Gas
Don’t Let Gas Ruin Your Marriage
Everyone produces gas, but not everyone experiences it the same. Some people make excessive quantities, while others find the smell extremely embarrassing. We have heard from a few readers who say thi…
Metformin (Glucophage) Side Effects & Compl…
The fascinating compound called metformin was discovered nearly a century ago. Scientists realized that it could lower blood sugar in an animal model (rabbits) as early as 1929, but it wasn't until th…
How Can You Prevent Gas When You Eat Beans?
If you are cooking foods that store well, chances are you're eating more beans. That's not a bad thing; beans have lots of fiber and are very nutritious. As you might guess, though, there's one disadv…
Can Taking a Probiotic Product Help You Sleep Be…
If you have heard about taking a probiotic product, a pill or beverage containing millions or billions of beneficial bacteria, chances are you were thinking about digestive health. Some people take su…
What Should You Know About Flatulence?
Do you have problems with intestinal gas? You can't really discuss such a topic in polite society. It may even be too embarrassing to ask your doctor about gas, with its attendant noise and odor. What…
Pepto-Bismol May Rescue Wedding Guest
If you have ever suffered from stinky gas, you may be relieved to learn that a common OTC medicine, Pepto-Bismol, can help. You may think of it for food poisoning or travelers' diarrhea (Digestive Dis…
Excessive Flatulence Creates Challenges
Flatulence-aka gas-is an embarrassing problem. It can't be broached in polite conversation, and many patients are reluctant to bring it up during a doctor visit. Nonetheless, excessive flatulence is t…
Nurse Endorses Coffee to Stimulate Bowels After …
Anyone who has had abdominal surgery knows that the surgical team won’t let you leave the hospital until you fart. The passage of gas demonstrates that your digestive tract has started working again…
Can You Use Activated Charcoal to Fight Flatulen…
Have you ever wished you had a good way to fight flatulence? Sometimes changing your diet to include more legumes and green vegetables like cabbage or broccoli can backfire. Of course, you will probab…
What Happened to Cod Liver Oil as a Home Remedy?
The origin of many a home remedy is lost in the mists of time. Usually we don't have a good record of who started using it or when, and we also rarely have information on when and how it falls out of …
Why Do Beans Make You Fart?
Nutrition experts are constantly encouraging all of us to eat more vegetables. People who eat the most produce are about 15 percent less likely than those who eat the least to develop heart disease an…
Will Probiotics Cut Gas from Drinking Milk?
Many of us struggle with smelly gas, known more technically (and perhaps more politely) as flatulence. Sometimes the culprit is a medication that is causing the trouble. But people trying to control f…
How Can You Overcome Gas from Metformin?
Sometimes even helpful medications have side effects that are difficult to tolerate. For example, metformin is a first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes. It even has benefits beyond blood sugar. In a…
How to Use Fennel Seeds for Embarrassing Gas
Gas, known technically as flatulence, is an inevitable result of human digestion. Excessive gas is a problem, though, and it is one that can be quite a challenge. One reader learned to use fennel seed…
Why is the FODMAP Diet Gaining Converts?
No doubt you have heard of a lot of diets over the years from Atkins and Zone to Ornish and South Beach. We'll bet you have never heard of the FODMAP diet. It just might be your ticket to digestive d…
How to Track Down the Cause of Smelly Gas
Even though all of us produce gas every day, most of the time this natural process doesn't cause any undue shame or alarm. When the amount increases to the point that we notice it, however, we start l…
Home Remedies for Flatulence Please!
This is the time of year that people often experience a variety of digestive disasters. You never quite know what surprise awaits you after a potluck dinner or a party with friends or family. We are c…
How to Fight Post-Holiday Flatulence with Fennel…
We can never forget the delicious Thanksgiving stuffing a friend served several years ago. It was fantastic, but a few hours later we were overwhelmed with flatulence. Whatever was in that stuffing ha…
Healthy Foods Foster Flatulence: How To Prevent …
Q. I am trying to eat healthier by eating less meat and more vegetables, but I am not yet a vegetarian. I have noticed that on the days I have a meatless meal, for example eggplant, zucchini and brocc…
Is Your Healthy Diet Turning You Into A Social O…
Diet and fitness experts are creating a class of healthy outcasts--people you wouldn't want to mingle with after meals. Their enthusiasm for grains, beans, fruits and vegetables is commendable, but fr…
Ambien Can Trigger Bad Heartburn Along with Slee…
Q. Doctors believe Ambien is a relatively benign sleeping pill, but it wreaked havoc with my stomach. The bloating was the worst, followed closely by the acid reflux and extreme eructation (burping be…
Will Flatulence Lead to Failing Grade?
Q. I have uncontrollable gas, and it sucks! Being in my last year of high school, I have exams. That can mean a fail for me because I don't turn up due to my tummy issues. I'm afraid to go to school a…
Where To Find Flatulence Activator?
Q. Where can I find the Flatulence Activator? I saw something on TV about a cushion you can sit on that will trap odors from intestinal gas. My sister suffers terribly with this problem and I would lo…
Simple Seed Solved Gas Problem
Fennel seeds were known to ancient Chinese healers as a "wind-dispelling herb." That's a nice way of saying fennel was good for flatulence. Many readers also report that this and other herbs have hel…
Embarrassing Gas Is Ruining Life
Q. For the past few years I have had the most disgusting problem with gas. I work in an office and this problem is extremely embarrassing. I don't even go to church any more because I never know when …
High-Fiber Bar Leads to Flatulence
Q. If it hadn't happened to me I wouldn't have believed it. Recently several of my friends have reported bouts of extreme stomach cramps, severe bloating and uncontrollable gas. The common culprit in …
Pepto-Bismol to Banish Smelly Gas
Q. I read a question in your column about smelly gas and I have a suggestion. Take a Pepto-Bismol tablet. It helps control that odorous gas. Pepto-Bismol will turn your stool black, but there's no har…
Wife Seeks Solution For Hubby’s Smelly Gas
Q. Someone wrote to you regarding her husband's problem with gas. She found something that worked like a charm, but I can't find the article now. My husband has the smelly kind of gas, not painful or…
Managing Gas
Q. Some time back someone wrote you about a problem with intestinal gases and you recommended a seat cushion to capture the odor. You recommended a place they could order the seat cushion as well as o…
Looking for Cause of Gas
Q. I have been troubled with "sour stomach" throughout my life. Even the tiniest burp smells like sulfurous rotten eggs and can be smelled across large rooms. I also pass huge amounts of foul-smelling…
Pepto-Bismol to De-Odorize Gas
Q. What products are available that can stop the terrible smell of gas when dietary discretion is not enough? A. Pepto-Bismol (bismuth subsalicylate) appears to be effective at reducing hydrogen sulfi…
Are Sugar Substitutes A Culprit For Gas?
Q. You recently had a question about gas from a type 2 diabetes patient. I don't have diabetes, but I have had a similar problem. I have found that sugar substitutes (sucralose and fructose) cause me …
Do NSAIDs Cause Gas?
Q. I am taking naproxen for pain in my lower back, hands and knees. It seems to do the trick for the pain but I am having lots of flatulence. There is probably no connection but I would like to know f…
Getting Rid Of Gas
Q. A lot of my friends are vegetarians. That means social gatherings are heavy on beans, hummus, broccoli and other foods that cause me a great deal of gas. I really suffer afterwards. I cannot avoid …
A Cork Won’t Solve Excessive Gas
Q. I need information about flatulence. I am 92 years old and usually there is no odor when I pass gas. It is loud enough to be heard, though, and I cannot hold it back. This is very embarrassing! Are…
Healthful Diet May Cause Gas
Q. My husband has excessive gas. We eat a very healthy diet and he drinks no soda or carbonated beverages, not even beer. He takes medicine to lower his cholesterol. We eat lots of vegetables but we h…