Avoiding Gas-producing Foods

Many gastrointestinal conditions can be aggravated by foods that cause gas.

 

 Everyone reacts to foods differently, so keep track of the foods you eat and your symptoms. Share this information with your doctor.

 

Foods that commonly cause gas include:

 

  • Certain vegetables, such as:
    • Asparagus
    • Broccoli
    • Brussel sprouts
    • Cabbage
    • Cauliflower
    • Corn
    • Cucumbers
    • Kohlrabi
    • Leeks
    • Onions
    • Peas
    • Peppers
    • Radishes
    • Sauerkraut
    • Turnip
  • Carbonated drinks
  • Beer
  • Red wine
  • Fried and fatty foods
  • Sugars: raffinose, lactose, fructose, and sorbitol
  • Sugar substitutes
  • Beans and other legumes: baked beans, garbanzo (chickpeas), kidney, lentil, lima, navy, pinto
  • Wheat and wheat bran
  • Certain fruits, such as:
    • Apricots
    • Cantaloupe and other melons
    • Prunes
    • Raw apples
  • Milk and other dairy products, including highly fermented cheese
  • Eggs
  • Undigestable fats such as Olestra (found in potato chips)

Gas is also casued by swallowing excess air, which can occur with rapid eating, chewing with your mouth open, gum chewing, drinking through a straw, and smoking.

Some medications, particularly cholesterol-lowering medications which block the uptake of fats from the intestine, are associated with increased gas production when fatty foods are consumed.

 

No comments: