Oops! We’ve all been caught out by a bit of wind, of the digestive kind!!
Uncomfortable, embarrassing, and painful, it’s a sign that something we’ve eaten when it’s been digested has produced excess gas. Incidentally, we naturally produce gas and don’t really notice it.
The problem is when we produce an excessive amount that bloats us and is noticeable when we pass it and may also smell! Oops!
Sometimes, excess gas occurs because we’ve wolfed down our food too quickly without proper chewing, leaving our stomach (acid) and digestive system too much to do. The consequence is pain and bloating from a full and tight abdomen. The most common reason for the resulting excess gas is undigested food. Having low stomach acid and/or a lack of digestive enzymes can be behind this. Eating too quickly doesn’t allow sufficient time for the signals, created in the mouth that food is being eaten, to stimulate the release of stomach acid and pancreatic digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes are critical for the breakdown of foodstuffs into their component parts, principally protein, carbohydrate and fats, alongside releasing the vitamins and minerals contained within the original food, ready for absorption. Therefore, when the food reaches our colon, the bacteria here produce gases as they break it down. We have trillions of bacteria naturally resident in our gut. They help us to digest food, absorb nutrients, keep harmful pathogens at bay and support our immune system.
In addition, eating on the run or being exposed to excessive stress, as well as eating too quickly, all get in the way of good digestion and also contribute to excess gas production. Some foods are more likely to leave you feeling gassy. For example, beans, chickpeas and lentils, cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts and sugar alcohols (found in sugar-free foods, including sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol), carbonated drinks and beer are all known for increasing the likelihood of experiencing excess gas! Many of these foods contain enzymes themselves that prevent the digestion of proteins in particular. This means that when the foodstuff reaches the colon, the undigested protein ferments rapidly and produces gas! Vegetables containing sulphur (e.g. broccoli), which are very important for our body in many ways, can release sulphur-smelling gas which can be somewhat embarrassing. Follow the first tip below to help alleviate this one. For some people, an intolerance to either lactose or gluten, in dairy (milk) and wheat respectively. These people are unable to digest either lactose or gluten, resulting in painful bloating and gas (and often diarrhoea). Avoiding food containing these ingredients is key to managing the problem in this instance.
Here are a few ways in which you can ease your discomfort whilst you wait to meet your friendly nutritional therapist (me – just give me a call!):
-Add some caraway or fennel seeds to your meal.
-Apply some gentle abdominal massage, stroking your belly clockwise whilst lying on your back.
-Do some gentle yoga: lie on your back, draw your knees up towards your chest, wrap your arms –
around your shins, have a lovely cuddle. This pose is known as wind-relieving pose for a reason!
-About 20-30 minutes after every meal, move! Get out for a steady 10-minute walk. Swing your
arms too, which helps create a lovely cross-body twist with each stride that massages the abdomen
and helps to ease any gas that may be a little trapped.
A persistent, uncomfortable wind problem may be indicative of a deeper digestive imbalance. Sometimes, we’re simply out of balance and the lovely gas-producing bugs that naturally reside in our gut have grown in abundance in relation to others, and we need to take some corrective action to rebalance our gut microbiome. Other potential reasons that we may be experiencing increased gassiness are yeast infection (e.g. candida) or having had a recent course of antibiotics. Both these situations lead to an imbalance of the normal and natural gut microbiome which may manifest as excess gas and bloating amongst other symptoms. If this is you, further investigation is probably helpful, and much can be done through nutritional therapy to help you rebalance your digestive system.
If this is you, do get in touch, there’s much we can explore and do together to address this uncomfortable and often embarrassing issue.
To arrange your free no obligation discovery call please contact us – [email protected]
