Lots of whole foods = lots of gas?

[jakkrabbit]

My 16 year old sister wants to go vegan, so she's made the first step by becoming a lacto-ovo-vegetarian. We're working on getting her enough calories and making sure she has a good balanced diet. She naturally loves fruits and vegetables and so eats them all the time in preference to anything else. (Of course she still has grains, nuts, legumes, and dairy in her diet as well). But it seems the more fruits/veggies she eats, the more gas she gets! This is distressing to her, especially at school. Is there anything she can do?

[xrodolfox]

I do not know how to remedy gas.

What I do know is that I do not get gassy at all. No matter what I eat, no matter how much I eat. I do not fart often, and when I do fart, it rarely stinks up the joint.

My daughter is the same way. She eats A LOT of vegan food all day long. Her farts just do not stink, the rare time she does fart.

However, my son is different. Holy moly. No matter what he eats, he farts. And his farts stink to high heaven. The two kids will have the same foods, and one will fart up the place, and the other wont do a thing.

Heck, the same thing happens with teeth too. I have never had a cavity in my life (I am 32), and there was a time when I was 10 or 11 when I ate candy every day and would go weeks without brushing my teeth. My brother, who did the same thing I did, however, has a mouth full of mercury.

Some of it is just plain genetics, and nothing will fix that other than trial and error. A food log would really help. Something where she can write down her emotions too. I do imagine that pro-biotics might help. But I have no magic pill. I do not fart much, and of all things, my son enjoys his farting. Yesterday, he went to the neighbors and played fart attack with the kids until one of the kids sharted and had to change pants. My son loved it.

[calico]

Suggest serving all the veggies cooked for now, and slowly transitioning to a little more raw veggies later.

Get her to try Beano.

Or just have her hang out with the boys more often. Young men seem to find farts extremely funny. If she can learn to laugh with it, she'll be the life of the party.

[Fallen_Horse]

Also make sure she chews well and slowly. Getting air in with food doesn't help!

[Sid Delicious]

But it seems the more fruits/veggies she eats, the more gas she gets! This is distressing to her, especially at school. Is there anything she can do?

Some people's bodies react to certain foods and there's nothing they can do about it. Some people say that when you make the transition from a meat to no-meat diet it takes your body a while to adjust to the sudden increase in fibre. I guess the only way she will find out will be to try different foods and see what reaction they give.
Failing that, rather than getting distressed it can help to realise that gas can be a source of fun at school. One time at a school assembly the headmaster walked up to the microphone, opened her mouth to speak and then one of my friends did a huge fart. The hall went from complete silence to 800 kids laughing.

[XkillerX]

I've always been a natural methane factory. Lifting weights makes this worse, not food.

[braddd]

Don't forget that a lot of people that go vegan at first, will naturally have gas. I've noticed a lot of people I know that have made the switch and myself had a period of a week or more when there was potent and frequent gas involved while the body adjusted to the new types of foods being ingested in large quantity.

[jonathanL]

unfortunately I'm familiar with this problem
there's a way to reduce gas, though not to solve it altogether - fennel
In my family we give fennel drops for babies with colic (also nursing moms drink it as tea), nd it works for grown ups too.
You can get it as tea bags (also called nursing tea or milkmade tea) and drink it hot or cold. In the summer I carry a bottle of iced fennel tea, very refreshing.

As for the taste..it tastes like aniseed, and not everybody like that, but you can get use to it, and if it will save your social life, that's a fair sacrifice.

Also, you can add caraway seeds to your food, it also helps to de-gas the meal.

[alexander]

Also make sure she chews well and slowly. Getting air in with food doesn't help!

Yes he's right!