Are Beans Making You Bloated? + Top Anti-Bloating Supplements!
Beans are often touted as an incredibly nutritious, fibre-rich food you must consume if you want a healthy gut microbiome. But are they really great for people dealing with digestive issues like bloating, gas, irregularity and gut dysbiosis? What about the anti-nutrients they contain? This article will dive into these topics, as well as guide you in how to tell if beans are problematic for you personally.
Are Beans Helpful for Gut-Healing?
The answer is generally no. There is a difference between a gut-healing and a gut-healthy diet. For those who are already struggling with their gut health, beans can contribute to more digestive symptoms, especially gas and bloating as well as inflammation.
Why Beans Can Exacerbate Gut Issues
One reason beans often exacerbate gut issues is that contain very high levels of fibre that simply may not be tolerated by many people due to dysbiosis, or imbalances in gut bacteria. While fibre is an essential component of a gut-healthy diet, there are many different sources of fibre including vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds that someone with IBS or digestive issues may tolerate better. Plants, including beans, grains, nuts and seeds, also contain anti-nutrients like phytic acid and lectins that act as the plant’s built in defence mechanism, inhibiting their ability to be digested, leading to symptoms. Additionally, the nutrients and protein found in beans are less bioavailable and harder to digest and absorb. In fact, these built-in defence mechanisms are present so they can AVOID being eaten in nature!
Anti-Nutrients and Gut Issues
Are anti-nutrients good or bad? Some health professionals say that they’re basically evil and we should never eat another bean, legume or nut ever again. On the other end of the spectrum, plant-based advocates are saying they’re the best foods to “heal your gut”!
While at times certain natural stressors can be helpful, for most people today, anti-nutrients, like phytic acid and lectins, can put excess stress on an already stressed digestive system, contributing to bloating, gas and pain. They can also trigger inflammation inside and outside the GI-tract, resulting in symptoms like joint pain or brain fog.
If your gut is completely healed and you have great health, foods like beans, when properly prepared may not be as much of an issue, but for those who are still healing, you’ll likely do best to avoid them.
Why Are Beans Not Tolerated Well?
Ultimately with any food, it comes down to the health of the microbiome. When the microbiome is balanced and we have a robust balance of bacteria in the gut, low levels of inflammation, we’ve cleared gut infections and healed leaky gut, beans and grains may be tolerated better for some. But again, the average person that comes to see me does NOT have a healthy, balanced microbiome and therefore will do well to remove them.
How to Decrease Harmful Effects of Beans On The Gut
There are ways to decrease the negative impact that beans and other plant proteins have on the gut, but keep in mind this is more for people who have done a lot of healing already. The key to reduce anti-nutrient content in beans, grains, nuts and seeds is to properly prepare them. Soaking, sprouting, longer cooking times and even fermentation helps decrease anti-nutrient content in these foods, reducing their innate defence mechanisms and making them easier to digest.
Should Beans Be Part Of A Gut Healing Diet?
Generally I don’t recommend beans, especially for those with current digestive issues. I personally don’t believe that beans are a necessary part of a healthy diet, as we can get plenty of fibre from other foods, such as vegetables, nuts and seeds. Additionally, your geography impacts your gut microbiome and has an impact on whether or not you’re able to tolerate a lot of plant proteins.
People who live in places like the Blue Zones and other warmer climates, have microbiomes that have adapted to tolerate more of those foods due to the bacteria in the soil and the strains of bacteria in their gut, as well as other factors that make up a healthier overall microbiome, such as a slower, lower stress lifestyle, exercise, sun exposure and so on.
How To Tell If Beans Are good For YOU
An elimination of common inflammatory foods is key for recognizing your personal triggers. Something I commonly hear with my clients is that they can’t tell what foods are hurting them. If we are eating multiple inflammatory foods on a regular basis (or even a semi-regular basis, such as 1x/week), it’s extremely hard to tell which foods are actually contributing to symptoms.
This is why I recommend a form of an elimination diet. It can be very helpful in helping my clients pin-point which foods they tolerate well, and which ones they don’t as foods are reintroduced.
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