Part 5 of 5 – It’s Just Gas – Flatulence

Nearly everyone has some peculiarity with regard to his/her reaction to food. For instance, it is commonly observed that flatulence or “gas” in some people frequently follows the eating of certain foods. Many people think that this state of affairs is due to indigestion. However, milk and eggs are among the most digestible of all food substances and yet they are the cause of flatulence more often than any other foods.

Abdomen Cramps And Flatulence

It is certain indeed that some individuals suffer cramps in the abdomen and distention with gas after eating foods which are considered wholesome and undiscerning to other people.

The prevailing scientific explanation of this is that it is due to what the profession knows as allergy. This term, in my opinion, tells nothing and means nothing. It is merely a diagnostic waste basket, and the old adage “one man’s food is another man’s poison” is just as adequate an explanation. Perhaps this is just another way of saying that chemically we are not all alike and hence we do not react alike to the chemicals presented in our food.

While on the subject of food and its ability to induce flatulence, it might be well to note that a rough diet can cause much wind particularly in persons with a sensitive bowel that cannot handle much roughage.

In my own experience, however, it is the over activity of the intestinal tract due to nervous reasons that is far more often productive of the flatulence. This over activity hurries the food on through the food digestion canal so rapidly that the process of digestion cannot be completed. By the time the food mass reaches the colon, no further digestion is possible and the carbohydrates (starches and sugars) ferment while protein substances (meat and vegetable proteins) putrefy.

This is what happens in the instance of dried beans. In the case of cooked cabbage, the coarse fibre irritates the lining of the bowel and this causes the food digestion canal to hurry on its contents regardless of how incompletely they have been digested.

There are, of course, certain foods that give most people gas, for instance onions, garlic, leek and other members of the onion family; also cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and other members of the cabbage family. Radishes and turnips are also frequent offenders. Dried beans have been mentioned. Melons and cucumbers are often the cause of “gas.”

In many unsuspected cases, coffee and to a lesser extent chocolate can be the offending food. Tomatoes and lettuce should be regarded with suspicion. Eggs and milk, as well as fatty or rich foods, all account for a considerable number of cases. Finally, that darling of the advertising campaigns, orange juice, is to my mind one of the most frequent offenders. Perhaps by far the commonest cause is the simplest, namely, overstuffing that poor patient organ, the stomach, with too square a meal.

Aside from the actual food itself, the cause of flatulence can often be found in the manner in which it is eaten. Normally there is a certain amount of air swallowed with all foods. Some of it is dissolved in the food as in water and some of it is mixed in the porous spaces of the food itself as in bread.

Besides this normal quota of air taken with the food, there is, however, an abnormal amount taken during the drinking of fluids, particularly if this is hastily done. It occurs to a lesser extent when food is gulped. It occurs to a much larger extent when no food at all is taken, as in the habit of gum chewing. During the time a person is chewing gum, very large quantities of air are swallowed with the saliva.

The oxygen in swallowed air is, in the course of time, absorbed in the intestinal tract but the nitrogen remains and is passed on into the intestines. Here it may lead to over distention of the intestines and interference with other functions. Certainly it can be and often is the cause of much discomfort.

One of the commonest causes of flatulence is constipation. Next most common cause is the taking of a laxative. In the same classification comes the condition known as diarrhea. This is readily understandable when one realizes that many bacteria live in the colon normally. They cause no discomfort or interference with normal function because in a normal person the bowel content does not remain long enough for their prolonged action nor is it rich enough in food substances to permit extraordinary activity.

However, when the material is retained longer than it should be, as in constipation, or when an overactive intestine brings into the colon rich undigested food stuffs, as in cases of diarrhea, then the bacteria have a field day. Fermentation and putrefaction occur at a great rate and the products of this chemical action irritate the lining of the bowel and makes it less efficient in absorbing gases from the intestine. Hence they remain in the bowel in ever increasing quantity and as the distention increases give rise to much discomfort.

Flatulence and The Lower Bowel

There is one reason for flatulence which I have never seen mentioned elsewhere. I refer to the disregard of Nature’s call. This leads to over distention of the lower bowel and to various nerve reflexes which in turn greatly increase the trouble. Certainly there is no greater crime against normal hygiene than the neglect of Nature however justifiable it may seem in the face of the conventions of society.

I never see a case suffering from this cause but I think of a headstone which I observed one time in a cemetery in England. It read: “Where e’er ye be, let your wind be free, for it was the holding of wind that was the death of me.” Apparently the man spoke with truth!

Apart from the causes of gas associated with food in the food digestion canal itself, there are still other possible causes.
It may come as a surprise to some people who associate the presence of belching, bloating of the “stomach,” and gas in general to find out that it not infrequently is a result of hemorrhoids.

In all too many unsuspecting cases, distention of the bowels with gas is caused by the presence of parasites in the intestines. There are a great variety of these parasites ranging all the way from ordinary tape worms to ameba. This, however, is something for your friend, the family doctor, or his friend the proctologist, to determine.

Finally, as people get older they not infrequently notice the occurrence of gas after exercise or some other exertion such as taking a walk after a meal. This in some instances gives warning of a failing heart and should be thoroughly checked. Flatulence to Part 1 Stomach Problems.