A fear of eating beans is worse than the wind itself

Researchers have concluded that beans are less likely to give you flatulence than you think"People's concerns about excessive flatulence from eating beans may be exaggerated." That conclusion emerges loud and clear at the end of a study published recently in the Nutrition Journal.Donna Winham, of Arizona State University, and Andrea Hutchins, of the University of Colorado, call their report Perceptions of Flatulence From Bean Consumption Among Adults in 3 Feeding Studies."Many consumers avoid eating beans because they believe legume consumption will cause excessive intestinal gas or flatulence", they explain.Winham and Hutchins had volunteers eat half a cup of beans daily. Every week everyone answered a questionnaire.In the first week, fewer than half of the bean eaters reported increases in gas production. Then came a further surprise: "Seventy per cent or more of the participants who experienced flatulence felt that it dissipated by the second or third week of bean consumption."Winham...

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