any gas experts out there? this is embarrassing!!!

[Pitaya]

:o

i cannot believe i am posting this but i am getting desperate, even my colon hydrotherapist can't answer the question, so, i turn to my raw family!

the gas in my belly is N A S T Y. i had my first series of 10 colonics beginning over a month ago now. it started halfway through, this nasty nasty smell, so i thought it was just part of the cleaning process and it would go away with time....it's not!

it is impairing me socially, and i want to approach this with a get-to-the-bottom (pardon pun) solution, not just a patch-up take Beano answer.

what do we think?

is it caused by the colonic????

my diet hasn't changed, nor has vitamin regimen (I only take a b12 tablet), though i do drink more kombucha because i stopped probiotic capsules to see if that was the problem (it wasn't) and now feel i need something in me with same effect.

i have to say, at the raw fest in sedona, it was a smelly smelly crowd at the dance party (the one indoors) - is this a feature of being raw foodist!?!

it's been almost a year for me now .... i'm supposed to be :D not :(
help please?
:confused:

[goobygirl]

Do you practice proper food combining? Might be worth a shot. I have less gas on raw than on cooked. It's almost completely quiet in the house now... ha ha..

[Raw Angel Mom]

Definitely check for food combining but mainly with some fruit. I notice also that banana doesn't go with honey, i have to use raw agave instead.

What i would do, i would take note when those gas occur. Meaning what did you eat before it happened and go from there.

Chew very well your food. Any food not chew well will spoil in our guts especially if this is raw. Also, make sure to digest fully your food before eating something else. I made those change and i haven't have this problem for a while. I still eat gourmet meal. By paying attention, this is how i figure out that i couldn't mix banana with honey, maybe for you this is ok.

Also, therapeudic enzime seems to help for this area and many ways.

I wait minimum half hour sometime more to eat any nuts after a green smoothies.

Best wishes, this is important that you get this undercontrol. Gas is toxic for your system, don't forget to add prohobitic because of your hydro colon.

[Dimond]

Food combining, like everyone is saying, could help. Digestive enzymes with meals.

[Eva]

Do you eat only when hungry? (ie tummy rumbles or otherwise clearly asking for food) Get vigorous exercise several times per week?

And of course, the food combining is important too so I'll wait to see how you answer that one.

I rarely have gas nowadays, but when I do it is always because:

1/I was stuffing my face with food even though not truly hungry. Mostly I do this when I really don't feel like doing my work, and it doesn't happen too often.

2/Bad food combining

3/It's been a few days since I got vigorous exercise.

Now, I USED to be (pre raw) the Queen of Gas only after I got married and started eating more of the meat my Brazilian husband would make. Before that, I had been vegetarian for periods of time and when not eating only a small amount of meat. Sooo... My husband would do this exercise to me where I would lay on my back in bed and he would repeatedly bend my knees and push them forward to my chest. After about 10 minutes of this, the gas would come out like crazy.

I also found peppermint tea to be helpful.

As well, I would sometimes go for a long, hard run even though I was uncomfortable, and I'd be letting out all sorts of gas during the run.

Until raw, I never realized why the gas would happen.

[GingerSpice13]

I would get this problem for a week after each colonic. There didn't seem to be anything I could do but to plan on staying home for the week. My stomach would get big and I left panty burps all over the house and they just seemed to hang in the air forever. I was aftraid to even light a match.

[rawstrength]

Keep getting the colonics until you are all cleaned out.
Ginger, peppermint, cumin, coriander, cilantro and parsley are amazing for helping gas.
If you can't get enzymes, then sip on peppermint tea with honey between meals. The honey has a ton of enzymes and will act like an enzyme pill, just make sure your tea isn't hot when you add the honey.

[Conscious Midwife]

Don't drink with meals.

Avoid lots of talking while eating too.

Embrace the organic aroma therapeutics of your flatulence:p

[Pitaya]

hi everyone, thanks for the insightful and very funny :D responses

i dont' know anything about food combining, and never have. have been 100% raw almost a year now and no trouble before so i wonder if that could be it? of course I will revisit the idea, because i have to try ANYTHING at this point, so thank you.

probiotics: very confused on this issue. and suspect they gave me gas in first place, made the frequency worse to be specific.

sea vegetables: i noticed when i started taking this powder the smell changed, for the worse, but not as bad as it is right now

colonics: they were done a month ago (I did them all together and quick) so that's not contributing anymore

exercise, yes i exercise vigorously and scare all the poor birds away as i ride

honestly i'm a bit discouraged here, despite the comment to embrace the scents....i am a camper, a woodsman, a farm girl and can handle things but this is too much....really confused about what's happening in my body and want to learn more, just not sure where to turn..:confused:

the search continues,
thank you everyone so far and please keep the discussion going : )
we are all learning and walking the raw journey (stinky or not),
together
love and light,
pitaya : )

[Eva]

Pitaya -- what about only eating when genuinely hungry (belly is rumbling, body is really wanting food)?? For example, this was not normal for me, but I was simply not hungry until about 5 PM today! But I'm in the habit of not eating unless I'm hungry. Period. So I just kept drinking some water and just didn't eat. Then, when I ate, I made a pretty simple but big meal and FOCUSED ONLY ON THAT, no rushing to do other things, no reading and eating... just ate it. Then I walked around my apartment a bit cleaning up and putting dishes away. Now I'm not really feeling full or bloated or gassing, just ate enough to no longer be hungry. I think that is key.

I wasn't kidding when I said I used to be the Queen of Gas. Actually, that's how I found raw. I was doing a google search trying to figure out what to do!

A juice or water fast might be useful for you. If you have smelly gas, that means there is something fermenting in your digestive system. That needs to be gone before you add more food. Otherwise, the new food will just ferment on top of the old food...

[annavon]

I use caution with garlic and onions as they can cause me some problems especiall if they are dehydrated. I have a spice blend that has dried garlic and onions in it and I get foul gas every time I use it. I don't have as much problem with the fresh.

Also consider doing a parasite cleanse. I had some parasites as a kid that caused a great deal of odor.

[sarahrjm]

oh my gosh, speaking of gas, when Bend over i feel like im deflating!!!:eek: like LITERALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

im with ya girl!

[carolg]

I am evaluating my homemade kraut to be gas forming. It's fermented of course. Wonder if it's the garlic in it that causes the great flavor but then occasional light gas. Or, maybe it's too much fruit. Right now just observing.

Hardly any, but still don't like the feeling like a bloated ball walking around. I hate when people pass "uncontrolled" gas during an exercise class but then there is the fan going or others around so hard to detect from who. Not often does this happen, but I'm there for the class and not the few deviations to sidetrack my workout.

carolg

[Green_Woman]

Here's a wonderful thread that has some REALLY great "solutions":

http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=45457

[Ilse W.]

I believe that colonics themselves are very bad for our digestive tract. If you need to clean out your system, do water or juice fasts. Colonics get rid of all bacteria and irritate the colon. To find out what gives you gas, eat mono meals. Pick a fruit or vegetable and eat only that for a meal. Then observe its effect. Take notes and eliminate all offending foods from your diet. Check into correct food combining once you know your "safe" foods, which is really very simple. Stay away from all the wonderful sounding "gourmet" raw meals. They have too many ingredients. Also you might want to take some probiotics until you have replaced the "good" bacteria the colonics destroyed.

[snoops]

hmmm. Shouldn' t feed the trolls.

[ShantiLove]

Im in with Emma that im not a fan of colonics either. They can upset the digestive track and cause problems.
A good kind of probiotics, enzymes (if you stomac agrees with them), and eat simple. Ex. only use one kind of fruit, one kind of greens in your GS, and make simple meals. Cut down on the sugary things, except honey or dates (in a balanced way). Food combining too.
I belive that probiotics are essencial here, but start out with a small dosage and work your way up, otherwise your body gets overloaded. Find a good kind of probiotics. Many kind are loades with all kind of funny stuff. A basis one with billions of bacteria is the one to use (ex. udos/flora or NDS has a good one).
Be gentle on your colon ;) there are more nervecells in the colon than in the brain, and that makes it really sensitive. The gut is the basis of our health, so keep it well :D
So if you want to clean out use green juice fasting or the like.
Papaya and pineapple has some great enzymes that is great for gas and burping. Peppermint might help with the bloating too.

[rawviveyourself]

maybe the colonics stirred things up, but they haven't fully left the building, so to speak?

i would drink lots of water, get a nice, slow deep abdominal massage.

take a look at enzymes with meals (i recommend Loomis brand or the ones Alyssa sells on her site), and watch food combining. then when you feel your body is ready, maybe think about doing a detox or fast.

maybe look for an acupuncturist, as your descriptions paint a very specific picture and a good acupunturist will definitely be able to help you. (but be forewarned, most acupuncturists do not agree that a raw diet is healthy)

[4forme]

I realize I am chiming in a little late at this point but I wanted to offer another suggestion.
I have had aweful, AWEFUL, gas my whole young adult and adult life! I was diagnosed with IBS, Fibro. and a bunch of other stuff the Drs just say when they can't figure out the real problem.
But I finally found out the real cause about 1 1/2 yrs ago! I have multiple food sensativities and a Leaky Gut! When I took out those foods causing irritation, the gas dissappeared almost completely! It can also be caused by Candida overgrowth. Now that I have found what foods cause the gas, I am more aware of other things that are gassy for me too. For instance, everytime I dehydrate things, I get terrible smelly gas! Couldn't figure it out, always tried differetn recipes and left out all my intolerances. Well, come to find out, it's the flax! Who knew. So, I stay away from that and am fine!
Someone mentioned tracking what you eat and noting when you have the gas. That's a very helpful tool to identify and specific foods. It will usually be the meal before or 2 meals before that causes it.
Hoe you find a solution, it certainly is an aweful thing to suffer with. There is hope, don't give up. And I don't necassarily subscribe to the theory of raw foods being gas producing, because I am free from it when I eat right for me. Hope this helps, good luck!