Healthy Eating = Farts

Yes, this post is TMI! Stop reading if you don’t like it!

So let’s start off- eating healthier generally means eating more fruits and veggies and other flatulence-producing foods. These are typically high in certain polysaccharides. Those foods include beans, lentils, dairy products, onions, garlic, scallions, leeks, rutabagas, radishes, sweet potatoes, potatoes, cashews, oats, wheat and yeasts in breads. Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and other cruciferous vegetables that belong to the genus Brassica are commonly reputed to not only increase flatulence, but to increase the pungency of the flatus. Listen to me all Bill Nye the Science Guy! Thank you Wikipedia!

And farting is healthy, I mean, come on, there are books about it! How about Fit by Fart: Toot Your Horn to Good Health! It is a normal body function! And let’s be real, I don’t care if it’s a kids’ book, how cool does Sweet Farts: Rippin’ It Old School sound?!  So, let’s all get over the grossness of it! They make women’s Got Farts? Tee Shirts in 6 Colors!!

Much like the water and peeing, my change in diet has, well, made more toots! They’re not gross, and they don’t smell (I warned you about the TMI!) so I guess it’s another one of those things “they” just don’t tell you about this dieting thing! …I’m really starting to not like “they.” So, what exactly is causing the toots?

• Sugars-The sugars that cause gas are raffinose (as in broccoli, asparagus, other vegetables, and whole grains), lactose (milk, duh), fructose (naturally present in onions, artichokes, pears, and wheat), and sorbitol (naturally in fruits, including apples, pears, peaches, and prunes).
• Starches- This includes potatoes, corn, pasta, and wheat.
• Fiber- Found in oat bran, beans, peas, and most fruits, soluble fiber is not broken down until it reaches the large intestine, where digestion causes gas.

As it was put to me, it’s like we’re cleaning house (bodies = house, keep up!) We get this build up of ickyness, our bodies get used to the processed, maybe-kinda-sorta-not really real food, so when we switch to a more fiber-rich diet, our bodies freak out a little!

Some great tips for minimizing the flatulence?

• Eat slow and chew with your mouth closed!! This one is good for all sorts of reasons, this being only one!
• Minimise the pop, gum chewing, etc. These are easy ways for you to swallow air with is released in, well, farts!
• STOP SMOKING, no, seriously! Aside from the million other reasons this is good for you, when you smoke, you are more likely to swallow air!

I say, keep eating healthy, keep farting and if it stinks, please just go in the other room! I don’t care if you’re 8, 38 or 80, farts are funny!

Even Hippocrates himself professed, “Passing gas is necessary to well-being.” More than you ever wanted to know about farting?