Excessive gas, flatulence, bloating, and burping are common and often distressing problems. Often these problems can be controlled with changes to your diet. It may be necessary to use a “trial and error” approach to determine which foods in your diet are the primary culprits. Start by eliminating gas producing foods from your diet for two weeks. Then you may wish to slowly add back certain foods and see if your symptoms worsen. Make sure to eat slowly and chew food carefully. Foods that produce minimal gas include rice, bananas, citrus fruits, grapes, lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, and peanut butter. You may want to try some over the counter remedies for gas such as Gas-X, simethicone, Beano, or activated charcoal. These may be of only limited benefit. Avoid swallowing a lot of air by avoiding gum, smoking, and sipping hot drinks and soups (this is especially important to reduce burping).
Avoid these gas producing foods:
Dairy products, including milk, ice cream, cheese
Soy milk
Beans and nuts
Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, peppers, garlic, lentils
Fruit juice
Apples, peaches, pears
Corn, oats, and bran
Potatoes
Dried fruit and energy bars
Sugar substitutes (Splenda, sucralose, mannitol, sorbitol)
Carbonated drinks and soda
Simple carbohydrates and starches (white bread, cakes, cookies)
Sweets, candy, gum