9 WAYS TO REDUCE gas

Feeling bloated and gassy after a meal can be uncomfortable and even embarrassing. Eating too quickly, overeating and eating the wrong types of food are often to blame. If you're experiencing these digestive symptoms frequently, though, it could be a sign that you have poor digestion or gut health, or some other underlying health issue that needs addressing.

- Lisa Guy

Bloating, wind and abdominal pain are commonly experienced by people who have an imbalanced gut microbiome (dysbiosis), or who have a lack of digestive enzymes and low stomach acids. Other conditions that are associated with these digestive complaints are leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies and intolerances, candida, SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and inflammatory bowel conditions (Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis). Whatever the cause, excessive wind in your digestive tract can be both embarrassing and distressing. Here are nine ways to help ease wind and bloating and improve your digestion.

1 . Brassica Even though brassica vegetables are extremely beneficial for your health and should be included in the diet, there are some people who need to be mindful of how they consume these super veggies. Some people experience digestive upsets like excess flatulence and bloating when they consume too many brassicas such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale and cabbage. This is due to their high sulfur content. Sulfur is broken down in the large intestine, producing a gas called hydrogen sulfide, which can cause smelly “rotten egg” flatulence. Brassicas also contain raffinose that passes through to the large intestines undigested. Bacteria in the large intestines ferments the raffinose, and one of the byproducts of this fermentation process is excess gas, which can also contribute to bloating and flatulence.

There are a number of things you can do to make brassicas easier to digest and reduce these unwanted symptoms, such as cooking your brassicas instead of eating them raw (steaming, baking or stir-frying), making sure you chew them well, and reducing your intake at first and then slowly increasing your serving sizes.