Flatulence
Flatulence (or gas) is a natural effect of food fermenting in the stomach. Fermentation occurs when the diet has a large amount of fiber, but could also be caused by infection or worm infestation.
The average adult passes gas about once or twice an hour. While this can be embarrassing, it’s not unusual and is nothing to worry about. If the gas occurs more frequently or is foul-smelling, here are a few things you can do to minimize gas production.
First of all, look at your eating habits. Are you chewing your food well? Unchewed food is harder to digest and will cause flatulence. Eating several small meals, rather than one or two big meals a day will also put less strain on you digestive system. Eight to ten glasses of water a day also aids digestion, but avoid drinking water during meals. Drinking water through a straw will prevent the swallowing of air as you drink.
There are several herbs that aid in digestion thus cutting down on flatulence. Fennel is one of the most useful digestive aids. You can chew fennel seeds after dinner or use them to make a tea. To make fennel tea, gently crush the seeds before adding hot water to them.
Ginger is also good for digestion. Fresh ginger can be a tasty addition to your cooking, or you can chew some after dinner or make a tea from it. Ginger and fennel tea is very tasty and combines the advantages of both herbs.
There are several herbs that have the property of soothing the digestive tract. They include aniseed, allspice, basil, caraway, cloves, coriander, dill, marjoram, peppermint, sage, and thyme. Use these herbs in your cooking to provide some digestive help to meals.
Flatulence needn’t be an embarrassment. Be careful of your eating habits and try these herbal digestive aids and flatulence will be a thing of the past.