have an allergic reaction after eating these foods or other foods made with these foods, such as bread, steamed buns, dumplings, noodles, cakes, biscuits, etc.

It may cause uncomfortable symptoms such as flatulence, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. If you are allergic to gluten, it is best to stick to a gluten-free diet. The staple foods can be rice, corn, millet, quinoa, brown rice, sorghum rice, and rice noodles.

07

Chewing gum

Many people have the habit of chewing gum, which not only freshens breath but also relieves tension. However, chewing gum may cause swallowing of a lot of air, which may cause burping or farting.

Summary: If you don’t want to be embarrassed in public, you should be careful about the foods that make you fart easily! If you pay attention to these and still fart frequently, it is recommended that you go to the gastroenterology department of the hospital for a checkup as soon as possible.

References:

[1] Cui Guijin, Liu Xiaozhan, Bian Ke, Chen Peixiao. Research progress on flatulence in beans[J]. Agricultural Machinery, 2012(21):79-82. DOI:10.16167/j.cnki.1000-9868.2012.21.021.

[2] Liu Xiaozhan. Study on flatulence factors of sweet potato[D]. Henan University of Technology, 2012.

Author: Xue Qingxin Member of Chinese Nutrition Society Registered Nutritionist Health Manager Public Nutritionist

Review｜Han Hongwei, Director and Researcher of Risk Communication Department, National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center