Five Ways to Get Rid of Gas, Bloating
Admit it, you’ve had gas. Maybe you ate or drank too much.
You know the feeling. You’re bloated, uncomfortable, a little irritable and, if you’re in public, possibly even embarrassed.
A little bit of gas is needed to facilitate the digestive process, said Dr. Amy Foxx-Orenstein, an associate professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and consultant for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic.
"You’re going to have gas,” she said. “Everybody has it. Gas is not a bad thing. It's not taboo. If we took the taboo out of it and talked about it, it would be easier to fix it."
Some foods and beverages cause the body to produce more gas than others.
"And, when you’re taking in excess gas, you’ve got to get rid of it some how," said Foxx-Orenstein. "That gas has to come out of one of the openings.”
People in America with their high-fat, highly processed diets are often susceptible to excessive gas.
But, in some cases, excess gas may be caused by something as simple as constipation, Foxx-Orenstein said.
“For some people, if you have constipation or irregular bowel habits, or irritable bowel syndrome, it’s just a matter of increasing your fiber intake and adding a little bit of liquid to your diet,” she said.
Adding too much fiber, too quickly, however, may actually increase gassiness, so Foxx-Orenstein suggests adding fiber, both soluble and non-soluble, to your diet slowly to determine how much you can tolerate.
Eating a high fiber breakfast has the increased benefit of helping people boost their fiber intake and possibly stimulate a bowel movement, which also helps eliminate gas, said Foxx-Orenstein.
Here are five ways to reduce gassiness:
Five Ways to Get Rid of Gas, Bloating
Five Ways to Get Rid of Gas, Bloating
Admit it, you’ve had gas. Maybe you ate or drank too much.
You know the feeling. You’re bloated, uncomfortable, a little irritable and, if you’re in public, possibly even embarrassed.
A little bit of gas is needed to facilitate the digestive process, said Dr. Amy Foxx-Orenstein, an associate professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and consultant for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic.
"You’re going to have gas,” she said. “Everybody has it. Gas is not a bad thing. It's not taboo. If we took the taboo out of it and talked about it, it would be easier to fix it."
Some foods and beverages cause the body to produce more gas than others.
"And, when you’re taking in excess gas, you’ve got to get rid of it some how," said Foxx-Orenstein. "That gas has to come out of one of the openings.”
People in America with their high-fat, highly processed diets are often susceptible to excessive gas.
But, in some cases, excess gas may be caused by something as simple as constipation, Foxx-Orenstein said.
“For some people, if you have constipation or irregular bowel habits, or irritable bowel syndrome, it’s just a matter of increasing your fiber intake and adding a little bit of liquid to your diet,” she said.
Adding too much fiber, too quickly, however, may actually increase gassiness, so Foxx-Orenstein suggests adding fiber, both soluble and non-soluble, to your diet slowly to determine how much you can tolerate.
Eating a high fiber breakfast has the increased benefit of helping people boost their fiber intake and possibly stimulate a bowel movement, which also helps eliminate gas, said Foxx-Orenstein.
Here are five ways to reduce gassiness:
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