Beans are highly nutritious and rich in various important vitamins and minerals, including potassium, magnesium, folate, iron, and zinc.
However, they’re also known for causing unpleasant digestive symptoms, including gas, bloating, and stomach pain.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to prevent or minimize gas caused by beans.
This article takes a closer look at why beans make you fart and how to minimize these side effects.
They’re high in fiber
Beans are high in dietary fiber, a plant compound that resists digestion as it moves through your digestive tract.
They’re particularly rich in soluble fiber, a type of fiber that absorbs water in the digestive tract to form a thick, gel-like texture.
Soluble fiber is associated with a long list of health benefits, including improved digestive regularity and blood sugar management, lowered LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, and enhanced heart health.
However, increasing your food/fiber intake too quickly can also cause negative side effects, including gas and bloating.
Once this food (dietary fiber) reaches the colon, it’s fermented by the beneficial bacteria that live there. Gas is a byproduct of that fermentation.
Eating large amounts of fiber can also cause other adverse symptoms, including diarrhea, stomach pain, and discomfort.
Rich in raffinose
Beans is a food that also contain a compound called raffinose. It’s a type of non-digestible carbohydrate also found in foods like cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.
Due to the lack of an enzyme called alpha-galactosidase in the human digestive tract, raffinose is generally poorly digested.
Therefore, raffinose can pass through the stomach and small intestine undigested and enter the large intestine, where it’s fermented by gut bacteria.
This results in the production of gases, including methane, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide, which cause flatulence and bloating.