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The link between eating beans and excessive flatulence
Why do beans give me flatulence? –Brian
Hello Brian
The reason why some people develop gas after eating beans is because beans are high in resistant starch. Starch is a form of carbohydrate that the body breaks down to glucose during digestion. However, beans have a type of resistant starch as well as a complex sugar called raffinose, that are hard to digest and breakdown.
If the starch remains undigested, fermentation can sometimes occur mediated by bacteria in your digestive system that leads to the production of gas.
This gas production or flatulence from eating beans, however, does not happen in all people. Some will digest the starch better than others.
To reduce the gas-producing effect of beans, soak them in water for 24 hours before cooking. You can also add a pinch of baking soda to the water to help make it alkaline and the starch more digestible.
