Flatulence
Dr. Suzanne Salamon, Chief Associate of Clinical Geriatrics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, answers your general questions about aging and geriatric medicine.
Question: What causes flatulence?
Answer:
Flatulence (also known as flatus wind, gas and of course, fart) is the passage of intestinal gas (flatus) through the rectum. Passing gas is normal, and every human being does it at least fourteen times a day, consciously or unconsciously. Sometimes flatulence happens more often than expected, and this can become an embarrassing problem.
People often are concerned about smelly flatulence, but only about 1% of gas causes foul odors.
Most flatulence comes from 2 sources:
The first is swallowed air, such as gulping air as they talk, eating or drinking quickly, chewing gum, smoking, and drinking carbonated beverages.
The second source is from bacteria in the intestines which produce gas when food isn’t digested higher up in the digestive tract. There are many foods that cause gas, such as fruits, beans, peas, and oat bran. Fructose is a sugar that is in figs, dates, prunes, pears, and grapes as well used to sweeten some soft drinks and fruit drinks.
Vegetables such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and beans are high gas producers. People who are lactose intolerant might get gas from dairy products.
Preventing flatulence
Preventing flatulence can be done by changing what and how you eat. Eat and drink slowly and chew your food well before swallowing.
For a few days avoid foods that cause flatulence and gradually, one by one, add them back into your diet to see which ones cause the most gas. If you eat beans, try a product like Beano, with your first bite of beans, which can help. Simethicone (such as Gas-X) can help after you have gas.
Flatulence humor has been considered funny for centuries (as far back as 1900 B.C.!) People still laugh at these jokes. So, I couldn’t resist: What do you call someone who doesn’t flatulate in public?
A private Tooter…