Stress and farting

[joshsick]

Hi, I'm having problems with farting. It's been years now, I'm always farting whenever I sit down with a group of friends or beside strangers on the bus or in the cinema. It just wierd I would just feel the urge to fart. Is something wrong with me? I can't seem to control it and this caused me to lose my friends...

[marymagdeline]

I am a registered dietician.  I have a masters degree in nutrition.  Although I am retired, and have been for several years now, during my career I saw MANY people who have a problem with excessive gas.  There can be several reasons for this. But because I don't know the details of this person's eating habits or his health history, I could only suggest looking into a few things that, during my career, I found to be the cause/solution to problems such as his most often.  I have seen people who have had excessive gas and after I took them off of all foods that feed candida, gave them a probiotic and digestive enzymes, the problem went away.  Then, from then on they simply continued taking the probiotic.  Because I have seen this more than once, I thought it would be worth it for him to look into.  And yes, gas alone can be the sign of an imbalance in a persons intestinal flora.  Bad breath alone can be a sign of an imbalance.  Constipation alone can be a sign.  Also,  if a person has an imbalance in their intestinal flora, and they have too much bad bacteria, and not enough good, they will get gas when eating simple sugars AND fermented foods.  They need to avoid the exact same foods as people who have candida do.  And that is why I suggested he find out what those are.  Yes, those fermented foods YOU mentioned are good for you, and when consumed by healthy people they actually feed the good bacteria in their guts.  But they must be avoided if the person has too much bad bacteria and not enough good.  Because they, along with all simple sugars, feed this bad bacteria and then you will get gas.  People who have candida should never eat any fermented foods of any kind.  As I said in my post, I have had some people avoid the foods people with candida do and they have totally gotten rid of their gas problem.  However, if an imbalace in his intestinal flora is not the cause for his gas, this wouldn't work.  But it would be worth a try.  Also, activated charcoal DOES NOT leach necessary nutrients from the body.  It can be taken every single day without any harm.  It will, however, absorb the medications you take, making them less effective.  So you shouldn't take it if you are on medication.  Otherwise, it is safe. ( You can confirm this with your doctor is you don't believe me.)   Also, to say that "most vegans are poor eaters" and  "people go on vegan diets for ideological reasons and not for health reasons" is absolutely ridiculous. Not only is a vegan diet appropriate for people with gas and other digestive problems, but I have put dozens upon dozens of people on vegan diets and watched them get cured from everything from arthritis to asthma.  It is very easy to get protein and all the other necessary nutrients we need on such a diet.  A person who is interested in eating a vegan diet doesn't even need to see a nutritionist.  They just needs to read a book on it.  And there are many out there.  By the way, there was a time (for example during Jesus' life) when a vegan diet, consisting of whole, natural, plant foods, was what was eaten on MOST days of the week.  Fish was only eaten a couple of times a week.  And as for meat and dairy, they were only eaten on once in a while, like at celebratory occasions or holidays like the passover meal.  And MOST often (but not all of the time of cours) I have found in counselling people, that it is not the vegans who are poor eaters, it's the meat and dairy eaters.  The vegans are ALWAYS into eating whole, natural, foods (i.e.whole grains such as in whole grain breads, brown rice, as well as beans, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.  They consume healthy fats, like those in avacados and olive oil, and will occationally eat fish.)  The people who eat meat and dairy rarely come to me with ANY knowledge of whole, natural, foods.  That means they have no knowledge of what eating healthy means.  Their diets are always high in saturated fats and they eat packaged, processed foods.  As I said, I don't know this guys health history or what his diet is like.  So I simply made a few suggestions for him to look into.  I was not trying to tell him what his problem was or what he should do about it. You have a right to your opinions, just as I have a right to mine. I'm concerned about this guy because he said his gas problem has caused him to lose friends.  And that's why I posted a comment.  I only wish I would have told him to first cut out all dairy products (if he must have milk, try switching to soy milk), and stop eating sweets.  Espeically after meals.  Some people get gas when they eat sweets (even if it's fruit) within an hour of eating their meal.  He could give that a try, and see if it helps.    

[Paxiled]

Just a couple of points here.  Activated charcoal can only be taken on occasion, not on a regular basis.  It will leach necessary nutrients from the body.  It should only be taken when there's a lot of pain from heartburn or such, not just because someone is farting.  As for bacteria, all bacteria feed on sugars, bad and good.  It's the energy source for all living things, including humans.  The question is which sugars a person is consuming and how much.  Also, a vegan diet is only appropriate for some people, and it must be done with extreme care to make sure the proper nutrients are being consumed.  Most vegans are very poor eaters, and do it for ideological, not health, reasons, so if anyone decides on this type of diet, make very sure it is well researched first to ensure all necessary nutrients are being consumed in proper quantities.  All fermented foods, again, this is wrong that they all create harmful sugars.  Some of the most beneficial foods for feeding beneficial bacteria are fermented, including miso, cultured vegetables such as kim chi or sauerkraut, real yogurt, tempeh, and many, many more.  Vinegar is also a very beneficial food, if it's the right vinegar and, like everything else, isn't overused and is appropriate for the particular person.  Candida is only one kind of harmful organism, and it isn't a bacterium, it's a yeast.  Beneficial bacteria such as acidophilus and reuteri (not sure of the spelling here) help keep candida from overgrowing.  However, there are definite symptoms of an overgrowth of candida, which generally includes fatigue, odors, dryness, etc.  These are conditions that are also often poorly dealt with by physicians.  The main reason for an overgrowth of candida is taking antibiotics too often, which kills off the beneficial bacteria that prevents candida from overgrowing.  The treatments doctors are taught to use very often kill off beneficial organisms along with the bad, and therefore almost guarantee a recurrence and aggravation of the problem.  Farting by itself is not a symptom of candida overgrowth.  

Just farting isn't a symptom of anything awful.  It's usually just a digestion problem, and is pretty much universal among humans.  Most cultures don't care about it at all.  But it is a sign of incomplete digestion.  But as you can see, digestion is very complicated, and there are more ideas about it, many incorrect, than there are ants.  Be careful out there!  

[marymagdeline]

Thank you sweet heart :)  Is there anything I can help YOU with ???

[freebird227]

Great wealth of information. I to agree that we eat differently while under a lot of stress, and our diet needs to meet our emotional needs as well. Healing the whole   ,body, spirit and mind.Great post

[marymagdeline]

Hi, You should try posting this question in the Gastroenterology forum.  Also, people who have a lot of gas have gotten relief by going on vegan diets.  That means no meat and no dairy.  Just lots of whole, natural foods.  I was on such a diet for years and I never had gas.  Also, some people get gas because their intestinal flora is out of balance.  You see, you have about 5 pounds of good, probiotic bacteria in your gut.  And about 1 or 2 pounds of bad.  However, sometimes the balance is off and you get too much bad bacteria and not enough good.  The things that feed the bad bacteria (and cause gas) are sugars.  All sugars, including fruit.  And all fermented foods like beer, wine, vinegar, etc.  Try going to a candida (that's what the bad bacteria is some times called) web site and reading about the foods to avoid.  Then, avoid these foods and see how you do.  You can also get a test done called a Heidelberg Gastrogram (google this) to see if it has to do with the pH being off in your gut.  Also, tray taking Activated Charocoal capsules.  They absorb gas and odors.  You may have to take 5 at a time to get relief.  Good luck!

[Paxiled]

What's your diet like?  And your age?  (We fart more as we age, as my wife and I can attest to).  You might want to look into that.  Some people have trouble digesting certain foods.  Dairy and wheat are very common such foods, as are beans, especially when they're prepared incorrectly (it's the sugars in them).  Fact is, most people live largely on beans, and most people fart a lot.  As cultures get more urban, it becomes more frowned upon, but it's really pretty natural.  A digestive enzyme formula can help; I like Vibragest from Nature's Plus, but there a lot of them out there.