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5 Tips to Deflate Flatulence
The subject is giggle-inducing, we know. But it's no secret that beans, though good for you, have the unfortunate side effect of causing gas. To lessen beans' effects, try one of these easy tips:
Lose the water. By discarding beans' soaking water prior to cooking, you're getting rid of up to 80% of the oligosaccharides that cause flatulence.
Let your body adjust. If you don't eat beans often, your body never fully adapts to the extra work required to digest their complex sugars. Begin by eating beans 2 to 3 times each week, then gradually increase the quantity.
Add a little something extra. Certain ingredients like a few bay leaves, a generous pinch of cumin, 6 fresh leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried) epazote or a 2-inch strip or two of kombu have gas-reducing properties when added to beans while they cook.
Go simple. Note that beans cooked with added sweeteners — brown sugar, honey or maple syrup, for instance — may stress your digestion even more, so opt for plain beans when you can.
Get a little help. Look for digestive enzymes in our Whole Body department. Sprinkling them on cooked beans or taking them in tablet form with your first bite of beans helps to break down the oligosaccharides before they reach the large intestine.
Adapted from Margaret Wittenberg's New Good Food: Essential Ingredients for Cooking and Eating Well. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1995, 2007.
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