The simplest gestures are necessary from the start in order to avoid gas and flatulence, such as eating slowly, chewing food well and not talking while eating.

For some people, this is just a form of food intolerance or bad food associations. Fatty foods, raw vegetables and fruits, added sugar, too much fiber, caffeinated drinks and legumes (beans and peas) can cause flatulence. In other people, it is the starchy foods associated with proteins that induce gas. It's up to you to test and determine which foods or associations are causing you discomfort.

If this is not enough, there are a plethora of natural remedies to help expel excessive gas build-up in the intestinal tract. They are grouped under the name of carminatives. Carminative foods also cause belching.

All healthy people pass gas an average of 14 times a day. However, their excessive accumulation in the digestive tract sometimes becomes uncomfortable, even painful, and socially embarrassing. The best way to control them is to eat properly. Most of the carbohydrates (sugars, starches and fibers) that we ingest daily are never completely assimilated or digested by the stomach or small intestine. Colonies of hungry, but harmless or not bacteria (e.g. candida) that reside in the large intestine then greedily devour these residues. It is this fermentation process that causes the expulsion of various types of gases.

Highly flatulent substances include oligosaccharides (very high concentrations in dried beans and various other vegetables), lactose (see lactose intolerance), soluble fiber (found in oat bran and apples, it frequently passes through the intestine, offering itself as food for bacteria) and starch (it can also partly escape the digestive action of the stomach and small intestine and thus end up in the large intestine).

Food information:

• Highly flatulent foods: Broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, soy beans, dried beans and peas, milk and dairy products (for those with poor lactose tolerance), turnip, onion, rutabaga.
• Moderately flatulent foods: Eggplant, banana, carrot, celery, bread, apple.
• Low flatulence foods: Oils, eggs, fish, meat, poultry, rice.
• Two very effective anti-flatulence agents: garlic and ginger

Dietary measures to combat flatulence.

If you have acute flatulence, suspect intolerance to lactose, a sugar found in milk and milk products (except yogurt).

Beware of sorbitol, a low-calorie sweetener with a very fierce flatulent action.

Carefully analyze the components of your diet to determine which foods bother you the most.

Degasify legumes by soaking them before cooking.

If you are having serious problems with the digestion of flatulent foods, reduce your intake of these foods. Add garlic and ginger to flatulent foods.

Papaya, angelica root infusion and mustard or dill seeds can help.