Fwd: CURES FOR FLATULENCE

[Guest guest]

Since the debate is getting high brow, here's an email I got from the UK

vegetarian society a while back. Although vegetarian and not vegan, it's

still worth a read.

 

Steve.

 

--- Chris Olivant wrote:

Chris Olivant

'Soche id' <socheid

RE:

Thu, 1 Feb 2001 10:44:52 -0000

 

CURES FOR FLATULENCE

We occasionally receive letters from people complaining of indigestion

and/or excessive flatulence after changing to a vegetarian diet. Here

are some pointers that might help:

 

1) If you are thinking of changing over to a vegetarian diet, do it

gradually. Vegetarians have quite different intestinal flora

(bacteria that aid digestion) from meat-eaters, so give your body time to

adapt, particularly if you have not been used to a high-fibre diet

previously.

 

2) Try to avoid stress. The digestive system is very sensitive to

stress and ignoring early warning symptoms may lead to severe problems,

like ulcers later (this is not to say that flatulence is a precursor of

ulcers, but it could be a warning that your digestive system is finding

your lifestyle hard to take!). Don't eat when you are in a hurry or if you

are experiencing any kind of violent emotion like anger or fear. Try to

change things so you have time for a calm, unhurried meal. Chew your food

well, digestion of starches starts in the mouth with an enzyme produced in

the saliva. If you eat hurriedly and don't chew properly, this enzyme

doesn't have time to start working as it is rendered ineffective by the

acid conditions in the stomach.

 

3) Take a look at how much fibre you are eating. A high fibre diet is

good for health, but remember we are all individuals and react differently

to what we eat. You need to find a balance where you are eating enough

fibre to avoid constipation but not enough to give you flatulence. If you

think this is the cause of your problem, try going half-and-half with

refined and unrefined foods, eg half wholemeal pasta/half white pasta,

half wholemeal bread/half white, or vary the proportions until you find a

mixture that suits.

 

4) Some people are sensitive to particular kinds of foods. It might

be worth keeping a diet diary for a few days, noting when symptoms appear

so you can pinpoint the culprits! Beans are often the cause; it is very

important to make sure that all beans are thoroughly boiled, they must

be at boiling point for at least 10 minutes and after that, simmered until

soft. If using dried pulses, never cook them in the soaking water. Always

discard the soaking water, rinse thoroughly and cook in fresh water.

Adding a little dill or caraway seed during cooking might also help (this

applies to any food that causes flatulence, not just beans. Cabbage is

another common culprit that benefits from a sprinkle of dill seeds). Some

people simply cannot digest beans easily because they are short of an

enzyme that breaks down the polysaccharide they contain, so if all the

above measures fail, you may have to avoid beans altogether. The hard

beans like soya and red kidney are worst, lentils, split peas etc don't

usually cause trouble.

 

5) Some people are sensitive to certain mixtures of foods. For

example, mixing starches and proteins upsets some people, or mixing high

fibre foods with high sugar foods. Again, if this is the cause of the

problem, you may have to identify the culprits and avoid them. Many

people find the Hay Diet helpful. Basically, this avoids mixing starches

and proteins at a meal.

 

In this system, you should have one protein meal, one starch meal and one

alkaline meal at day. The alkaline meal could be fresh or dried

fruit, salad or lightly steamed vegetables; jacket potato (without

cheese!), avocado or vegetable soup. Examples of starch meals are

sandwiches with salad filling, rice and pasta with salad or vegetables.

Protein meals can be eggs, cheese, nuts. Pulses count as " starch " . Fresh

vegetables other than potato, nuts (except peanuts), butter, vegetable

oils, egg yolk and cream can be eaten with either protein or starch meals;

most fruits can be eaten with protein meals except bananas, dates and figs

which are " starches " . Dry wine complements a protein meal and beer a

starch meal. Allow at least four hours between eating foods in different

classes.

 

Herbal remedies

 

All the following have been suggested as possible cures for flatulence

in one herbal or another:

 

Dill or caraway: add to food while cooking or chew a few seeds after a

meal.

Peppermint: as tea, after a meal.

Nutmeg: pinch of ground nutmeg in hot water before a meal.

Sage: as tea.

Thyme: as a tea or raw with the food.

Angelica: chew a small piece of the root.

Ginger: 1 teaspoon of ground ginger in half cup of hot water.

Charcoal biscuits:

 

NB. Make a herbal tea by adding 1 teaspoon of the dried herb to half a

pint

boiling water and leave to infuse for five minutes. As with all

medicines,

it is important not to exceed the recommended dose.

 

Compiled by Bronwen Humphreys

 

Chris Olivant

Information and Research Officer

The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom

 

Web site: www.vegsoc.org

 

=====

Free antivirus software at www.grisoft.com

 

Free firewall software at www.zonealarm.com

 

Check against email hoaxes at www.stiller.com/hoaxes.htm

 

or www.scambusters.org/legends.html

 

 

Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help?

Donate cash, emergency relief information

http://dailynews./fc/US/Emergency_Information/