Why do beans give you gas?
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First of all, it’s not their fault.
Flatulence happens when we can’t break down food into sugar, so instead bacteria in the lower intestine break it down. But instead of breaking down into sugar, the food is broken down into gas and water.
World’s Healthiest Foods explain why this effect is often attributed to lentils and other high-fiber foods:
Lentils and other high-fiber foods can work in this exact same way in some individuals. Fibers in food aren’t easily broken down in the digestive tract. Under certain circumstances, high-fiber foods end up undergoing extensive breakdown by bacteria lower down in our digestive tract (mostly in the large intestine), and the result, once again, is intestinal gas. Oligosaccharides, [a type of sugar molecule], form part of the digestion-resistant substances in lentils, and for this reason, they can be a source of potential intestinal gas.
So how can you rid of the oligosaccharides on lentils and other beans?
Here are a few tips from Wikipedia:
- Soak the beans in water for several hours to remove offending sugars.
- Have a Beano, the brand name for an enzyme that can break down oligosaccharides.
- Cook the beans with natural carminatives such as anise, coriander seed and cumin (ooh, that means dal!)
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