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Diet for flatulence

Medical expert of the article

Gastroenterologist
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025

A diet for flatulence may have indications for its use in the event of discomfort in the intestines due to excessive gas formation.

These phenomena should not be ignored or ignored, perceiving them as a temporary and minor disruption of the body's functioning, since they can both indicate that there are allergic processes associated with the intake of a particular food, and act as symptomatic factors in the development of some serious disease. The primary measure in the fight against increased gas formation in the intestines should be determining which specific products entering the body during meals provoke such negative consequences. Complete exclusion from the diet of all products capable of having an effect on the body leading to increased gas formation is also a diet for flatulence, a type of it that is distinguished by a particularly categorical and radical nature.

Products that are included in the list of those that can cause excessive accumulation of gases in the intestines include yeast baked goods, bakery products made from bran and wheat flour. Among vegetables and fruits, these include cabbage, onions, radishes, turnips, legumes in all their diversity, pears and soft varieties of apples, peaches, prunes, and apricots. Dairy products (in this case, this is due to the fact that lactose intolerance is noted) and, in addition, soy milk and soy yogurts are also provocateurs of flatulence.

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Treatment of flatulence with diet

The fundamental principle of treating flatulence with diet is the organization of a balanced diet. Despite the fact that compliance with the relevant dietary rules for combating increased gas formation is not associated with a large number of categorical prohibitions on the intake of certain foods, there are a number of products that are highly inadvisable for consumption, or it is prescribed to minimize their content in the diet. When compiling a menu, it is necessary to be guided by the principle of excluding those names, the presence of which can cause a tendency to the occurrence of flatulence in the body.

The list of all undesirable for consumption is represented primarily by those products that contain significant amounts of food additives of unnatural origin, this list also includes products that are incompatible, such as proteins with carbohydrates or sweet and salty. Significant prescribed restrictions also concern legumes, turnips, cabbage, both white and all its other types, milk and dairy products, baked goods made from yeast dough, various types of sweets and highly carbonated soft drinks.

Treatment of flatulence with diet, in order to be effective and ultimately lead to a positive result, should be based on the inclusion in the diet of such foods as vegetables prepared by steaming, baking, boiling or stewing.

When preparing dishes that are acceptable in cases of excessive intestinal gas formation, meat or fish should be of low-fat varieties, and eggs should not be hard-boiled.

In the treatment of flatulence, a positive factor is the consumption of large amounts of liquid. Meals should be heated to a temperature of 50°C, meals should be fractional - from 4 to 5 times during the day, not in too large portions.

What is the diet for flatulence?

For those who want to get rid of excessive gas formation in the intestines, the question of how to organize nutrition and what diet to follow for flatulence becomes relevant.

Dietary prescriptions are primarily reduced to excluding from the menu products, the use of which is a factor in the increased risk of developing this disease. These include: beans, peas, soybeans, beans and all other legumes, cabbage in all its forms - white and cauliflower, kohlrabi and broccoli, as well as turnips, rutabagas and onions that are not thermally processed, as well as whole milk and, in some cases, individual dairy products.

All of the above products have properties that provoke intense gas formation in the intestines. In addition, there are a number of other names that people with a predisposition to flatulence should exclude from their diet. The ban applies to watermelons, bananas, pears, apples, raisins, cereals, pastry, carbonated drinks and kvass.

Speaking about what kind of diet for flatulence, it is also necessary to note that the principles of proper nutrition in this case are based on the consumption of lean fats, chicken eggs, fish, rice, and any kind of meat.

The presence of excess gas in the gastrointestinal tract often occurs not only in connection with a certain product, but can be a consequence of eating several products that are poorly combined with each other. For example, consider the following situation. If, after eating heavy protein food, you switch to sweet desserts in combination with juice, this is very likely to cause flatulence. The combination of dairy products and unsweetened fruits or animal proteins is also incompatible.

Diet for flatulence and bloating

The main goal of a diet for flatulence and bloating is to normalize bowel function and eliminate the causes of increased gas formation. Since such causes can be certain foods, in order to achieve the greatest effectiveness of dietary measures, it is necessary to stop eating foods that can provoke such unpleasant phenomena for a while.

Excess gas in the intestines may occur after eating any of the foods listed below.

Gas-forming negative properties are inherent in all baked goods made from yeast dough, including cookies and "multi-grain" bread. The greatest negative effect is typical for bakery products made from bran, and it is characteristic that wheat bran is much less acceptable than oat bran.

All kinds of instant cereals and noodles, which look like pressed concentrates intended for quick cooking, cannot be classified as particularly useful for the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, the rule of exclusion from the diet concerns sweet corn flakes.

The diet for flatulence and bloating also includes a menu without all legumes, including lentils and chickpeas, as well as soy milk and yogurts based on this milk, seitan and tofu.

You should avoid apricots, pears, peaches, plums, soft apples and dried fruits, especially prunes. All types of cabbage, radishes, onions, horseradish, turnips, and daikon are excluded.

In case of lactose intolerance, the use of dairy products is contraindicated. Wheat or chicory coffee substitutes also have an adverse effect on the functioning of the intestines.

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Diet for flatulence and constipation

A diet for flatulence and constipation for successful treatment of the disease requires compliance with a number of conditions. The first of them is the need to contain fiber in the diet. Dietary fiber contains certain carbohydrates, the source of which is bread, both whole grain and rye, and also cereals (mainly those with large grains - oatmeal, pearl barley, barley flakes). Regarding cereals, it should be noted that they should not have a very viscous consistency. Another point regarding cereals is that rice porridge occupies a special position among them, which, on the contrary, has astringent properties. Due to this, rice porridge is advisable to use for flatulence. To help cope with constipation, it is recommended to season cereals with butter. Fats, getting into the digestive system, promote bowel movements. Oil and fats of vegetable origin are most useful. Based on this, you should increase their consumption, in particular, eat salads from fresh vegetables seasoned with sunflower oil.

The lack of fiber can also be replenished with bran, which is a low-calorie product and therefore will not have a negative impact on your figure and weight.

Another condition that the diet for flatulence and constipation provides is maintaining an optimal fluid balance in the body. It is recommended to drink at least five glasses of liquid during the day, both regular water and natural juices or kvass. Fermented milk products such as sour milk and kefir are useful; it is better to drink them before going to bed.

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Diet for irritable bowel syndrome with flatulence

The diet for irritable bowel syndrome with flatulence should contain all the proteins, fats and carbohydrates necessary for the body in quantities that meet the norm, and be complete in the physiological sense. The features of dietary prescriptions differ, first of all, in that it is necessary to slightly increase the presence of vegetable fats in the diet, and also to include more dietary fiber in the menu. Such are available in cereals: buckwheat, pearl barley, wheat. It is also necessary to exclude dishes and products that can contribute to the activation of fermentation and putrefaction processes in the large intestine. The diet should not include products with a high content of essential oils, extractive substances, cholesterol.

The diet for irritable bowel syndrome with flatulence, during which diarrhea predominates, is changed in the acute stage towards an increase in the amount of protein in the diet. It is not allowed to include in the menu products to which there is a decrease in tolerance, or those that are characterized by a laxative effect. Among the latter, we can name prunes, carrots, beets, and in addition to them, some other raw fruits and vegetables. Flatulence requires the exclusion of all representatives of legumes, cabbage in all its forms, and everything that contains carbohydrates with easy fermentation properties. It is necessary to abstain as much as possible from grape and apple juices, beer, raisins, nuts, bananas.

Basically, the diet should not differ significantly from the normal one, with the only difference being that you need to eat fractionally from 4 to 6 times throughout the day, and not overeat immediately before bed.

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Diet menu for flatulence

Below we will consider an approximate version of a diet menu for flatulence, guided by which in organizing the appropriate principles of healthy eating you can successfully cope with this ailment.

So, on Monday morning, rice porridge is offered for breakfast, and you can drink green tea.

A cheese sandwich can be served as a second breakfast.

During lunch, the first course will be vegetable soup, and the second course will be boiled chicken with vegetables. In addition, bread and compote.

For an afternoon snack – jelly and crackers.

Dinner consists of steamed cutlets, garnished with buckwheat porridge and carrot salad.

Tuesday starts with a breakfast of oatmeal and dried fruits.

For your second breakfast, eat cottage cheese with sour cream.

For lunch you can have chicken soup with spinach as a first course, then potatoes and steamed fish, green tea.

Soaked dried fruits are offered for afternoon snack.

Rice and cabbage rolls are served for dinner.

On Wednesday, breakfast consists of corn porridge.

Second breakfast – muesli and yogurt.

The first course for lunch is carrot puree soup, and the second course is boiled veal with mashed potatoes.

You can have fruit for an afternoon snack.

For dinner, you will have boiled chicken with vegetable salad.

On Thursday you can have fruit puree for breakfast.

For second breakfast, juice and muesli are offered.

Lunch of mushroom soup and rice with fish.

For an afternoon snack – a glass of kefir.

Potato and meat casserole and vegetable salad are served for dinner.

Friday – breakfast consists of rice porridge.

For second breakfast, yogurt and pancakes.

At lunch, vegetable soup is served as the first course, and the second course is pilaf with chicken.

During afternoon tea you can have some fruit.

Dinner: vegetable salad with macaroni and cheese.

On Saturday, the first meal of the day will be oatmeal breakfast.

For your second breakfast, have a sandwich with zucchini caviar.

Fish with vegetables and salad awaits you during lunch.

The afternoon snack consists of baked apples.

For dinner, baked meat with potatoes is served in pots.

You can start Sunday by eating cheesecakes for breakfast.

Fruit for the second breakfast.

Lunch includes borscht and cutlets with a side dish of buckwheat porridge.

During your afternoon snack, drink some fermented baked milk.

For dinner – oriental-style chicken with vegetable salad.

Diet recipes for flatulence

Below are some diet recipes for flatulence that will help optimize aspects of nutrition when excessive amounts of gas are formed in the intestines.

  • Vegetarian soup made from mixed vegetables

This first course is prepared as follows. It is necessary to finely chop the parsley root, carrots, onions and simmer them in a small amount of water, to which vegetable oil is added. After this, finely chopped tomatoes, potatoes and zucchini are placed in the vegetable broth. After 10 minutes of cooking, the simmered root vegetables are added, then the soup must be salted and left on the fire until ready. Serve, sprinkled with herbs and seasoned with sour cream.

Oatmeal soup with meat broth and vegetables requires boiling a small piece of lean meat. Finely chopped potatoes and sautéed tomatoes, carrots, parsley root, and onions are added to this broth, diluted with water. Cook for 10 minutes, then add Hercules oatmeal to the soup and continue cooking for another 20-25 minutes. When serving, season with sour cream and sprinkle with finely chopped herbs.

To prepare crumbly rice porridge, sort out and rinse in cold water rice and pour into just boiled water. After that, add salt and granulated sugar, cook until thick. Then add hot milk and bring to readiness in the oven in a water bath with the lid closed. When serving, pour melted butter on top.

Boiled chicken is cooked in a saucepan filled with cold water. After the broth boils, skim off the foam, add salt and add parsley and peeled carrots. Cook until done. Once cooked, the chicken is removed from the broth and cooled. Next, cut it into portions and put back into the broth, in which it is preheated before serving.

  • Vermicelli with boiled meat

To prepare this dish, you need to prepare the meat by boiling it and mincing it. Vermicelli is poured into boiling salted water, cooked until done, and then thrown into a sieve. After the water has drained, the vermicelli should be placed back in the pan and, adding butter, mixed with the previously prepared meat.

The key feature of therapeutic measures for bloating associated with the organization of nutrition is that a diet for flatulence can be compiled by a person independently, however, in the absence of complete confidence or the emergence of controversial issues, it is necessary to seek advice from a medical specialist.

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What can you eat if you have flatulence?

The diet for flatulence is limited mainly to low-fat foods that provide the body with the necessary protein, with the inclusion of a small amount of green vegetables in the daily menu. And, nevertheless, the list of what can be eaten with flatulence is quite extensive. In particular, all types of meat are allowed for consumption from meat products, with the exception of sausages. The undesirability of sausages is due to the fact that they often contain added soy.

What can you eat with flatulence? A positive effect in case of increased gas formation is provided by including light broths from beef, chicken, and fish in the menu. In some cases, nutritionists' recommendations are positive regarding cereals - buckwheat and rice. It is only necessary to keep in mind that diversifying the diet with them is allowed only if the patient does not have an intolerance to cereals.

One of the causes of this disease may be eating food that is too hot or, conversely, too cold. This statement is based on the fact that in such cases peristalsis increases, and this can cause a number of new problems. In addition to what exactly a person eats, the conditions in which and how the process of eating occurs are also of no small importance. If you eat in a hurry, while walking or while eating and talking, you swallow air along with the pieces of food, which, coupled with insufficient chewing, can become one of the decisive factors in the occurrence of flatulence.

If the disease has entered the acute stage, a beneficial effect can be produced by a decoction of parsley or dill. To prepare it, you need to chop the greens like tea and brew it in an amount of 100 to 200 grams like regular tea in a teapot. You need to drink the decoction 30 minutes before eating.

What should you not eat if you have flatulence?

Excessive gas formation in the intestines can be provoked by a wide variety of menu items that make up a person's diet. There are various, sometimes the most, at first glance, incredible and ridiculous assumptions about what can cause such a rather unpleasant phenomenon in the body. Some medical specialists even claim that the blame for the appearance of flatulence can be placed on the most ordinary chewing gum, and they associate this with the content of the component maltodextrin in the gum. Below we will consider which most common products and dishes are undesirable and what you should not eat with flatulence.

To ensure normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and to avoid excessive gas formation, it is recommended to eat with caution, up to the complete exclusion from the menu of the following products. Fruits and vegetables include: bananas, grapes and raisins, pears, nuts; cabbage and radish, legumes such as beans, peas, chickpeas, etc. The list of what should not be eaten with flatulence also includes fish - salted and fatty varieties, fatty meat, smoked meats, fried, hard-boiled eggs, whole milk, cream, ice cream. You should also not abuse highly carbonated soft drinks. As for cereals, wheat and pearl barley are subject to restrictions and prohibitions. With regard to bakery products, rye bread is not recommended, and all baked goods are best eaten no earlier than a day after preparation. It is advisable to be careful about the use of sorbitol and aspartame as a sugar substitute.

The list of prohibited and permitted products in each specific case may be individual for each person, depending on the causes of flatulence.


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