What To Eat If You Suffer From Gas & Bloating

* by Jane Clark from Daily Mail

Every Tuesday, Britain's leading nutritionist explains how to eat your way to health. This week, Jane offers advice on what foods to eat if you suffer from wind (gas, bloating).

Over the past year I have been affected by terrible wind, which is embarrassing. I have a healthy diet, eat no fat at all, no spicy foods and live mostly on salad with a little ham, chicken or egg. I am 81 and weigh 7st 7lb. Do you have any advice?

Poor you. Bloating, gas and wind can be so uncomfortable and, as you say, embarrassing. You've eliminated some of the obvious triggers of bloating and gas, which are fatty foods and spices - although protein-rich foods such as red meat, and carbohydrates such as bread and pasta, may also be a cause of gas and bloating, because they're pretty hard to digest.

Maybe eggs upset you as they contain sulphur. Other sulphur-containing foods, such as onions and garlic, can be tricky, too.

Since you weigh so little, it's important not to cut something as nutritious as eggs out of your diet without an adequate replacement, and since you should be able to tell within, say, 72 hours whether cutting out eggs will make a difference, stick to the ham or chicken for those three days and see if your gut improves.

It's also possible you may be having too much raw vegetable/salad food. Although nutritious, it can be gas-producing because it's fibrous and gets your gut moving, so you might find cooked vegetables suit you better.

However, don't eat them too hot, as food that's too hot or too cold can make us swallow more air in an attempt to make its temperature more acceptable, causing gas and bloating.

Cooked fruit could work well, too, as could fruit tinned in its natural juice, which is the healthiest option (although in your case, a little tinned fruit in syrup could be a good way of increasing your calorie intake and putting on a little weight if you need to).

Tinned fruit can also be easier to eat for people with dentures. Readers with dentures need to make sure they are well fitted, as sometimes ill-fitting teeth can mean your eating action is out of sync, so you can end up swallowing too much air, leading to gas and wind.

Our bodies are unique, so it's worth swopping foods around, keeping a note of what you're eating and how windy you are, to spot any patterns.

It could be that the classic gas-producing foods such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, lentils, artichokes and asparagus may have been creeping into your diet more often than you thought. These belong to the cruciferous family of vegetables, which are traditionally known for their gas/wind-producing properties.

There is the traditional remedy of mint, fennel or camomile tea, all of which soothe the gut. Fennel is particularly good at combating gas, which is why gripe water - made with fennel - was traditionally used to soothe colic. You can also chew on fennel seeds, which you can buy at health food shops.

Cutting out fizzy drinks may help against gas and bloating, too, as can eating slowly and not lying down straight after eating. Sometimes medication such as laxatives can cause bad wind, so discuss this with your doctor.

Finally, so-called "bad" bacteria in the bowels can lead to excess gas. However, probiotic bacteria - the friendly bacteria found in the bowels - enable your body to get rid of the bad.

You have two options. First, get into the habit of having a small pot of natural yoghurt containing probiotic bacteria (lactobacillus bifidus) every day. Mix it with cooked fruit (such as apple purÈe or cooked pear) if you want a sweet taste, or a little honey.

Second, you could try a probiotic supplement. The dose can vary depending on the strain of bacteria, but with lactobacillus I recommend one with 10 billion per day which, astonishingly, are contained in one small capsule.