Goodbye Gas

The website of the magazine Better Homes and Gardens has an article on Treating and Preventing Gas that is excerpted from the Harvard Health Publications Special Health Report, Digestive Health. (Their sister site from Ladies Home Journal magazine has a different excerpt, Causes of Reflux.)

One quick excerpt:

Treating Flatulence

This one is easy. Stop eating the foods that cause gas: beans, fruits, and other complex carbohydrates, as well as the artificial sweetener sorbitol. But don't eliminate all fruits and vegetables, because these foods are the basis of a healthy diet. A product called Beano, which contains an enzyme, alpha-galactosidase, can help metabolize difficult-to-digest complex carbohydrates when taken before meals.

For some people, a drastic reduction in dietary sugars and some cutback in refined starches and wheat flour may help. Activated charcoal, a tasteless black powder, absorbs gas and for some people cuts down on gassiness, particularly after a high-carbohydrate meal. Occasional use is not harmful and there are no side effects. Pepto Bismol may reduce the odor of flatus.

Other topics are Diagnosing Gas, Treating Belching, and Treating Pain and Bloating.

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