Flatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are

byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The mixture
of gases is known as flatus in medical speak, informally as a fart, or simply (in
American English) gas, and is expelled from the rectum in a process colloquially
referred to as "passing gas", "breaking wind" or "farting". Flatus is brought to the
rectum by the same peristaltic process which causes feces to descend from the
large intestine. The noises commonly associated with flatulence are caused by the
vibration of the anal sphincter, and occasionally by the closed buttocks.

How to Improve Digestion and Stop Gas

By Dr. Ben Kim

DrBenKim.com

A favorite staple in the Korean diet is a soup called den jang gook. For those of
you who aren’t familiar with den jang gook, it is Korea’s version of miso soup,
made out of fermented soy beans. During their first year or two of marriage,
Korean women like to joke about their husband’s farts smelling like den jang
gook. In other words, they are crazy in love.

I’m all for being crazy in love, but I’m determined to tell as many people as I can
that farting is no joking matter. In fact, if you fart on a regular basis, I promise you
that you could be experiencing much greater health than you are right now.

Some of us seem to think that we can be healthy by simply eating healthy foods.
The truth is, your health is determined by how well you digest the foods that you
put into your body. In other words, you might be eating an unprocessed, whole
food diet, but if your digestive passageway isn’t effectively breaking these foods
down and absorbing nutrients, you are not giving yourself a chance to come close
to your best health.

What does this have to do with farting? The amount you fart is one of the best
indicators of how well you are digesting your food. Farting is in part due to rotting
of incompletely digested foods in your digestive passageway. Farting in itself is
actually helpful, as it represents unwanted gas leaving your body. In fact, if you
have an urge to fart, be sure to do so. The point is, if you are farting a lot, then
you probably have a lot of toxin formation occurring inside your gut from rotting
of incompletely digested food, and some of these toxins are entering your blood
stream and contributing to the development of long term disease. Please note
that I am referring to farts that make your family and friends yelp. Farts that do
not produce objectionable odor are usually pockets of air that you have
swallowed.

Enough about farting. What can you do to improve your digestion and prevent
toxin formation from rotting of undigested food in your gut?

1. Chew your food until liquid. You don’t have teeth anywhere else in your
digestive passageway. By chewing your food until liquid, you allow your digestive
organs to do their jobs efficiently without the burden of having to break down
larger chunks of food. If you don’t remember anything else from this newsletter,
please remember this one point. It can make a huge difference in your level of
health.

2. Consistently eat whole, unprocessed foods. An apple is better than apple juice.
A bowl of oatmeal is better than a power bar. An organic egg is better than any
egg substitute. And organic butter is much better than margarine. The closer your
foods look like they can be found in a garden, in the wild, or on an organic farm,
the greater chance your body has of efficiently digesting them.

3. Avoid foods that experience tells you no matter how well you chew, your body
just says no. Based on your genetics and health status, there are foods that your
body will digest beautifully, and there are foods that your body simply cannot
break down. It’s your job to observe how you feel after each meal to identify
these foods. It is important to note that as your health changes over time, your
tolerance for different foods may also change, so you don’t need to write off a
particular food forever if it isn’t working for you right now.

4. Don’t eat fruit for dessert. Fruits are extremely low in protein compared to all
other foods, including vegetables. And all foods that have significant protein must
spend about an hour to an hour and a half in your stomach, where the protein is
broken down by acid produced by your stomach. If fruit gets caught up in your
stomach because there are other foods churning there already, it is possible that
some of the fruit will rot, resulting in gas and toxin formation. Try to eat fruit on
an empty stomach, or about two hours after a big meal.
5. Take it easy for at least 30 minutes after a big meal. In order for your digestive
organs to effectively break down food, they need to receive a large portion of
your total blood volume after a big meal. If most of your blood is flowing to your
muscles because you are running around, you’re not going to have enough
available for your digestive organs to do good work.

Use the amount that you fart as a marker for your digestive strength and the
health of your gut. By following the steps outlined above, you should see a
dramatic reduction in gas production.

It is important to note that if you are currently eating a lot of processed foods and
want to make the jump to eating mainly whole, unprocessed foods, doing so may
cause a lot of farting in the beginning. This is due to your intestines and the
trillions of bacteria that live in them getting used to a new selection of foods. For
many people, it takes about a month to adapt to a whole food diet.

Remedies

Dietary

Certain spices have been reported to counteract the production of intestinal gas,
most notably the closely related cumin, coriander, caraway and others such as
ajwain, turmeric, asafoetida (Hing), epazote, and kombu kelp (a Japanese
seaweed). Most starches, including potatoes, corn, noodles, and wheat, produce
gas as they are broken down in the large intestine. Rice is the only starch that
does not cause gas.[8] The amount of water-soluble oligosaccharide in beans that
may contribute to production of intestinal gas is reputed to be reduced by a long
period of soaking followed by boiling, but at a cost of also leaching out other
water-soluble nutrients.[citation needed] Also, intestinal gas can be reduced by
fermenting the beans, and making them less gas-inducing, and/or by cooking
them in the liquor from a previous batch. Some legumes also stand up to
prolonged cooking, which can help break down the oligosaccharides into simple
sugars. On the other hand, fermented bean products such as miso are less likely
to produce as much intestinal gas. Fermentative lactic acid bacteria such as
Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum reduce flatulence in human
intestinal tract.[9]
Probiotics (live yogurt, kefir, etc.) are reputed to reduce flatulence when used to
restore balance to the normal intestinal flora.[10] Live (bioactive) yogurt contains,
among other lactic bacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus which may be useful in
reducing flatulence. L. acidophilus may make the intestinal environmnent more
acidic, supporting a natural balance of the fermentative processes. L. acidophilus
is available in supplements (some believe non-dairy is best). Prebiotics, which
generally are non-digestible oligosaccharides, such as fructooligosaccharide,
generally increase flatulence in a similar way as described for lactose intolerance.

Medicinal activated charcoal tablets have also been reported as effective in

reducing both odor and quantity of flatus when taken immediately before food
that is likely to cause flatulence later.

Pharmacological

Digestive enzyme supplements may significantly reduce the amount of flatulence

caused by some components of foods not being digested by the body and thereby
promoting the action of microbes in the small and large intestines. It has been
suggested that alpha-galactosidase enzymes, which can digest certain complex
sugars, are effective in reducing the volume and frequency of flatus. [11] The
enzymes alpha-galactosidase, lactase, amylase, lipase, protease, cellulase,
glucoamylase, invertase, malt diastase, pectinase, and bromelain are available,
either individually or in combination blends, in commercial products.

The antibiotic rifaximin, often used to treat diarrhea caused by the microorganism
E. coli, may reduce both the production of intestinal gas and the frequency of
flatus events.[12]

While not affecting the production of the gases themselves, surfactants (agents
which lower surface tension) can reduce the disagreeable sensations associated
with flatulence, by aiding the dissolution of the gases into liquid and solid fecal
matter. [13] Preparations containing simethicone reportedly operate by promoting
the coalescence of smaller bubbles into larger ones more easily passed from the
body, either by burping or flatulence. Such preparations do not decrease the total
amount of gas generated in or passed from the colon, but make the bubbles
larger and thereby allowing them to be passed more easily. [13]
Often it may be helpful to ingest small quantities of acidic liquids with meals, such
as lemon juice or vinegar, to stimulate the production of gastric hydrochloric acid.
In turn, acid ingestion may increase normal gastric enzyme and acid production,
facilitating normal digestion and perhaps limiting intestinal gas production.
Ingestion of bromelain- or papain-containing supplements (such as raw pineapple
or papaya, respectively,) may be helpful.[citation needed]

Odor from flatulence, caused by the intestinal bacteria called microflora in the
bowel, can be treated by taking bismuth subgallate, available over-the-counter as
Devrom. Bismuth subgallate is commonly used by individuals who have had
ostomy surgery, bariatric surgery, fecal incontinence and irritable bowel
syndrome.[14][15]