Hi all..Newbie here.

My husband and I have been trying to eat healthier and have been gradually changing our diet over the past year or so. We looked at the DASH diet and realized we were already practicing a lot of it! Seems we were under the mistaken impression that if it's a food we like, it can't possibly be good for us!

Anyway, we've now upped our fiber fruit and veg intake even more and both of us are so gassy it's ridiculous! I've even taken Gas-X a few times to relieve the discomfort and bloated feeling. (can certainly see why high fiber helps you lose weight!) FYI I never drink carbonated drinks and my husband only drinks them occasionally. Neither of us are lactose intolerant.

So I have two questions: Is there any evidence that when our bodies get used to the added fiber these gas symptoms will calm down a bit?

Secondly, does anyone know if that Beano anti gas enzyme stuff is safe to use?

We are already seeing some initial benefits from the fiber, but the gas pains almost overshadow them and having to take a pill to counteract the effects of a healthy diet seems counterintuitive to me.

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

hi torgette, welcome to the board!! it sounds like you are doing all the right things - good for you!!!

it usually takes time for our bodies to adjust to the higher fiber diet. to put you at ease, yes your body WILL eventually adjust to it. therefore it's very important that you include high fiber foods gradually.

not sure if you are also eating beans but i thought to let you know that a forum member posted about ways to de-gas beans here http://www.healthcastle.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=255

Thanks Gloria!

We really didn't make a big sudden change. Just started eating whole grain cereal and fruit several days a week instead of once or twice like we had been. We are big on veggies anyway so no change was needed there. It's almost like we crossed a threshold from normal fiber to high and that was a line our guts didn't want us to cross! Good to know it's just a temporary thing.

We are from Boston but now live in Texas so we've always eaten beans, beans and more beans! Will definately check out the de-gassing thread.

Cheers,
Bonnie

hi bonnie - you know a few of us here expressed that we don't know how to prepare legumes and beans. if you have any tips - pls feel free to post!!

Hi Torqette.

Contrary to popular myth, humans are not designed to eat vegetables or grains.
In brief, herbivores (cows, horses, rhinocerous etc) have very large stomachs or multiple stomachs. Carnivors (cats, dogs) are very slim.

Too much fibre from veges and grains definitely causes bloating in humans. The only adjustment you will see is a pot belly! We are perfectly designed however to eat fruits.

In addition, fiber is not a nutrient. We dont need it. You could perfectly live on liquids containing all nutrients and no fiber at all.

Here is a link about bloating that has more detail-
http://www.youngerthanyourage.com/13/plants.htm

um...i'm sorry i cannot agree. water is also not a nutrient - but that doesn't mean our bodies don't need it. sunlight is also not a nutrient - and that doesn't mean our skin don't need it to convert into vitamin d. a basic nutrition 101 textbook at the local university will be great in this case.

anyhow....bonnie....i'm the one who desperately wishes to learn cooking beans. i'd love to learn tips from u!!! i eat a very high fiber diet too and i don't have any GI problems. once in a while if i eat too much onion i feel a little bloated. i found that eating ginger (those from japanese sushi stores) really helps!!! i usually just eat 2 small pieces and bloating will be gone in less than 15 mins. i don't know why ginger helps but it's a trick my grandma taught me when i was young. hope u can try some

cheers!

Well, regarding water we know where its for; all our cells need it; they die without it.
And regarding the sun, we know we need it for vitamin D.
But what about fiber?
Our intestines can perfectly function without it. So, what would we need fiber for exactly?

it is simply not true. if you know what medline is, go search on it. if u don't, your local university health science librarian should be able to help you research on medline if u have basic science background. if not, get your hands on a nutrition textbook (or even a high school biology book), look up different types of fiber in relation to GI flora.

How about something from the Harvard School of Public Health:



http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fiber.html

The only real tip I have about beans is to use the soak over night method. I find the "quick" soak method where you heat the beans isn't really quicker because cooling them too fast causes them to crack. By the time you cool them slowly, it would have been easier just to soak them overnight. Also if If I have all day to let them cook, a crockpot does do a good job but I do mean ALL day. The slower the cooking, the better the texture IMO.

Most of the simplest recipes that call for ham hocks, bacon, salt or smoked pork are normally relying on them for the bulk of the flavor in the recipe. I haven't had any real success omitting them unless I used tons of chili powder, garlic, cumin, cilantro, onions and other spices to jazz it up. But it still seems like something is missing. Liquid smoke sometimes helps this but be careful to only use a tiny drop.

Dishes like red beans and rice and even boston baked beans can usually get away with leaving out the meat, but with baked beans I've found it needs to be a molasses recipe as the others which use lighter sweeteners don't make up for the missing bacon or pork quite as well.

there is a site called Epicurious.com which is just recipes, but they have tons for all kinds of beans. This is usually what I use if I'm keen to try something different than my normal pinto beans which I make with a ham hock, chopped onions, chopped cilantro, chili powder, garlic, and tomato sauce. (I don't measue) I cook this slowly until the beans are tender and then turn up the heat so the liquid reduces a bit. Sometimes I combine kidneys and pintos, but if you do that, start the kidneys first as they take more time than pintos.

Hope this helps a little...with everything else, I cheat and look it up.

Very well said ahyan. Your state university library and medline are the best places to conduct nutrition-related research, not yahoo or google.

Bonnie - these are excellent tips! Thank you so much for sharing!

You're welcome. Dried bean recipes look easy, but there is a lot of trial and error to them. Cooking time varies widely depending on ingredients (some say acidic ingredients slow cook time) so don't give up on them after one or two tries....keep adjusting til you get the flavor and texture you prefer. They're cheap enough you can afford to experiment.

One last tip: Leave them alone! You only need to check every hour or two to be sure the liquid hasn't boiled out (it usually doesn't if you're cooking them slowly enough), so do your stirring when you check and then forget about them. A watched bean never cooks.

If you can find a product with digestion resistant maltodextrin (NuVitae is the one I use), you WILL NOT experience those gas pains! - UET