Who does not love a chilled glass of beer? But with this little glass of joy, people usually fear smelly farts, gas, and a bloated stomach. You might be thinking, who is the culprit – beer or your poor digestion?
Well, we have the answer. We are going to dig into the topic and find out why beer makes you fart so much. Along with the discussion, we will also try to understand what you can do to avoid beer farts.
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What causes flatulence or fart?
Fart is a normal thing every human does. It occurs when gas accumulates in your digestive system. There could be several reasons that can impact your digestion and makes you fart more than others.
Gas can accumulate in your digestive system mainly by swallowing air while you eat or drink, and the second reason could be the digestion process itself. During digestion, various gases are released, such as hydrogen, methane, or carbon dioxide. Both of these reasons could cause flatulence or gas in your stomach.
Does beer cause you to fart?
Beer contains carbon dioxide, which can cause you to fart or bloat. Key ingredients in beer are- malt, hops, yeast, and flavoring agents. During brewing, the starch in malt gets converted into sugar by the yeast. These yeast cause your beer to have those bubbles when you pour them into the glass. It is carbon dioxide gas.
When you drink beer, the carbon dioxide gets into your stomach. As it is a gas and not a nutrient which our body can ferment or digest, the carbon dioxide gets out of the body through a burp or fart.
Not only beer but any carbonated drink such as coke, soda, or other beverage can make you fart. It is an unavoidable side effect of drinking carbonated drinks.
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Why does beer cause you to fart?
Now that we know beer can make your stomach uncomfortable, let’s try to understand why beer is gassy for you.
Carbon dioxide in beer is the primary reason for beer being gassy. However, there are some other reasons too. Gasses also build in your stomach naturally during the breakdown of food by various digestive enzymes and gut bacteria.
Every glass of beer has carbohydrates, yeast, and sulfur. Some brewers add sulfur in beer, but predominantly, it gets created by the yeast during fermentation. All of these compounds can cause you to build gas in your stomach leading you to fart.
Let’s take a look at how these can cause gas buildup and fartning.
Carbohydrate
Undigested carbs could be the reason for your stomach to feel bloated. Our digestive system is not very effective in digesting complex carbs. When undigested carbs go to the colon, it gets broken down by the gut bacteria. This fermentation process releases some gas which can make you feel uncomfortable with farts.
Yeast
Our body already has yeast in our intestinal tract. As beer also has yeast in them, it causes an overdose of yeast in our gut. This sudden increase of the yeast population in our gut can cause smelly farts.
Sulfur
Yeast present in beer produces sulfur. This could be another reason why you have pungent-smelling farts after a few glasses of beer.
Does drinking beer make you poop?
Beer contains 4-6% of alcohol content. Alcohol consumption does a lot of strange things with our digestive system. It affects bowel movement and hence can impact the frequency of your poop. Alcohol is known for its diuretic properties, which may also cause you to go for a pee more than usual.
Beer contains ethanol. It is known for its ability to increase bowel movements. It goes directly to our colon without being digested in the gut. Besides, beer contains some complex carbs that go to the colon without being digested properly in our gut. This quick movement of undigested carbs and ethanol in the colon could result in loose stool or diarrhea.
What can be done to stop the fart when drinking beer?
A fart can be very uncomfortable, especially when you are not alone. Beer causes more gas and fart. However, avoiding beer could not be the best solution to this problem. If you find yourself gassier while drinking beer, you can try the below-given tips to get some relief.
1. Low carbonated beer
All beers are not the same. Some are packed with more carbon dioxide than others. Before choosing your beer bottle, make sure it has the lowest carbonation levels compared to other available beer out there. Low carbonated beer means a lower amount of gas reaching your stomach and thus less farting.
2. Combine beer with healthy snacks
People usually mix beer with other carbonated drinks, which eventually leads to more gas in your stomach. Also, avoid eating heavy snacks which are difficult for your body to digest. It is always a good idea to add healthy snacks with your beer. Any bread items should also be avoided because they contain yeast like beer. This double dose of yeast in your digestive system will lead to more bloating, fart, and discomfort.
3. Chilled beer
Chilled beer has lower carbonation levels as compared to beer at room temperature. Make sure you have got a chilled beer. It can help you tremendously with your fart.
Conclusion
Beer can cause gas and flatulence. Although it is normal to feel gassy after drinking beer, you can comfort yourself by drinking chilled beer. All carbonated drinks cause gas, burp, and fart. Beer contains complex carbs and yeast, which are the other two main reasons for its gassy tendency.
