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Okay, this is kinda embarassing, but I know others have this problem, too. So often I've read that the gas will decrease after your body's adjusted to eating beans, etc...well, I've been a vegetarian for 28 years now, and I'm still as gassy as ever. I looked into trying Beano, but I read that both Beano and Beanzyme (?) contain gelatin. Someone on a board suggested papaya enzyme may help a little. Any ideas?

I never went 100% vegan before, but last week I cut it ALL out (including sugar and oil) and there's been no change.

Oh, and it's not just beans...it seems just about everything I eat causes gas. It's really starting to bother me, let alone my poor family!!

You could possibly have a food intolerance, if the gas is more than just annoying...that is, if it's there everyday, in vast amounts, and causing discomfort.

Wheat/gluten could be a big one, also, many people can do soy or corn.

dairy would be one of the prime suspects if you weren't vegan. I wasn't clear from reading your post, but if you just gave up dairy, you might wanna give it a couple of weeks to see if that was the problem (and make sure you are not inadvertently consuming dairy in unsuspected products as casein, whey, skim milk solids, etc.).

If you begin investigating the possiblity of a food intolerance, you might be able to control your gas symptoms in the mean time with an over-the-counter probiotic formula just for gas, called Digestive Advantage for Gas that you can find at Walgreen's etc. http://www.drugstore.com/qxp147355_3331 ... ablets.htm

I would want to find the cause, though, jsut because our bodies are happier when we stop eating something that's buggiing us.

Gas can be caused by a number of things, and foods that cause your intestinal bacteria to go crazy when McDougalling are usually high fiber foods and an increase in raw foods, as most folks' prior diets have been more refined and processed foods that are low in fiber.

To get the gas out of beans, soak for 24 hours, lay out on paper towels for another 24 hours (until they start to sprout) and then cook (less cooking time required when sprouted).

Broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower are sulpher based, and cause a rotten egg type odor.

Food intolerance is a major factor. I stopped eating beans and most grains and had a significant reduction in gas. But it goes crazy when I eat raw (or lightly cooked) broccoli or Brussels sprouts.

You say that you didn't have gas problems before, so what new foods have you added to your diet?

Sorry I didn't make that clear. I have had this problem as long as I can remember. It just recently occured to me that I should try to do something about it.

Does the bean prep really make a difference? Isn't this the way that Mary McDougall recommends cooking them? But that sounds like a lot of work--I really need to be able to make easy meals (like throwing beans in a crock pot and letting them cook).

I actually have the same problem too. I have been McDougalling for almost 10 years now and it hasn't gone away.

I do not eat gluten or wheat so it isn't that.

My family does not have this problem unless you count them having a problem being around me.

It is hard to be sociable when you have this problem.

So, I am sorry that I don't have an answer but I feel your pain.

I never use canned beans/legumes, but cook them in a pressure cooker with kombu/kelp. The kombu helps to breakdown the indigestible sugars in the beans...so you don't "blow up"! It is worth the time and effort, no salt, no "other" whatever in the can and you can try all types of dried beans you have never even heard of. A pressure cooker info booklet should have the directions for cooking split, small, large beans and no-soak beans. It takers awhile to finally"get it right", but you can do it; you must just plan ahead. I always cook 400 gm dried beans- that's a good 10 "0.5" cup portions- and then freeze them in small containers; I can eat different beans for every meal. Enough for the lecture, here's goes...

1. rinse beans under running water; if you see trash in there, take it out- duh. If there are some broken beans in there, they will just turn into mush, I don't worry about it.

2. put into a container large enough to hold enough water to cover beans a bit and place a strip of dried kombu ( cut off a strip maybe less than an inch in width) in with it. kombu is sold in strips. A package lasts for years.

3. place in ice box- if it sits outside, it will start to GROW/ferment!- small beans need 8 to 12 hours, large beans 24 or even more. The soak time depends on how old, dry and hard the beans are. Look at your soaked beans: do they look like you need a sledgehammer to break them open or like they actually are soften? This is one of the points why I failed and gave up for years trying to cook my own beans; when I finally gave up the "soak time" advice/rules in books and used my head...."magic"!

4. after the soak time, rinse again well in running water. The indigestible sugars are in the soak water...BYE!

5. place beans and kombu in the pressure cooker and cook on the "low" pressure setting, not high. Large beans in general need 19 to 23 minutes (depends on how soft they were- test at 19 minutes, if too hard, the pot contents is so hot, that it takes no time to get it up to pressure again), small beans 9 to 11, split beans like chana dal 15.

6. When the "pot" is done and you have tested the beans for tenderness, you can dump out some of the water and add some cool to help it cool off faster. Do not just dump out the water and add cold- the beans might break open and you need to store the beans in water in the ice box, unless your freezing them. Toss out the kombu.

The only thing I do not know, is: if you have thyroid problems, will the iodine which the beans have probably soaked up (I've read that grains and beans soaked/cooked or sprouted in kombu water take up iodine) be enough to cause problems???

That was the beans, now other foods.... I'll write a new post....[b]

...xylit/stachyose/verbacose... hell on Earth, the stuff won't kill you, but makes your life hell if you've not enough "receptor" sites to transport the sugar/break'em down. In fructose malabsorption for example, there are not enough transporter sites (?) to handle the on coming amount of fructose. It is dumped into the small intestine, the bacteria breaks it down into short chained fatty acids and methane...BOOMMM!!! Forget the cows and the ozone hole- it was me! (I'm pretty sure that's the chain of events, but read about it.)

Up until the beginning of 2001, I could basically eat anything without problems...then suddenly everything caused me to blow up and major diarrhea. I was scared sh*ltless- literally- thought I might have cancer of the intestine, ovaries... I'd eat half a cup of almonds and then 5 hours later would be running to the toilet to "lose" everthing inside and could easily recognize everthing in it. It would hit the large intestine and BYE! Needless to say, no water was reabsorbed so it was violent and horrible. I was a prisoner to the house. I would not dare to leave the house until I was empty. AND it was not- and is still not- a temporary problem, although I have it somewhat more under control. I wrote to Dr. Mc Dougall about "this", fructose malabsorption- not intolerance , being a possible topic for a future newsletter.

I have a fructose malabsorption problem and if you have that, then often other indigestible sugar problems, too. Do sugar-free bonbons/drinks cause gas or diarrhea? Sunchokes cause distress (full of inulin)?... In english I found only information on the topics, but no tables listing fructose:glucose:sorbit amounts in common foods. In german is a site, www.nahrungsmittel-intoleranz.com, go to the left side and you'll see the word Fruktose... there wil be a list of articles, look for "Fruktosegehalt Tabellen, inkl. Sorbit" as pdf down load. I think many people have a "tranlator into english" option on their computer. But I will say the worst offenders for fructose are apples and pears...

The tests for sugar intolerances are simple: drink a glass of "it" and then blow into a tube... no blood and cheap.

p.s. It is easy to read the lisiting on the german site, the scientific words are very similar...that why I'm now an even worse speller in english...a "p" or "b" ??? You'll find your way around the site effortlessly, but the common words are not alway the same. good luck.

Tracey, you don't eat any gluten? How long has it been that you haven't had gluten?

Do you find it difficult? I think it's very tough to be gluten free, especially while being vegan and attempting to avoid oils.

Do you have any easy gluten-free tricks to share??? I sure could use some!

Hi Groundhog,

I have been gluten free for almost 10 years. Yes it is difficult especially for eating out. That is the biggest challenge. When we eat out we do one of two things. Either salad and baked potatoes or steamed veggies and rice.

Gosh, I will have to think about any tips I have. I just eat very simple these days. Lots of salad, fruits, potatoes, veggies etc...

I also have hypothyroid and I think I need to stay totally away from soy again. I stopped eating it years ago and my thyroid stabilized much better. I don't use a lot but I love sour cream on my potatoes made out of silken tofu and lemon juice.

I don't use any oils and don't feel a pull to them at all.

I do feel like I eat way too much. What I mean is, it seems to take so much more food to fill me up than those around me. I don't know if it is because my family members tend to eat much more fat than I do. I don't know.

I also eat a lot of raw foods. In fact, over the last year I went to an all raw diet and have been trying to get back to more of what I did before naturally which is McDougalling while eating a lot of raw foods because I like them.

I am having a hard time transitioning back though because I don't feel as well and my body is more acidic when McDougalling and alkaline when raw.

So what kind of things to do you need ideas for? What areas are your hardest as far as gf eating?

Tracy

I think mainly the greatest difficulty for me seems to be getting out of the sandwich and bread mindset (I always made lots of homemade breads, rolls, etc.)--gluten free bread is not-so-great stuff, plus I have trouble finding it gluten free, and have never seen any oil free or vegan, oil-free with any kind of whole grains. I've tried making it, but the results are pretty bad. I keep trtying things like pupusas, rice balls, etc., things other cultures do in place of where we would be eating things as sandwiches or on buns, but it's tough, I think.

Then the other thing is any time I am able to find any vegan packaged product gluten free, it almost always had oil...not that I'm that into packaged stuff...but I've just noticed when I do want that kinda stuff, it's a big problem.

Also, I've only eaten out twice since going gluten-free in February...both times were at a buffet, and all I had was coffee, salad (no dressings), and baked potatoes and baked sweet potatoes...both times I was feeling bad for about two weeks afterward...and assuming somehow I came across gluten in those meals.

I have been afraid to try to eat in an Indian restaurant or anywhere where the food would be cooked...scared I'll get gluten.

It has seemed pretty tough to me. Although, for me, the health benefits have been well worth it...I just want things I can't get sometimes...or get too busy to be able to always cook everything and would like some easy food once in a while when I'm busy or we're having to eat in a big hurry, etc.

Groundhog, it is tough! You have to realize that I am almost 10 years down the road on this. It is much easier now than it was in the beginning.

Most of the meals I make at home are gluten free. I burned myself out in a huge way in the beginning by trying to make gluten free meals and then our other gluten filled meals. It was too much work. We still have gluten containing products in our house for those that can eat it though.

It will get easier. You just have to let your body heal up first.

Tracy

Groundhog, it is tough! You have to realize that I am almost 10 years down the road on this. It is much easier now than it was in the beginning.

Most of the meals I make at home are gluten free. I burned myself out in a huge way in the beginning by trying to make gluten free meals and then our other gluten filled meals. It was too much work. We still have gluten containing products in our house for those that can eat it though.

It will get easier. You just have to let your body heal up first.

Tracy

Thank you, Worfie, I'll look into what you said. I totally forgot about the kombu--I even have some, but never bothered to use it. I do like to cook my own beans, in either the crock pot or pressure cooker.
And thank you to everyone else who's responded so far!

I just read in this discussion that Beano has gelatin. I checked my bottle and it does. In fact it also has cod and flounder. I try so hard to avoid gelatin because of the prion issue and here it is in a product to reduce gas from veggies. Gad!!

there is a vegan product like Beano. I bought it at Amazon. but as for the beans I just don't eat them anymore. not worth it.