Diet Wise Academy

96 Diet Wise

Flatulence

Flatulence is a Latin word which simply means “blowing

off ” (Latin: flatus, a blowing). The commoner European

slang, farting, comes from Old High German, Ferzen,

which certainly influenced the English language, via the

Saxons. The embarrassment, of course, is not really in

the word but in the smell (though in our family we had a

tradition that the silent events were the smelliest, sbd =

“silent but deadly”).

On a direct par with bloating, flatulence is one of

the major recurring symptoms of which food allergics

complain. Bloating is caused by gas in the intestine, mainly

the colon. If the gas becomes excessive, flatulence results.

It can come and go very dramatically. I have seen patients

during a food challenge test enlarge in a matter of one or

two minutes, putting on as much as 8 in/20 cm.

There is no comprehensive physiological explanation

as to where the gas comes from or, if not expelled via

the anus, where it goes. Perhaps it is reabsorbed – but

this seems a bit unlikely in view of the obvious volume

involved. One of medicine’s great mysteries, but not one

likely to attract a would-be Nobel prize-winner!

The fact is, any allergy can cause flatulence but

certain groups of foods are particularly associated with it:

the pulses are notorious, beans and wind often being the

subject of crude jokes; brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower,

kale etc.) are not as widely recognized but are just as much

trouble. Remember, it is not necessarily every member of

a food family that causes a reaction.

Lastly, the yeast syndrome, dysbiosis or intestinal

fermentation syndrome (Chapter 21), causes much

flatulence.

Interesting groups of symptoms

Bloating, pains, palpitations, sudden tiredness, indeed any symptom
experienced shortly after food, is likely, though not certain, to have food as