If You’re Afraid of Gas, You Don’t Know Beans

We know that beans are a super food that benefit areas such as gut health, cholesterol, and blood sugar control. Did you know that three of the four foods highest in antioxidants are in fact beans? This means that they actually ARE good for your heart, lol.  

Eating some kind of beans or legumes daily has been shown to lower overall cholesterol levels as well. Part of this is because 1/2 cup contains a whopping 6-8 grams of fiber.  

But despite these massive health benefits (and flavor!), many may avoid them due to the idea that they always make you gassy. But this idea, although totally understandable, is just full of hot air.  

Managing the Side Effects of Eating Beans

Unfortunately, a normal process of digesting beans is the unwanted side effect of gas. But the good news there are ways to minimize this natural side effect.

If you don’t have beans that often, your body is more likely to respond to that wonderful fiber by producing gas. However, scientists have actually studied flatulence and bean consumption (what a job!), and found in this study that as you have beans more regularly, the excessive gas side effect goes away. It’s like your body gets used to the higher levels of fiber in your gut.

If you want to incorporate more beans in your diet — and you probably should — the key is to add them in gradually. This allows the body to have an adjustment phase and not produce as much gas. Start with around 1/3 of a cup every (or most) day(s); then work up from there. 

Some People Get Gas and Others Just Don’t

In another outcome of the study above, researchers found that not all beans affected people the same. Some were more affected by one but not another. Around 12% of participants has zero effect at all! 

So the bottom line is that beans are an amazing super food that are cheap and easy to prepare in about a hundred ways. Plus, given that excessive gas is a temporary side effect that can be minimized over time, it’s definitely worth having them every day!