Blender drinks causing gas?

[janem]

I hate to admit this after investing in a blendtec for the ofice and a vitamix at home - but do any of you find that by whipping drinks in the blender you are ingesting more air which causes big gas bubbles?

[BeadedGraces]

i have yet to do a drink/juice in the blender...but while we are on the "gas" subject...if i add brocolli....everyone has to clear the room....:o ...i don't know about the blender theory though...:confused:

[Shuu]

I had gas at first, but it went away. What are you putting in your drinks? Could be one ingredient or a mixture of a few that is causing the bloating, because it wouldn't be the air.

Also, try chewing your smoothies. By mixing the drink with your saliva, the breakdown process is already starting before it hits the stomach, therefore making it more easily digestible.

[Revvell]

What Shuu said.

[janem]

thanks for the responses!! Todays smoothie was 1/2 cantelope, parsley, and aloe

[Eva]

Hmmmm could be the canteloupe. Melons are usually best eaten alone. Have you tried something different as your fruit -- like bananas or oranges or ANYthing other than a melon??

[Arky]

1) Definitely ensalivate each mouthful thoroughly, as Shuu remarked. Not doing this is a huge mistake which many people make (myself included) when they first start with smoothies and juices.

2) Avoid adding too much fruit to your green smoothies. Although I like the taste of adding a banana to my kale smoothies, I actually prefer, from experience, to avoid adding any fruit whatsoever. I find I can digest it much more smoothly without fruit.

3) Don't drink more than a pint at a time - many people get so enthusiastic about how easily they can cram large amounts of greens into their diets, by blending them into smoothies, that they lose sight of the fact that, even in blended form, the greens still require digestion. The stomach can only handle just so much at one time, even if it has been blended, so drinking too great a quantity of smoothie can put strain on your digestive system. Another smoothie issue, which goes hand in hand with the quantity issue, is that in order to get a smoothie to blend well, one needs to add some fluid. The problem here is that adding liquid to your greens has the effect of diluting your digestive enzymes - you wouldn't add fluid to your greens if you were eating them in the conventional manner, would you? Brian Clement is one well known commentator who is keen to point this out, but he is not alone in this stance.

In addition to these geenral precautions, you can try taking an HCL (Betaine Hydrochloride) tablet with each smoothie and/or an enzyme tablet/capsule.


J.

[Arky]

Just read back over your post and noticed you are blending half a cantaloupe per smoothie - everyone is entitled to their own food choices, but personally, I believe that is WAY too much fruit for a smoothie. A far healthier way would, frankly, be to reverse those proportions so that the majority of the smoothie is greens. Given the huge amount of fruit you are adding to your smoothies, the reason you are experiencing 'gas' issues is 99% certain to simply be fermentation of the copious quantities of fructose, which are being released with considerable speed in the gut, due to the cell walls of the fruit being ruptured in the blender. Don't just take my word for it - even Victoria Boutenko, who has popularly promoted the benefits of green smoothies over the past couple of years, began recommending a proportion of 60% fruit in smoothies, later conceding that this proportion was unsuitably high.


J.

[chilove]

Hi there,

Blending anything always makes me a little gassy! Whole foods are defintely better for our digestion, as are mono meals (eating one thing at a time).

Lots of air in the blended stuff does equal lots more gas!

But blended things are yummy and easy, so the ways to increase their digestibility include:

Chew each bite, even if it is liquid.

DON'T COMBINE MELON WITH ANYTHING ELSE EVER!

Avoid tough greens and veggies like collard, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. For more digestible greens stick to baby spinach, romaine and green and red leaf lettuces

Use less ingredients per recipe.

Blessings!!

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

[Revvell]

I think it's not always the blending of the food as much as gulp it down and gulping air with it.

Hasn't anyone here ever gotten gas before eating raw food? I know I did. It's not ALWAYS about the food. It's what we do with it from the bowl, cup, plate, etc., to our mouths.

[GoingtoRAW]

I think it's not always the blending of the food as much as gulp it down and gulping air with it.

Hasn't anyone here ever gotten gas before eating raw food? I know I did. It's not ALWAYS about the food. It's what we do with it from the bowl, cup, plate, etc., to our mouths.

.....plus I find that the gas goes away. When I first started drinking smoothies or if I stop drinking them for a period of time and then go back to drinking them...I get some gas and diarrhea that lasts for a few days and then I'm fine. How long have you been drinking them?

[Aleesha Sattva]

I think it's not always the blending of the food as much as gulp it down and gulping air with it.

Hasn't anyone here ever gotten gas before eating raw food? I know I did. It's not ALWAYS about the food. It's what we do with it from the bowl, cup, plate, etc., to our mouths.

have i told you lately that you RAWK!!!