Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Hiya PPK. I've recently decided to become vegan (recent like...within the last week) and I've been eating lots of beans and tofu rather than meat. I've also been consuming more vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc. and started drinking a glass of kombucha every day. I'm honestly just trying to be healthier and more ethical. Buuuut I haven't been able to sleep because of this HUGE gas bubble in my stomach.

Is this something anyone else experienced when they first gave up animal products? How long did it last? Is there anyway to reduce the bloating?

ETA: Nevermind. I found a few threads on the topic. But garsh, I hope this gas goes away quickly!

Fart. Fart a lot. Fart loudly and proudly. You're a vegan now.

HA! It's true. Changing the way you eat does result in the changing of your bowl movements. At least you'll be way more regular!

About how long will this bubbliness last?

For us, seitan was the major culprit (but I was already used to eating beans and soy at least once a week). It got much better after a week or two, but it took a lot longer before our intestines adjusted completely. I think now, about a year later, the fartiness is back to pregan/vegetarian levels (but maybe we just got used to farting more...).

I think it's mostly because of the higher fiber content in your food. Also I think the intestinal flora may need some time to adjust to digesting all those plant proteins.

Beans have a special fart potential that you can supposedly reduce by soaking the dry beans for 24 hours in lots of extra water (changing the water at least once), rinsing them well en then cooking them with lots of extra water too. I've never noticed much difference between this method and soaking and cooking them with less water, but some people swear by it. Sprouting the beans before use is also supposed to make them more easily digestible.

Good luck and like lepelaar said, try to take some pride and joy in the extra gas coming from your behind! (But swollen belly is definitely very uncomfortable, so I hope it passes soon.)

Make sure you really up your water intake, too. Digesting fiber uses a lot more water than digesting what you used to be eating.

Kombucha has cultures that improve digestion BUT is also carbonated so the bubbles might not be helping the gas. Make sure you chew thoroughly and eat slowly. Maybe all the yummy vegan food is making you Nom it too fast. :)

Drink lots of water!

It might also help to pay attention to which foods cause more gassiness. My gut can tolerate chickpeas and navy beans just fine, but pinto beans give me gas. I love refried beans in Mexican food, so I prepare for this by using digestive enzyme capsules. Beano isn't vegan but there are alternatives like Bean-zyme and Say Yes To Beans.

Drinking peppermint tea after meals can help to relieve gas and upset stomach, but isn't recommended for people with chronic heartburn or GERD. Use hot water to brew the tea as boiling water can destroy the volatile oils. There are also enteric coated peppermint oil capsules but I haven't been able to find ones that are not made with a gelatin capsule.

For some reason I've been eating black beans like they're going out of style and drinking a lot of iced green or orange pekoe tea. I LOVE candied ginger and ginger candy so I've been eating that also, which seems to help. It really stinks not being able to go to the store and find some beano that I can take.

I remember I soaked the beans overnight, but not for 24 hours. I'll have to try that next time. Thanks!

I second peppermint tea but I loooove ginger tea as well, that always helps me. I have a very sensitive stomach and pretty much get yucky after any beans or avocado. Lots of water and also a bit of apple cider vinegar sometimes in water can help.


Ahhh thats a great tip, hope that helps me! I'm currently soaking my first dried black beans in the crock pot, but next time I'll have to keep this in mind. (Been a canned beans girl for too long, now that I know about BPA in cans, nevermore.)

(except for kidneys and cannellinis, cause they become poisonous when sprouted)

Cooking beans with a strip of kombu is said to help with the gassiness effect.

I did not know this! Thank you so much for sharing supercarrot! I probably would have unknowingly poisoned myself and the hubs.

i do what i can. :-)

This sounds like how I felt when I had a not yet diagnosed gallbladder infection. It is probably just gas and will go away, but if it doesn't make sure to get yourself checked out!

Oops, didn't know that either! Thankfully I never tried sprouting them. Thanks for the heads up!

I think kombucha can cause gas. You might want to lay off of it until your body gets used to the increased amount of fiber from the other changes.

Here is an article I wrote about what you can do to live with legumes
http://beforewisdom.com/blog/cooking/beans-2/

also, are you constipated? i get really gassy if i'm constipated. oatmeal every morning helps.

yes drink tons of water and fart a lot!

it will take awhile for your body to adjust to eating so many beans if you werent previously.
just think of farts as your digestive tracts way of saying "gee im so happy!! toot toot!"

Are you eating a lot of whole grains too? Assuming that you are eating a lot more fiber than before, I think it's just the transition to a high fiber diet. I think it's best to ease into any major dietary change, and when going vegan, the easiest way to ease into a high fiber diet is to eat only refined grains, and slowly introduce whole grains. Eventually, you will (probably) get used to it (if the bloating doesn't go away despite being more careful about how much fiber you're eating, it could be a food allergy).

When I went vegan, I had a lot of those problems too. I think it was the beans, tofu and lentils (I eat a LOT of lentils)

I bought a vegan version of Beano which is a supplement you can take to help with gas. It’s a natural enzyme. I couldn't find the exact one online I bought at my local health store, but here is one that has a vegan version: http://www.bean-zyme.com/

I tell ya, that stuff really helped for me. Of course now I rarely use it, and you will adjust too. Just go to a local health store and ask for a VEGAN version of Beano. They should be able to help. Make sure to say VEGAN. There are lots of sneaky non-vegan or even vegetarian ingredients in vitamins and supplements.

and of course what others have suggested, especially eating a lot of grains. Oh and kombucha gives me gnarly gas sometimes too.