How to Prevent Rancid Gas
Everyone has flatulence, a polite way of saying "gas," at some time or another. Gas can occasionally be horribly rancid, which is embarrassing and unpleasant for everyone in the vicinity of the "offender." The good news is that there are ways to reduce the nasty odor of your gas by changing your diet.
Instructions
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Don't eat prunes, apples, raisins and legumes if you have rancid gas. Mexican foods are another culprit, as are baked beans and cruciferous vegetables. A few of the most common cruciferous vegetables are cauliflower, cabbage, cress, bok choy and broccoli. Sugarless gum can make you have gas because of the sorbitol it often contains. Carbonated drinks also create gas, as do calcium channel blockers. Both they slow down the movement inside the intestines, trapping gas in the process. Narcotics have a similar effect.
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Avoid eating too fast and eating with your mouth open. One common reason people get gas is that they're eating too rapidly and not properly digesting their food. After you take a bite of food, put your fork down and wait until you've thoroughly chewed and swallowed that bite before you take another. When you chew, digestive enzymes are released, explains Puristat.com. Give them time to do their work. If you swallow a lot of air when you eat, by the time the air reaches your belly, the air consists largely of carbon dioxide and nitrogen and very little oxygen. This mixture creates gas. You might consider taking a digestive enzyme supplement with your meals. These supplements relieve bloating and gas and support your digestive system. The enzymes they contain break down the sugar in the food you've eaten. Reducing the amount of sugar available to the digestive system bacteria reduces the gas the bacteria create.
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Avoid milk products. People get more gaseous as they get older, and many people become lactose intolerant, which means their digestive systems have a hard time handling milk or milk products. When lactose (milk) sugar arrives in the intestines, bacteria consume the sugar. The bacteria then multiply rapidly, which causes gas and bloating. Babies possess an enzyme that helps them digest milk lactose or sugar, but adults don't have the enzyme.
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Massaging your belly may help the food move quicker through your intestines and eliminate gas. Doing this in conjunction with getting regular exercise should help you digest and excrete quicker, which lowers your risk of having rancid gas.
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Avoid eating sulfur-rich foods including red meats, eggs, garlic, onions, oats, corn, Swiss chard, sweet potatoes, yams, nuts and seeds, notes Canarys-eye-view.org. Not all intestinal bacteria create rancid gas, but some bacteria produce gases containing methane and sulfur -- and those gases will smell hideously bad. Some scientists think the harmful bacteria in your body is what produces these horrible smells, but this isn't a certainty. Bacteria can also cause diarrhea, which will lead to even more gas. Reducing your intake of sulfa-rich foods like eggs, onions and garlic should also help.
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Tips & Warnings
Try taking Bean-O or Gas-X before eating.
Keep in mind that rancid gas is a sign of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, which are inflammatory bowel diseases. Ulcers in the colon cause smelly gas when a person has ulcerative colitis.
Some people have too much bacteria in their small intestine. This condition is called bacteria overgrowth, and it also causes gas.
References
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