Beat the Bloat

It is possible to be gas-free when eating healthy foods. There are three tricks to banning the bloat: 1) Keep a fiber log, 2) use over-the counter remedies right and 3) eat slowly.

Most Americans eat 12 grams of fiber each day. When you go on a health kick and rapidly increase your fiber intake, the change can be too abrupt for your body — fiber is difficult for the body to process, so when you suddenly start eating a lot of it, bacteria in your gut goes into overdrive to aid the digestion process, and produces gas. Because it takes your body time to get used to healthy, high-fiber foods, you have to add fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains gradually. A good way to do this is to keep a food log on a typical day and count up how many fiber grams you normally eat. Then slowly increase your fiber by 1 to 2 grams every day or two until you hit 30 grams or more each day. To find the number of fiber grams in certain foods, look for “total fiber” amounts on food labels, and use websites such as calorieking.com. Once you’ve hit 30 grams, make sure you’re drinking plenty of water (at least nine 8-ounce servings daily), so that the fiber can pass smoothly through your digestive tract. Also, try to spread the 30 grams evenly throughout the day so your body has time to digest a small amount at a time. For example, you might eat 10 grams at breakfast, 10 at lunch and 10 at dinner.

In addition to upping your fiber intake slowly, using over-the-counter enzymes (such as Beano) in pill or liquid drop form can work wonders — they help us break down and digest foods, which reduces gas and bloating. The trick is to take enzymes at the right time and in the right amount: They must be taken right before your first bite of food (if you take enzymes later in your meal, they won’t have enough time to work). For every half-cup of gas-forming food you need one pill or five drops; so, for most meals, you have to use two to three pills or 10 to 15 drops.

Another very important and often-overlooked way to reduce gas and bloating is to eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly. Chewing is actually the first step in the digestion process. If you don’t slow down and chew well, large pieces of swallowed food are more difficult for your stomach enzymes to break down, which can lead to feelings of bloating and gas. Take 15 to 30 minutes to eat meals and chew your food well, until it has an applesauce-like texture in your mouth.

If you keep a fiber log, use over-the counter remedies correctly and chew well, you will be able to tolerate and enjoy a healthy diet with much less bloating, gas and uncomfortable distention. But if you follow this advice and still have trouble with gas, talk to your doctor and consider seeing a registered dietitian to review your diet. You can find one in your area at eatright.org.