Foods To Avoid That Cause Bloating

Onions

The onion is one of those staple food ingredients found in a plethora of raw and cooked dishes. It’s another high FODMAP that can create bloating. Aside from being a natural gas-producing food, it can wreak havoc for individuals with reflux due to the pressure it creates in the gut. This pressure forces the sphincter open and allows foods and acids to travel back up the esophagus. Fructans are a type of carbohydrate made up of chains of fructose, and onion is full of it. The small intestine is limited in digesting fructans. Like with apples, the onion’s fructans go on to the large intestine to be broken down by bacteria and create a gaseous buildup. Food sensitivities to fructans are actually quite commonly confused with gluten intolerances. If individuals are trying to figure out if bloating is related to gluten or fructans, eliminate all dietary fructans for at least two weeks. If that eliminates symptoms, individuals can add back non-wheat fructans to see if symptoms return, which would signal a fructan, not wheat, intolerance.

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Garlic

From lowering cholesterol and blood pressure to nourishing the skin and hair, garlic has many health benefits, and nutritionists most often recommend eating it raw to take full advantage of its antioxidant properties. However, eating garlic cloves raw can be quite problematic for intolerant bellies and allergies. This is particularly true with copious amounts and eating it on an empty stomach. While it’s not high in fiber, it is high in fructans and starch. This makes it poorly absorbed in the small intestines and highly gaseous. It’s also a smelly kind of gaseous bloating due to the sulfur compounds in the cloves. Individuals can reduce the odor by drying or cooking it to deactivate some of the sulfur compounds, but do keep in mind this doesn’t destroy the gaseous oligosaccharides.

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