Foul Flatulence And How To Get Rid of It

Vegan and raw food diets lack the animal protein problem, but still have the potential for smelly gas if we make poor food choices or poorly combine meals.

Check out the protein content of these foods:

Protein Content of Food Source: USDA National Nutrient Database For Standard Reference
Food (4 oz)	Percent of calories from protein	Grams of Protein
Watermelon	7%	0.7
Spinach	30%	3.2
Broccoli	27%	3.2
Hamburger	32%	27.1
Lentils	30%	10.2
Brazil Nuts	8%	16.2

Any type of protein can cause problems for us, and as you can see, meat does not have a monopoly on protein. Vegetable protein also contains tryptophan and it can can putrify under the right conditions.

One of the major causes of gas on a vegetable-based diet is legumes such as beans and lentils. High in both starch and protein, legumes are hard for the body to break down in the stomach, and gas often results.

Beans are so notorious as gas producers that our children sing songs about the relationship. In an attempt to deal with the problem, the pharmaceutical industry has come up with products such as Beano, which contain large doses of the digestive enzyme Alpha-galactosidase. Alpha-galatosidase can break down the complex sugars found in beans and starchy vegetables.

However, this is a makeshift solution to a problem you only have if you're eating foods we're not good at digesting.

It's clear that we do not require high starch and high-protein foods such as legumes, and our health is better when we keep our total intake of protein below 10 percent of calories consumed.


The best method for ridding yourself of smelly gas is to eat a properly-combined raw food diet.

Diets based around raw fruits and leafy greens naturally fall below 10 percent of calories coming from protein and are quite easy to digest. They also contain much smaller quantities of starch.

My colitis has vanished under this regime, and my food digests beautifully.