Nutrition

Flatulence isn’t much talked about in polite company, but none of us is immune from it.

Flatulence isn’t much talked about in polite company, but none of us is immune from it.

Question:

I was both intrigued and embarrassed by my grandmother’s frequent loud farts when I was a child. Now that I’m approaching her age, I have the same propensity. I eat a healthy diet, have regular bowel movements and avoid artificial sweeteners. What can I do about it?

Answer:

We all do it – from 3-40 times a day, in fact. Yet the release of flatus, to use a technical description of farting, is not often talked about, even if it’s frequently a trigger for laughter or grumbles. So, how much flatus is too much? Every day we pass 400-2000ml of flatus, according to the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG). About 90% of it is made up of five gases – nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane.

On average, we pass wind 15 times a day, but the “normal” range is wide. Clearly, the more flatus you produce, the more often and loudly you will release it.

If you think your flatus may be excessive, try counting every time you break wind, including the smallest farts, for a day or two, bearing in mind that up to 40 times isn’t unusual.

Diet, needless to say, plays a part as most flatus is generated by bacteria fermenting food residues in the colon. A high-fibre diet, for example, is healthy, but also produces a lot of flatus.

Fibre-filled foods such as beans, onions, garlic and cruciferous vegetables – cabbage, cauliflower and brussels sprouts, for instance – will give your gut microflora a big boost and you’ll be rewarded with generous gas production. Beans are notorious in this regard: “Beans are good for the heart; the more you eat, the more you …” You know what comes next.

The good news is you can maintain a healthy high-fibre diet and avoid the worst dietary-gas offenders. Start by eating less of the foods mentioned above, and also include turnips, leeks and fennel, sunflower and poppy seeds on the avoidance list.

For further guidance, the low-Fodmap diet used in the management of irritable bowel syndrome and, more recently, endometriosis is a good place to start.

Artificial sweeteners such as sorbitol can also be a problem, as they’re fermented by gut bacteria and not digested in the small intestine. The same is true of lactose in lactose-intolerant people, who will also typically experience bloating, cramping and diarrhoea when they eat lactose.

If you have symptoms besides excessive gas, visit your GP or a gastroenterologist.

Question:

In your October 7 column (“Whole grains to the rescue”), you mentioned wild rice. What is it and where can I buy it?

Answer:

Contrary to its name, wild rice is grain that comes from one of four species of grasses that form the genus Zizania.

It contains slightly more protein and significantly less carbohydrate (19.5g per 100g) than white rice (25.3g) or brown rice (29.2g) and has the same amount of dietary fibre as brown rice.

Many supermarkets stock products that are a mixture of wild rice and brown rice. Pure wild rice can also be found in some supermarkets and in many specialty or gourmet food stores, but it’s expensive.

Email your nutrition questions to nutrition@listener.co.nz

Fibre-filled foods will give your gut microflora a big boost and you’ll be rewarded with generous gas production.