Is gas a sign of poor digestion?
Some flatulence is normal because good bacteria in your gut naturally produce gases when they ferment the fibres in your diet. However, if the gas is excessive, very smelly, or coupled with other symptoms including discomfort or altered bowel habits, it could be a sign of digestive insufficiency and/or an imbalance of gut bacteria.
Why does bad digestion cause gas?
If you experience excess gas, you might wonder what is going awry with your digestion, some of the possible processes are as follows:
1. You’re eating too quickly
Eating too quickly can cause you to swallow excess air which in turn, could contribute to excess gas. This may manifest as more belching, but could also contribute to bloating or flatulence if the gas gets trapped and/or continues to move further along your digestive tract.
Chewing gum could also cause you to swallow excess gas, as well as having the addition of unwanted artificial sweeteners which could cause their own set of problems – I'll go on to explore this in a little more detail later.
Then, it's not just what you eat, but also how and what you drink that could contribute to swallowing excess gas. Gulping drinks from a can or through a straw could also risk encouraging extra air intake, and of course, any added gases contained if your drinks of choice are fizzy could only add to the problem further.
2. You could have low stomach acid
'Excess stomach acid' is readily assumed in the allopathic world and may be attributed to a number of gastric symptoms such as heartburn, indigestion or belching. In reality, low stomach acid is a much more likely occurrence. See, your gastric secretions can easily become compromised as a result of the natural aging process, and also exacerbated in times of stress; both are rather common scenarios, I'm sure you'd agree. The symptoms can look very similar in terms of the upper digestive discomfort and belching being common characteristics.
Ultimately your stomach is a major digestive step, so the inadequate breakdown of food here, or delayed gastric emptying as a result of inadequate gastric secretions, could easily contribute to excess gas as these elements start to ferment prematurely.
3. Your digestion is insufficient
This has lots of crossover with the low stomach acid idea, but actually, if your stomach acid levels aren't adequate, you may also be lacking a little in the digestive enzymes department. Many of your digestive enzymes are released in the small intestine, in response to adequate stomach acid levels.
A lack of certain digestive enzymes such as lactase could mean you can struggle to digest and ultimately absorb specific dietary components such as lactose, the milk sugar found in many dairy products, and as a result, you may experience more symptoms after certain 'trigger foods.'
In many cases, if you're able to improve your digestion, you could improve your tolerability to certain foods, assuming there isn't a food allergy of course.
4. An imbalance in good gut bacteria
As a result of some of the processes mentioned above, your balance of gut bacteria could also be off. The improper breakdown or malabsorption of certain dietary components can mean larger particles of food can remain present and travel on through to the latter stages of your digestion. This can cause a whole array of problems, from local digestive symptoms to more complicated issues, in some cases involving the immune system (such as with food sensitivities).
As new substrates become available, bacteria will naturally ferment them and produce gases as a result. However, having some unexpected molecules becoming available could encourage a more skewed population of bacteria, and/or cause the production of more noxious substances as the bacteria do their thing.
Is some farting healthy?
Now, I'm not saying that all gas is bad, actually, producing gas daily is actually often a good sign. Ideally, we want our good gut bacteria to flourish, and naturally, to do so, they need a source of food. This comes in the form of dietary fibre. Dietary fibre can be found in the form of fruit, vegetables or wholegrains, and the wider the variety the better, as the better a feast our bacteria will have. As the bacteria ferment these fibrous portions of our diets, gas and other healthy substances are produced. So actually, an ultra-processed diet severely lacking in fibre, may not be gassy enough!
The category of foods called FODMAPs, for one, often get a bad name, as these include an array of fibrous foods that some people can struggle to tolerate. But actually, fibre is very good for you, and it may be that you just need to take a little time to improve your digestion so you can tolerate them suitably.
Tips for reducing gas
So, if you're aware that a little gas is good, but suspect your symptoms are a little out of balance, there are some steps you can take to help normalise those gassy episodes:
1. Eat more mindfully
Eating mindfully can be a fairly hassle-free, yet effective strategy for improving your digestion. See, your digestion doesn't do well if you're in a stressed state. This could be physically, if you're on the go, running to your next appointment or highly stimulated and glued to a screen, or mentally, if you're obviously feeling stressed, or even just being distracted, could be enough. Ultimately, in these cases, it's likely your digestion won't be properly prepared and working optimally.
My advice is to set aside your meal times and stick to them. Dedicate your time to eating rather than slotting them in alongside other tasks. This way, hopefully not only your digestion will benefit, but also you as a whole. You could get back to enjoying your food again, enjoying the flavours, textures, perhaps the cooking process too (perfect for prepping your digestion too!), and also enjoying your food in company, if that works well for you too.
Chewing well is also an important part of mindful eating – aim for 20 chews per mouthful.
2. Support your digestion
Whilst more mindful eating and better chewing are important first steps for supporting your digestion, sometimes an extra digestive remedy may be required to help you really get back on track.
As many of the naturally bitter elements of our diet have nowadays somewhat been lost, an extra dose of bitterness in the form of Yarrow drops could help. Or Digestisan complex, which has been specifically formulated to help protect against unwanted flatulence.
3. Limit problem items
Ultimately, if you can work on improving your digestion, the end goal is that you're able to tolerate more foods again, and especially the more healthful ones such as those contained within the FODMAP categories.
Of course, no matter how resilient your digestion is, there are still some categories of foods that aren't going to be very helpful. These can include:
- Gassy drinks – Gassy drinks contain added gas themselves, so it's unsurprising that these can also contribute to the problem of bloating, flatulence or belching. However, the added sugars or sweeteners they also contain, could also only risk making things worse for your good gut bacteria, as has been found in the research. (1,2)
- Refined sugars – Naturally occurring sugars which are the simplest building blocks entwined in matrixes of starches or fibres (carbs) are a great source of nutrients for your good gut bacteria. However, more refined sources of sugar which are much further away from their natural form are more unnatural; they are a quicker form of energy for your bacteria which can have its own set of consequences and symptoms could well be linked to this dietary component. (2)
- Artificial sweeteners – research suggests that artificial sweeteners are another element of your diet that could have a direct (negative) influence on your good gut bacteria. (1) Like many more healthful sources of fibre, many of these aren't digested (in order to allow them to be touted as 'acaloric' or having zero calories,) but ultimately this means they become more available to your good gut bacteria, whereby unnatural fermentation can then take place.
When to contact your doctor
Please note, if your gassy symptoms are paired with any others including pain, blood (which can manifest as red or black stools) sudden or extreme changes in your bowel habits, or unintentional weight loss, you should report this to your doctor.
