Many people have noticed that eating certain foods appears to lead to an elevation in intestinal gas. In fact, people generate gas all the time, but sometimes the levels are noticeably higher, depending on the person and his or her diet. Several foods can give you gas, depending on your intestinal flora. Someone with a major flatulence problem may pursue medical attention and a gas eliminating diet to see if the amount of flatulence can be reduced. For the most part, if foods give you gas, you should not be unduly concerned.
Certain foods cause gas because they contain large amounts of indigestible material that is processed by bacteria in your gut. Bacteria in the intestines help humans to digest and process the food they eat. Much of the food eaten by humans contains carbohydrates and sugars that the human body cannot actually process. Bacteria in the colon take over the task, eating the food themselves and emitting byproducts just like humans do. When foods give you gas, they have a higher concentration of indigestible compounds.
Some of the bacteria in the colon are known as “gas formers,” because they produce an assortment of gases as part of their digestive process. Most flatulence is caused by these creatures, which appear to favor some foods more than others. These foods give you gas because they nourish gas-forming bacteria, which multiply in the gut and produce more gas as a result. The foods that will give you gas vary from person to person, which can complicate matters when trying to figure out what is causing the problem.
One of the most common culprits behind gassiness is beans of all forms. Other foods that are often implicated include dairy, onions, wheat, some fresh fruits, dried fruit, artichokes, sprouts, and cauliflower. These foods give you gas, but they are not generally harmful. In fact, many of them are very healthy, and they should play an important role in your diet. People who experience excessive gas or gastrointestinal discomfort may want to work with modifying the amounts of these foods, after consulting with a doctor.
If you know which foods give you gas, you may want to consider avoiding them in certain situations. Otherwise, gas can usually be dismissed as a harmless byproduct of food consumption. There are also some products which can be consumed, such as charcoal tablets, that appear to reduce the amount of gas produced. Many of these products are available over the counter, although someone who is experiencing extreme symptoms should check with a medical professional to make sure that they are not being caused by an underlying medical problem.