What is Gas and Bloating?

Gas is the release of air from either the mouth or rectum. Bloating occurs when gas fills the abdomen and the area appears distended.

What causes Gas and Bloating?

There are different ways that intestinal gas is produced. People normally swallow small amounts of air while drinking and eating. Sometimes, an excessive amount of air is swallowed, either while talking too much while eating, eating too rapidly or drinking carbonated beverages. This can create an odourless rectal gas that is high in nitrogen and oxygen.

Gas can also form in the upper stomach and cause belching.  Foods, if not broken down properly, can also cause intestinal gas through bacterial fermentation in the colon. This gas, composed of methane and hydrogen sulfide, gives off the familiar foul odour that is similar to rotten eggs.

What are the signs and symptoms of Gas and Bloating?

After eating, the following symptoms can occur:

• Belching
• Flatulence
• Swelling of the abdomen

How common is Gas and Bloating?

Everyone passes gas to some degree, but if we are not breaking down our foods properly, then foul smelling gas can become a much more embarrassing problem.

What health problems are caused by Gas and Bloating?

Social embarrassment is usually the most common consequence of gas. There is also the fact that clothes do not always fit properly if bloating occurs.

Excessive gas can also be a sign of some more serious gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. It might indicate pancreatic insufficiency, or it could be a sign of candida or parasites.

What can be done to help with Gas and Bloating?

The first thing you need to figure out is what is causing your gas and bloating. Are there specific foods that set you off? Most people find that vegetarian foods such as raw vegetables and beans are what affect them the most. 

If your gas and bloating occur after consuming other types of foods, you will need to look below to find out which enzyme product would work best for you.

• GasSTOP - if you have gas or bloating after consuming cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower) or beans  

•  LactoZYME - if you have gas or bloating after consuming dairy products. 

• DigestMORE - if you have gas or bloating after consuming large meals, specific foods (i.e. proteins) or after combining proteins with carbohydrates. 

• DigestMORE ULTRA - if you have gas or bloating after all meals, regardless of food type or size of meal. 

• DigestMORE HCl - if you have gas and bloating accompanied by heartburn and acid reflux caused by low stomach acid.

What causes Enzyme Deficiency?

• Lack of vitamins, minerals and electrolytes which the body requires to make enzymes. This is caused by poor dietary choices.
• Age- over time the body begins to produce fewer enzymes.
• Enzymes naturally occuring in food are destroyed when heated above 47 degrees celcius.
• Processed foods contain very few, if any, enzymes.
• Exposure to air and light (limp and pale looking vegetables are enzyme depleted).
• Fluoridated water paralyses enzymes.