Do potatoes cause gas and why does it make your stomach swell?

You eat your usual dishes slowly, chewing your food thoroughly, and after 20 minutes you feel like you are bloated like a balloon. The belt puts pressure on your stomach or it seems that your skirt has suddenly become too small. Is this a familiar picture? It looks like you are suffering from flatulence. And it is caused by familiar foods, for example, potatoes.

Today we’ll figure out why potatoes make your stomach swell. How to find out the causes of flatulence, get rid of the unpleasant condition and other useful information - in our article.

Symptoms of flatulence

Flatulence is bloating due to an abundance of intestinal gases. Food in the intestines “gets stuck” and begins to rot, and the beneficial microbes that digest it cannot cope with this process.

Symptoms of flatulence are pronounced:

1. Passing gas, sometimes uncontrollably, more than 21 times a day.
2. Abdominal bloating, increased volume and rumbling.
3. Dull, aching, cramping pain in the abdomen can be localized near the navel, in the hypochondrium (left or right), in the very bottom of the abdomen, radiating to the lower back. The pain goes away after the gas passes.
4. Constipation or diarrhea.
5. Belching, nausea, bad breath that does not go away after brushing your teeth.
6. Lack of appetite.

Causes

Since increased gas formation is caused by a certain set of foods, the main cause of flatulence is a violation of dietary rules.

Other causes of flatulence:

• dysbacteriosis;
• disruption of digestive processes in the intestines;
• decreased motor activity of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT);
• excess gas-forming bacteria in the intestines;
• impaired intestinal excretory function;
• diseases that provoke increased formation of gases: enzymatic deficiency, dyspepsia, pancreatitis, intoxication, condition after surgery, scleroderma (connective tissue disease);
• disturbance of the psycho-emotional state (hysteria, tic, neurosis);
• increased pressure in the gastrointestinal tract when ascending to altitude;
• aerophagia - the entry of a large amount of air into the body during conversations while eating, eating, smoking, drinking carbonated drinks, candy, chewing gum.

What foods can cause bloating and gas:

If you eat these foods regularly, in addition to eating fatty foods every day and eating large portions 1-2 times a day, the load on the gastrointestinal tract increases, and increased gas formation is guaranteed.

Why can potatoes swell?

Gases from potatoes occur due to the high starch content in them. Starch is digested into sugars, which are poorly absorbed by the intestines, create an astringent effect, and tract peristalsis decreases. Leftover food moves through the intestines less easily, and it is more difficult for beneficial microorganisms to act on them. All conditions for bloating are created.

How to prevent the problem

No matter how healthy tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini are, no one will eat less potatoes. This is due to both the favorite taste and the low price.

Attention! Cook and eat potatoes correctly, then they will benefit the body.

Helpful Tips:

1. Least starch in boiled potatoes and pureed. It is better to make puree with water, without oil and eggs. Next in terms of usefulness comes potatoes baked in the oven or boiled in their jackets.
2. It is best to leave the potatoes in cold water overnight before cooking. By morning there will be a minimum of harmful starch.
3. You can keep the already prepared dish in the cold for 24 hours, it will contain more so-called healthy starch. These potatoes can be heated and eaten or added to a salad.
4. You need to add vinegar to potato salads. It will act as a kind of defoamer for gases in the intestines. Or eat ready-made potatoes with vinegar-based sauce - the effect is the same.

The healthiest potato variety is purple. It contains a maximum of beneficial anthocyanins - plant pigments that have antioxidant properties (protecting cells from aging, inflammatory processes and cancer).

What to do if your stomach is already swollen and swollen after eating potatoes

It is not so easy to establish on your own that your stomach is swollen because of potatoes. To know this for sure, you need to use the method of elimination. For example, remove potatoes from your diet altogether. If there are no signs of flatulence within 2-3 days, it means that the swelling is definitely from potatoes.

Folk remedies

Before turning to medications, you should try to eliminate the problem with environmentally friendly folk remedies that are harmless to the body:

1. Infusion of fennel or dill seeds. Pour 200 ml of boiling water over a teaspoon of seeds, leave for 20 minutes, strain. Drink 200 ml before meals for 10 days, then take a break of 7 days and repeat another course.
2. Parsley infusion. Take a bunch of parsley, chop the leaves, pour a liter of boiling water, leave for 8 hours. Strain the solution. Drink half a glass after meals.
3. Tea with ginger and mint. Take a teaspoon of mint leaves and chopped ginger root. Pour 250 ml of boiling water, leave for 30 minutes under the lid, strain. Drink before every meal.
4. Tea with chamomile, St. John's wort or sage, a decoction of pumpkin seeds and bird cherry fruits, plantain leaves and coltsfoot. However, it should be remembered that all infusions and medicinal teas can cause complications for the body. Therefore, it is advisable to consult with your doctor before using them.

Medicines

Attention! Do not forget that you cannot take medications without a doctor’s prescription and consultation.

What the doctor can prescribe:

1. Sorbents – drugs that absorb toxins and harmful substances formed in the intestines. These include Enterosgel, activated carbon, Smecta, Polysorb.
2. Defoamers – products that eliminate increased gas formation: “Espumizan”, “Simethicone”, “Mezim Forte”.
3. Antispasmodics – drugs that eliminate cramps during bloating: “Buscopan”, “Drotaverine”.
4. Enzymes – products that improve digestion and eliminate flatulence: “Pancreatin”, “Festal”, “Creon”.
5. Pro- and prebiotics will help with dysbiosis: "Linex", "Bifiform", "Bifidumbacterin" and others.

Let's sum it up

To eat or not to eat potatoes, everyone decides for themselves or with a doctor. Potatoes cause gas if cooked and consumed incorrectly.It is necessary to give up this vegetable when the doctor determines that the cause of flatulence was potatoes and it can no longer be consumed.

Increased gas formation is not a disease, but a symptom of many diseases, poor diet and lifestyle. Medicines or folk remedies selected by a specialist will help you get rid of discomfort in the stomach.