But one surprising visitor is never welcome, admired or desired. We’re talking about gas, which sometimes arrives without warning in the form of flatulence or burping. Both expel unwanted nitrogen, often erupting out of nowhere to expel noxious fumes throughout the room. It’s embarrassing, socially unacceptable and certainly not attractive to potential mates.
Although everyone from the President to the Pope suffers from gas at some point, it can be a problem for people who develop excessive amounts of gas. This can cause chest pain, which is often mistaken for angina or stomach distress and abdominal pain. It can cause you anxiety if it becomes a problem and certainly won’t make you any more popular with your coworkers or family. Readers' Digest magazine estimated that about 74 percent of Americans suffer from some form of digestive trouble, so it is a problem that most of us will face at some point in our lives.
Here’s the Process
Fermentation produces gas is in the intestinal tract. The foods you eat gradually are broken down and stripped of nutrients in the digestive process, and some of the consumed items that are slower to digest can produce gas. How quickly you expel the fermentation from your system will go a long way in cutting the amount of gas your body produces. If you gulp food or drink, you can inhale a lot of excess air, which can build up in the system and produce gas.
Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to cut back on your gas production. There are several over-the-counter medications that can attempt to reduce it. Beano is a well-known product that is added before consuming beans or vegetables. This must be done before you take your first bite. While it’s not a total cure, it’s been found to help cut back on at least some gas production in most individuals.
For those who have problems with digesting lactose, you can try such products as Lactaid or Dairy-Ease, which, as the names suggest, help move along the lactose in dairy by using the enzyme lactase.
Finally, there’s simethicone or activated charcoal. Although not every medical professional is convinced of their worth, many users have been helped by such products as Gas-X, Mylanta or Charcoal Plus.
Diet and Lifestyle
If the medicines don’t help, you can take the hard road and try to adjust your diet and lifestyle to better process your food. That means you should avoid certain foods, try to adjust the frantic pace of your meals, consume more of the right fluids and get some exercise to regulate your system better.
Everyone knows that such foods as beans and cabbage rank among the world’s great gas producers, and cutting back on both requires no great sacrifice for most Americans. But did you know that cauliflower, apples, peaches, prunes, bran muffins, whole-wheat bread, artichokes, asparagus, pears, milk, beer, bran cereals, ice milk and sodas are also prime gas creators?
Here are five surprising things that may cause gas build-up:
1) Chewing gum: Stimulating your digestive system by chewing gum is akin to priming the pump on the well. Some of the enzymes produced by the habit can build up gas.
2) Hard candies. Constant sucking on hard candies stimulates a sugar rush in the body, which, like chewing gum, can cause gas buildup.
3) Ice Cream – Everyone enjoys this dairy treat, and few think that something so smooth and creamy can cause gastric problems. But if you’ve noticed that you’re not feeling so good a little while after consuming it, your lactose processing may be a little askew.
4) Loose dentures – Some people have the habit of sucking air in through their teeth. Loose or ill-fitting dentures can cause an excess amount of air to enter the stomach, much as sucking on hard candies or chewing gum.
5) Stress – We all lead hectic lives in the 21st Century. But if you’ve been dining and dashing, you may be ingesting a lot of air with your meal. Slow down, chew thoroughly, and make sure you’re not gulping your food or drink. Meals are meant to be savored, not inhaled.
The Path to Success
If you practice just a few of these steps and watch what you eat, you should be on the road to stopping the excessive emittance of gas. Try mixing some tea in with your regular routine. Such soothing flavors as peppermint, chamomile, ginger root and lemon teas are known relaxers and are shown to decrease excessive gas production.
When cooking, garlic is a vegetable that doesn’t produce excess gas and is a great substitute for onions, a prime gas resource. Black pepper is also a seasoning that doesn’t create a lot of gas drama in your intestinal system.
If you have an important meeting and want to make sure that you’re not going to be emitting gas, some baking soda and lemon in warm water is a good cleanser for the system. You also may include some apple cider vinegar in warm water as a way to speed up the digestion process and cleanse your intestines.
Water, too, is a great way to get the pipelines moving. It flushes the system, speeding along fermented waste before it can build up gas momentum.
Of course, one of the great cures for gas production is to exercise and get the body moving. Such stimulation is great for overall health, but it also makes your digestive system wake up and process foods that much faster. You’ll look good and be less gassy as a result.
Whatever path to eliminating gas you choose, just remember that it’s a problem that can be solved. With a little planning, some mindful attention to diet, exercise and stress, and particularly by avoiding certain triggers, you can gradually reduce the problem from a major annoyance to a minor disturbance.