Flatulence, or bloating, is a condition familiar to every person. It can be provoked by malnutrition, the presence of chronic diseases of the stomach and intestines, pancreatitis, cholecystitis and even severe stress. According to statistics, women suffer from flatulence and a half times more often than men. Nutrition with flatulence and constipation can alleviate the patient’s condition even without taking any pharmacological preparations.
Symptoms and causes of bloating
Gas formation is a pathology that occurs not only due to chronic diseases. List of relatively harmless causes of this pathology:
- conversations during eating and chewing - air has time to get into the mouth, is swallowed and thus ends up in the intestines (this causes not only bloating, but also burping);
- eating foods that cause fermentation of the masses in the intestine;
- alcohol abuse;
- violation of the microflora of the intestinal mucosa in connection with the use of antibiotics, oral contraceptives, analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Flatulence sometimes haunts the patient for more serious reasons:
- chronic pancreatitis;
- liver disease
- chronic cholecystitis;
- gastritis of various etiologies;
- peptic ulcer of the stomach or intestines;
- erosive processes on the walls of organs;
- parasitic infestations;
- type 2 diabetes mellitus;
- endocrine disorders.
How to distinguish flatulence from other symptoms of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract:
- bloating rarely causes pain;
- flatulence is not accompanied by nausea;
- gas formation does not cause diarrhea;
- in rare cases, gas may be accompanied by constipation.
Of course, the easiest way to suppress constipation and flatulence by taking a pill. But if this condition persecutes the patient on an ongoing basis, then it will not work to take carminative drugs daily. It is easier to undergo a full examination of the abdominal organs and find out the exact cause of increased gas formation. Nutrition for flatulence is one of the decisive factors that affect remission. After switching to the correct diet, most patients forget what increased gas production is.
The basic principles of nutrition in flatulence
There are several fundamental rules that must not be violated. If it is impossible to perform at least three of them, it makes no sense to try to change the daily diet and achieve remission.
- Nutrition in case of irritable bowel syndrome with flatulence involves the regulation of not only the quantity and quality of food consumed, but also consumed fluids. If the patient drinks less than one liter of water per day, then do not be surprised at constant constipation and increased gas formation. A person weighing about 70 kilograms needs to drink two liters of water per day. If the weight is more, then this amount can reach up to four liters. The cells of the human body are made up of water, so when it is lacking, the functioning of all organs is impaired.
- Partial nutrition should be followed. Servings should be small: 200-250 grams. Feelings of hunger must not be allowed, then to greedily absorb food. Chew each piece measuredly and carefully.
- Eating does not allow talk. The saying "when I eat, I am deaf and dumb" is true. If you chat while eating, air enters your mouth. The patient imperceptibly swallows it and then suffers from increased gas formation. In some cases, following this simple rule is enough to make the problem of flatulence go away.
- The diet should be daily liquid dishes. They are quickly acquired and are the basis of the menu. Nutrition for IBS with flatulence involves the preparation of lean soups. Vegetable broths are ideal, in some cases (with the permission of the attending gastroenterologist) eating borsch on the broth with a piece of veal or chicken leg is permissible.
- Vegetables and fruits are not always useful for irritable bowel syndrome and a tendency to increased gas formation. It is forbidden to eat raw fruits, optimally boil and bake them in the oven. For example, even raw apples can sometimes cause bloating. But the apples baked in the oven will be perfectly assimilated and will not bring unnecessary discomfort.
- It’s worth it once and for all to forget about new-fangled nutrition systems: raw food diet and veganism. With irritable bowel syndrome, all dishes must be cooked. A raw food diet is a direct path to peptic ulcer disease. Adhere to such a nutrition system can only completely healthy people.
Water mode: what can and cannot be
You can drink clean water at any time. The temperature does not matter - it can be both cold and hot. Herbal teas with a little sugar are also allowed (a teaspoon per glass of boiling water).
Coffee is allowed in limited quantities. No more than a hundred grams per day, mainly in the morning.
Sweet carbonated drinks are completely prohibited. Bubbles of carbon dioxide contribute to bloating. Carbonated alcoholic beverages should also be excluded: beer, cocktails. Even if the bubbles are obtained by fermentation, the drink is forbidden to drink. Wine products should be completely excluded from the diet. Strong drinks are detrimental to the condition of the mucous membrane of the esophagus, stomach, and intestines.
Fruits and berries: harm or benefit
Nutrition in case of flatulence of the intestine implies a complete rejection of the use in any form:
- black and red currants;
- green apples;
- mountain ash, gooseberries, dogwood, blueberries, blueberries;
- nectarine and persimmons.
Any acidic fruits and berries can cause increased gas formation. Nutrition in flatulence implies a complete rejection of such ingredients, if they are part of the dish. You can’t eat them separately either in raw or in baked form. Pies and any bakery stuffed with these fruits and berries are also prohibited.
Vegetables with flatulence
The most controversial point is eating cabbage. In some people, it provokes gas formation in both raw and boiled form. In others, on the contrary, it contributes to better digestion of food. Whether to consume cabbage depends on the individual characteristics of each patient.
Potatoes can be eaten. Pre-soak it in cool clear water for two to three hours. Potatoes should not become the main side dish. It is forbidden to mix it with sour cream, milk, mayonnaise, butter. Only boiled, salted potatoes are suitable as a side dish for meat dishes. Frying, crushing, baking is also undesirable.
Sour-milk products with flatulence
Any dairy products are a valuable source of protein, calcium, and magnesium. Eating with flatulence does not mean a complete rejection of them. It is only necessary to abandon fermented milk products with high fat content.
If you want cheese, you can occasionally (once a week) eat it separately from other dishes. A combination of cheese and bread is unacceptable. You should choose varieties with minimal fat content.
The same principle applies to the consumption of all fermented milk products. Milk, kefir, fermented baked milk, cottage cheese should be taken separately from all other products. If there is a desire to eat cottage cheese, then you can afford one package, but you can’t eat it with bread, fruit, porridge or any other additives.
The principle of separate nutrition is valid: milk, kefir, ayran, yogurt can be drunk in any quantities, but only separately from other dishes. The optimal time period for eating fermented milk products is two hours after the last meal and two to three hours before the next.
Bloated meat and offal
There are many fables about meat products in the diet. In fact, nutrition in flatulence must necessarily include lean meat. This is a valuable source of protein, which is the building material for every cell in the human body.
You should include turkey meat, chicken, rabbit meat, veal in your daily diet. It is acceptable to use beef if you cut fat from it. Dishes from the liver, hearts, lungs are also acceptable. They should be combined with light side dishes, for example, with buckwheat. The combination with mashed potatoes is unacceptable, as this will cause bloating, even in a healthy person.
It is necessary to refuse fat, pork, lamb, sausages, preservation, stews in banks. Meat dishes should be prepared at home, on their own. Then there will be reliable information about the degree of freshness of the food consumed. Eating with flatulence and bloating means refusing to eat stale meat dishes. They can aggravate the situation and provoke an exacerbation of gastritis, pancreatitis, peptic ulcer.
Fat for bloating: benefits or harms
Nutrition for colitis and flatulence should contain polyunsaturated fatty acids. For this, it is necessary to include unrefined vegetable oils in the daily diet: olive, linseed, sesame, cotton, grape seed. They should be added to the first dishes, salads, side dishes.
It is strictly forbidden to eat animal fats and fried foods. When cooking soups, it is forbidden to fry in oil. You can add a teaspoon of your favorite oil already in the finished soup, immediately before eating it.
Sample menu for the week for people prone to flatulence
Despite the apparent complexity, the principles of building a menu and nutrition for flatulence are simple. Here is an approximate diet that people with irritable bowel syndrome, gastritis, peptic ulcer, cholecystitis should adhere to:
- Monday: oatmeal on the water, a handful of dried fruits, lean borscht, packing of rye bread, one cucumber, oven-baked peaches, any fish fillet on the grill.
- Tuesday: a glass of kefir, a handful of roasted peanuts without salt, mashed cauliflower and chicken fillet soup, two boiled eggs, a fat-free cottage cheese briquette, dried fruit compote, green tea.
- Wednesday: buckwheat porridge with a piece of chicken, veal goulash, okroshka, quail eggs omelet.
- Thursday: a glass of milk, a package of rye bread, one cucumber, oven-baked peaches, any fish fillet on the grill, green tea or dried fruit compote.
- Friday: a glass of kefir, peaches, a handful of roasted peanuts without salt, mashed cauliflower and chicken fillet soup, two boiled quail eggs, dried fruit compote, green tea.
- Saturday: ice cream from low-fat cottage cheese (cool it in the freezer, mixed with sweetener), stewed pink salmon, boiled potatoes (presoaked in cold water for an hour), veal goulash, okroshka, quail eggs omelet.
- Sunday: honeycombs or honey, stew from green vegetables, soup puree, buckwheat porridge with a piece of chicken, veal goulash.
You can, at your discretion, swap dishes. The main rule is to adhere to the principles of nutrition for intestinal flatulence. The menu for the week is approximate, you can redo it based on your individual characteristics and preferences.
Tips of gastroenterologists: how to avoid bloating
If the condition is caused not by chronic diseases, but by bad habits at the table, then you do not need to change the diet. Just pay attention to the food culture. In some cases, it is enough to abandon bad habits.
Nutrition for flatulence and bloating helps those with a condition triggered by lazy bowel syndrome. If there are serious concomitant diseases of internal organs and endocrine pathologies (pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus, cholecystitis, hepatitis, cirrhosis, fibrosis, etc.), then it is worthwhile first of all to deal with their therapy.
Simple tips to get rid of constipation and flatulence in a short time:
- refuse to eat raw food (everything needs to be cooked);
- give preference to lean soups and liquid dishes;
- completely abandon the use of alcohol and smoking;
- sleep at least ten hours a day (sleep is necessary for healthy digestion);
- refuse to eat bakery products;
- give preference to lean meats, but in no case give up on it completely;
- Avoid stress and overwork.
Pharmacological treatments
If the menu is not strictly observed, eating during flatulence may be ineffective. If you allow the eating of raw vegetables and fruits, mix dairy products with carbohydrates, eat bakery products, then the problem will not go away. It is necessary to resort to the use of pharmacological agents for bloating :
- pancreatic enzymes for better digestion of food;
- carminative preparations from gas formation;
- hepatoprotectors to reduce the load on the liver;
- choleretic drugs with cholecystitis to normalize the outflow of bile.