Are continuous gas pains in my mother normal?

cheyanne - hi, and first of all, would you consider amending your profile which says you take care of your dad with depression, but nothing about your mom?

I am speaking as a retired professional nutritionist now, so I want you to realize that your mom is not my patient and I can't confer with her doctor, nor do I know about her medications, so these comments or more general than specific, understand? Anything that you feel may "hit home", at your moms age, should be run by her doctor and/or a local nutritional consultant if it involves supplements or any drastic changes in lifestyle diet.

That said, many folks with gas actually have food allergies or sensitivities. The most likely culprits are (in the order of preference to try removing from the diet):

(1) Gluten grains (wheat, rye and barley especially - kamut and spelt should also be suspected) - folks who have celiac disease generally would know it by the age of your mom but there are a flood of people who are gluten sensitive and eating gluten causes them serious side effects. It's not unhealthy to eliminate these grains from the diet if replaced with other good grains (brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, millet), the trouble is wheat especially is usually included in the recipe of many prepared foods (probably shouldn't be serving those anyway because of a generally high sodium content).

(2) Dairy products - bovine, from cows, includes whey as well as most of the senior nutritional drinks, which are dairy based. Don't forget cheese. Often goat milk and cheese can be substituted with no ill effects, mainly because people haven't had enough or any of it in the past to spur an allergic reaction. There are any number of unsweetened coconut, almond or rice milks available today; many are calcium fortified but you will not find the protein content to be the same, so you must make other adjustments in the diet.

(3) Soy - unfortunately, this is a heavily genetically modified food unless it is labeled "organic" or "non-gmo". But it is also a heavily processed food except for edamame (cooked natural soybeans) and tempeh (fermented soybeans). But you even need to leave those out in the beginning as well.

(4) Eggs - unfortunately, in these days of the big egg cholesterol scare, people are eliminating egg yolks in favor of egg whites. But it's the albumin in the egg whites that hold the allergic potential.

(5) Corn - again another ingredient found in many processed foods AND unless organic is sure to be genetically modified. You may be able to add back organic natural corn kernels at some point but you'd do better omitting it completely to find out if it's disturbing your digestion.

(6) Peanuts - again this is a case of sensitivity rather than full blown allergy that would cause anaphylaxis. There is such a variety of nuts and seeds as an alternative including nut butters such as: sesame, sunflower, almond, and cashew.

Changing foods is one thing that you can follow pretty safely by substitutions. The best thing is to stop all of those 6 foods completely, no cheating or it won't work, for about 3 or 4 weeks. If even one of those is the offending food, you will know it in 4 to 7 days, then staying off of it is just a matter of allowing your body to start healing. There are protocols for reintroducing the foods, but many find there are such interesting and healthy substitutions, there's no need to do so. It becomes a matter of personal preference.

If your body is able to digest all of what you feed it, typically gas is not formed. Digestion ability degrades with age. Bowel gas is generally formed when bacteria in the large intestine is able to ingest enough food particles that were previously unprocessed in the stomach and small intestine, and erroneously made their way to the bowel. When bacteria have a lot to eat, they have a lot to excrete, and what they excrete is gas.

Another "food group", and I use those words jokingly in this context, is sugars. We are finding that most sugars, including fructose (high fructose corn syrup & even agave nectar) can be contributing to leaky gut syndrome. What's that? Put in the simplest terms, it begins to destroy your stomach lining which then allows more undigested particles of food to pass through into your bloodstream and that contributes to the body's allergic response. Undigested particles of food DO NOT belong in your bloodstream. This caveat applies to all forms of artificial sweetener, even Splenda which was previously thought to be less harmful. The only acceptable sweeteners from a nutritional standpoint today are PURE stevia and PURE monk fruit. These CAN be purchased in pure form but you must read the label as you should only buy either if it is 100 percent that ingredient. Even some of the touted pure and natural sweetener products add other ingredients including a corn based filler that is made from GMO corn!

Pro-biotics are excellent and digestive enzymes (with approval) could help but nothing is going to help if it IS a food sensitivity and you keep putting in the offending ingredient. It's kind of like swimming upstream, you're trying to counteract a strong sensitivity reaction with a moderate-to-weak corrective remedy.

I take care of my 85 yr. old grandmother, and am experiencing these same gas problems with her daily. I'm wondering if anyone has tried BENO or. Something natural that may help with the gas and digestive tract?

Please Google 'Food Combining' or 'Proper Food Combining' for a super easy solution to this problem. I'd be willing to say, if you follow the advice well, you'll see improvement in the first day.

I am a senior citizen and have so much gas each and every day. I try to eat regular and drink, I have no control on when it passes and cannot control it.
is there anyone else out there having this?

Thank You. She saw her gastroenterologist last year but hasn't been back for a follow up. Unfortunately, we live in a small town and it's an hour and half drive that she doesn't make too well. However, I'm definitely going to give him a call-he has a wonderful beside manner.

I'd ask for a second opinion, since while gas pains may be the cause - what is causing all that gas? This shouldn't be brushed off too lightly. At the very least,
this causes a downgrade in her quality of life. However, even more importantly, it could signal something going wrong in her digestive tract that needs attention.
The ER doctor is checking for emergency symptoms, so you really can't go by that. I'd try a specialist for her, someone who specialize in digestive issues, or at least a geriatrician who knows how elderly bodies should work.
Good luck. The doctor rounds are tough. But I do think she needs attention.
Carol