Excess gas & Farting on Whole30

[ucjustin]

Hi. No one knows me here, so I don't feel weird posting about this. Serious talk here, people.

I've nearly completed the Whole30 with a few minor slip-ups for which I don't feel regret. Starting around Day 20 I've noticed a huge spike in frequency and smell of farts. They happen as frequent as once every 5-30 minutes, depending on how lately I've eaten.

My staple foods:

Eggs (scrambled and boiled), Tuna, Chicken, Ground Turkey

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Tomatoes, Carrots, Romaine Lettuce, Mushrooms, Peppers

Apples, Oranges, Bananas

Canned Olives

Olive Oil

My staple meals:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs (3-4), tomato, mushrooms, etc.

Mid-morning: 2-3 fruits.

Lunchtime: Salad of Romaine lettuce, tomato, boiled egg, olives, etc.

Mid-afternoon: 2-3 fruits.

Dinner: Some meaty dinner. 1/3-1/2 meat, 1/2-2/3 vegetables.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Are there any foods that stand out that I should cut?

This is getting to be a pretty huge problem. My parents are angry at me, I'm embarrassed at my work cubicle, my car smells rancid, and I'm uncomfortable whenever my girlfriend's around. On the flipside, I feel like a healthy diet should be worth a touch of flatulence, but not this much. I also don't feel that I should counter a healthy diet with pills like Gas-X.

Any feedback would help. Please respond.

[Tom Denham]

I suspect your body remains in an adjustment phase. There is a good article at http://www.everydayhealth.com/digestive-health/foods-that-cause-excessive-gas.aspx about excessive gas.

You might be having problems with the broccoli, cauliflower, bananas, and apples. Personally, I eat a similar diet, although with much more variety, and I rarely produce much gas. Your body can adapt to a new diet and get better at digesting the foods you eat. It just takes time.

[Colleen Roy]

I almost banned my husband from the house the first few weeks! It was AWFUL. Fortunately, it seems to have subsided-or at least lessened. We are five days into our second whole 30 and there haven't been any issues. Hang in there-and get your family some gas masks in the mean time...

[missmary]

are you eating the cauliflower and broccoli raw? Steaming these should help a bunch.

Also, I wonder about 2-3 fruits as snacks several times throughout the day. Not related to the gass issue (as far as I know), but unless you are recovering from a workout your snacks should be as balanced as your meals, just smaller. Include some protein and fat along with some nice veg and occasionally fruit.

[Adagio]

Digestive enzymes help with this.

[ucjustin]

Thank you all.

Tom - Thanks for the link and info. I hardly eat any of the foods on that list, and I have always eaten this many fruits daily, if not more. It would be a pain to remove the broccoli and cauliflower, which are my biggest volume vegetable. I'm sad to hear you suspect me as still in an adjustment phase and needing more time... This is, after all, the last day of the Whole30. I'd like to continue, but how many more days would the body need? This hasn't been going on throughout the entire diet. It's been predominantly the last 2 weeks.

Colleen - Glad to hear I'm not alone... Were there any temporarily solutions you found?

Missmary - I steam/boil all my broccoli and cauliflower. Eating meat every snack isn't quite an option on my budget. The best I can do is include some tuna, but time-wise, that's all I can put together. I'm already spending grotesque amounts of time and money sustaining the Whole30, and on my return to college, I'm not quite sure how to keep it up. But thank you for the thought.

Adagio - Any recommendations...?

[Adagio]

Whole30 recommends Now Super Enzymes.

I use a different brand - specifically for celiacs.

[Laura B]

My gas/bloating issues have severely subsided since going whole30 and I credit that to cutting out artificial sweetners, dairy and STRESS!

Sorry to hear yours has picked up, it's really annoying! I have been taking digestive enzymes, so maybe that is what is helping me a lot. I would cut down some of the fruit as well.

[BethannM]

I would ditch the eggs, broccoli, and cauliflower and maybe bananas and see if it gets better. If it does, then follow the reintroduction process---add one back in for one day while still eating Whole30 compliant...monitor and document for three days...wait till end of the week and add in one of the other foods, do the same, etc.

I found out that coconut causes this for me. I was very sad to find this out, as I was using coconut and coconut milk every day! Coconut oil seems to be okay for me, but not the milk or coconut flour. It's a matter of trial and error to find the culprit. But persistent gas means something isn't quite right, so it's worth it to figure out what it is and eliminate that food!

[ucjustin]

Laura B - Well, I'm honestly glad for you. That's 2 votes for digestive enzymes... I couldn't see any on the shelfs at WalMart, but I'll keep my eyes open. Granted, I don't really know what I'm looking for. Will "DIGESTIVE ENZYME" be slapped across the bottle, or is it some other dumb title?

BethannM - I like this advice a lot... I will likely give it a shot. It would methodically narrow it down. Sorry for your coconut aversion.

----

----

My thoughts thus far:

- Still not sure why this is starting now, late in the Whole30, and not early.

- The idea of having to "supplement" a perfectly good dietary lifestyle with an enzyme seems counter-intuitive, but grumblegrumble...

- I doubt it's fruits. I've always eaten 5-6 fruits daily, and it's never been problem before.

- Based on accidental food removal, I'd say Broccoli and Cauliflower might be big culprits after all. This agrees with what many of you said, so thanks...

- I've been having loads of chicken and eggs lately. Since I've always had eggs, though, I might lend some blame to chicken.

[hobbitgirl]

OK...I've noticed an increase in tooting, and the smell too and I'm just on day 20 today. Also, I'm suddenly a little constipated again. I had been VERY regular for about a week, and then the breaks came on (but I'm not sure if that's because the tide is in). So, I'm thinking that the constipation may be part of the issue.

How regular are you?

[Ifjewel]

I "accidentally" ate some chia seeds twice last week. I'm on day 23 and not going back, BTW. I thought seeds were ok, but now I know. Anyhow, I blew up! So much gas pain and inflammation, I was shocked. I never considered myself food sensitive, but after 23 days, it is easy to see that I am.

Have you been eating seeds?

[Laura B]

Laura B - Well, I'm honestly glad for you. That's 2 votes for digestive enzymes... I couldn't see any on the shelfs at WalMart, but I'll keep my eyes open. Granted, I don't really know what I'm looking for. Will "DIGESTIVE ENZYME" be slapped across the bottle, or is it some other dumb title?

Right now I have the Super Enzymes and it says it clearly across the bottle. The label is bright orange (all Now Foods labels are, though). I got these at Whole Foods. I did use a different kind and I don't recall the name, but I got them at a health shop. I don't know if GNC would have them, but you could call and ask. If there are any small health food stores they will probably have them. There are some shops around here called "Good Nutrition" that are stockpiled with different dietary supplements. You could also order them from Amazon.

Good luck! I hope it gets better, I hate gas.

[ucjustin]

Hobbitgirl - Very regular. Never been a problem. Sorry you're experiencing both. My main solution for everything is to drink more water, so maybe...?

lfjewel - No seeds for me, unless I miss the occasional ones in apples or something. I remember Chia seeds being a bloody pain back when I took them in Cross Country season; it threw everyone's system outta whack. But, er, I imagine a reaction that sudden would be a good sign to stay off them for the time being. Sorry...

LauraB - Thanks for the tip!

[RevKT]

Could this also be yeast die off? Most of us have too much yeast in our systems and on a clean diet without sugars which yeast feed on to live, they start to die off and can cause bloating and gas. Just another possibility. When that happened,to me I took probiotics, especially plain Keifer, but you would need to find something Whole30 or at least Paleo approved.

[tjarus]

I'd like to regenerate this thread as I am currently experiencing this problem. This is my second Whole 30. Did one a year ago and stay have remained about 90% compliant. Felt like doing a reset for the purpose of knocking out some potential bad habits. I felt great after about 6 weeks of my first Whole 30 and have felt great since then. No GI issues. Until now with about 1 week left to go. I feel bloated, constipated and have the nasty smelly farting issue. Other than stopping the foods that are not compliant, I've been eating the same as I have throughout the year.

So it's been a few months since this thread stopped - I was wondering how others with the problem are doing now. How long did it take to go away and what changes did you make? I generally have this issue in the evening and when I get up in the morning have a bowel movement, I'm generally OK until evening again.

Thanks for any advice.

[penotti]

I would ditch the eggs, broccoli, and cauliflower and maybe bananas and see if it gets better. If it does, then follow the reintroduction process---add one back in for one day while still eating Whole30 compliant...monitor and document for three days...wait till end of the week and add in one of the other foods, do the same, etc.

I found out that coconut causes this for me. I was very sad to find this out, as I was using coconut and coconut milk every day! Coconut oil seems to be okay for me, but not the milk or coconut flour. It's a matter of trial and error to find the culprit. But persistent gas means something isn't quite right, so it's worth it to figure out what it is and eliminate that food!

I would like to resurrect this topic again, since i'm dealing with gassy issues for at least the last week. Has anyone else experienced this? And with coconut milk?

Currently i'm testing if it's garlic that causes this, but I was also eating garlic already before the whole30.

So, possible suspects:

- nuts

- garlic & onion

- coconut milk

- eggs

[30Canandaigua]

https://www.marksdailyapple.com/flatulence-foes-and-fixes/

I found this article about flatulence to be most interesting. MY HUSBAND BLOWS ME AWAYYYYY

[KAE8886]

https://www.marksdailyapple.com/flatulence-foes-and-fixes/

I found this article about flatulence to be most interesting. MY HUSBAND BLOWS ME AWAYYYYY

Thanks so much for the help! Clicking through your link I also found this article on Marks Daily Apple: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/flatulence-foes-and-fixes/#axzz2tE6g0YJN Check it out, it might help your husband.

 

I seen now that many of the things I ate yesterday were on the list of things that may cause problems: onions, leeks, garlic.

 

The onions and garlic were fairly cooked, but the leeks were frozen when I put them in the pan and just barely softened. That might have been it. Will have to test. 

[Heather Smith]

Just wanted to add to this thread since I'm having this issue for the first time. This is my 5th W30, but the first one where I've experienced excessive gas/farting and it is horrifically stinky. I read the MDA article above as well as one about FODMAPs from Chris Kresser. I started journaling my foods, and it seems like it is foods containing fructans that are the culprit. I wonder what would suddenly cause me to be sensitive to these foods and if I eliminate them for a time while my gut heals, I wonder if I could add them back. I also am curious if I should try a low-FODMAP diet, or if just eliminating the fructans will help. Has anyone experienced success with adding Super Enzymes? Any suggestions on how best to heal my gut? I wonder if a recent course of antibiotics a couple of months ago could have caused my gut bacteria to get out of whack, making me sensitive to these foods....here's the chart from Chris Kresser's article showing which foods contain which FODMAP ingredients.

http://www.ibsgroup.org/brochures/fodmap-intolerances.pdf

[JacLav]

I second what Heather Smith said. I am avid FODMAP avoider. I have IBS and have continued to avoid FODMAP's on the Whole30. I am on day 18 and the gas and bloating have become horrendous. Part of the reason I'm doing this Whole30 is for the bloating and gas to go away. I work out really hard, I have strong ab muscles, yet the bloating makes all of that hard work pointless. I'm really sad about his. Since my diagnosis at 16, I've noticed that the healthier my diet is the more gas I have. 

[Chaws]

I finished W30 but experienced increased amounts of gas and smelliness as I progressed, until I could relate with ucjustin's original post for this forum. After reading through this forum and links, I quickly eliminated all fruits, dried fruit, carb-dense veggies, onions, garlic, jicama, cabbage, and anything else listed in the FODMAP link. The odorous and frequent gas subsided within 24 hours, and now I am reintroducing to see what's up. I know this is an old post, but it has been helpful to me, so I'll keep posting as I learn more about these foods and what I discover.

[SugarcubeOD]

5 hours ago, Chaws said:

I finished W30 but experienced increased amounts of gas and smelliness as I progressed, until I could relate with ucjustin's original post for this forum. After reading through this forum and links, I quickly eliminated all fruits, dried fruit, carb-dense veggies, onions, garlic, jicama, cabbage, and anything else listed in the FODMAP link. The odorous and frequent gas subsided within 24 hours, and now I am reintroducing to see what's up. I know this is an old post, but it has been helpful to me, so I'll keep posting as I learn more about these foods and what I discover.

Glad you found this old post (we love it when people google and search the forum to find old (definitely still relevant) information and you're welcome to continue to post here and let us know what you found as it will most likely end up helping someone else down the road!

[Laurena25]

I am having the same problem - I think it's the wheat withdrawal 

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2013/09/surviving-wheat-withdrawal/

[Foot]

This has been a constant issue for all of my life. Last summer, I was able to nail down FODMAPs, particularly the polyols, as my #1 culprit. Apples, sweet potatoes, peaches, watermelon, cherries, celery, cauliflower, garlic, onions, leeks are all bad bad news for me. I cut them out completely, then began to eat itty bits of them occasionally and did okay. Now on the Whole30 (day 10), my belly is like a sulfuric bubbling cauldron which keeps me up at night. Cauliflower and garlic and onions are such staples in many recipes, but they are going to have to go. Plus tree nuts are out (allergy), so that is limiting. It stinks. Literally. 

But through that whining I would like to say: FODMAPs! I've tried a bunch of diets based on food sensitivity tests, etc., and thus far, that has been the most successful one for me. So I'd encourage other people to give it a Google and check it out!