Does Broccoli Cause Gas?

Does Broccoli Cause Gas?

Broccoli doesn’t produce a significant amount of gas for most people.

However, if you love broccoli and eat a lot of it along with full-head or more, broccoli may cause gas and bloating.

Let’s quickly see why broccoli can cause flatulence when eaten in large quantities. By the end, you should be able to determine if you have stomach problems or if the problem is caused by something else.

Why Broccoli causes gas and bloating.

Most gas is created by bacteria in your stomach fermenting difficult-to-digest carbohydrates.

Broccoli has a few carbohydrates that your small intestine can’t digest, so they end up fermenting in your stomach.

• Fiber – Vegetables are mostly high in fiber. While fiber is beneficial for many aspects, too much can lead to excess gas.
• Hard to digest sugars – While glucose is easy to digest, broccoli contains fructose and oligosaccharides which are difficult to digest in the small intestine.

These are not “bad” carbs. They are actually good for your health and act as food for the bacteria in your gut. But, too many of them can lead to stomach problems.

Broccoli’s Fiber Content

Fiber is something you are probably already familiar with, so let’s quickly get to it.

Below is the macronutrient information for 100 grams of broccoli. It also includes fiber. Energy (kcal)34, Protein (g)2.82, Total Lipid (g)0.37, Carbohydrate (g)6.64, Fiber (g)2.6, Sugars (g)1.7.

Broccoli, like most vegetables, is low in calories and high in fiber.

But still has 2.6g of fiber, which is more than other foods. However, it’s still lower than other foods such as beans. For example, chickpeas cooked have 7.6 grams per 100g.

Although eating lots of broccoli will not cause you to gain weight, fiber can make it a problem.

Broccoli Oligosaccharides

Oligosaccharides are a class that contains carbohydrates that human beings don’t have the enzyme to break down, so they are broken down by our gut bacteria.

Broccoli contains a lot of oligosaccharides, although less compared to other foods, like beans.

The data beneath shows the sugars found in 100 grams of broccoli: Moisture – 86 g, Fructose – 0.88 g, Sucrose – 0.65 g, Sorbitol – 0.2 g, Total FOS – 0.78 g, Stachyose – 0.11 g

Some important points.

• Total FOS (Fructooligosaccharides) – One of the 2 main types of oligosaccharides, and the one that broccoli has the most of.
• Stachyose is Another oligosaccharide that is part of the family of oligosaccharides. (RFO) Despite the many claims, there’s not much broccoli containing raffinose. It only contains stachyose. However, it doesn’t make any difference in practice.
• Fructose – Fructose is not an Oligosaccharide. However, it is difficult to digest and has been shown that fructose may cause flatulence. Broccoli contains a lot of fructose. Note that sucrose has half the amount.
• Sorbitol can cause stomach cramps and other problems, it is not usually a problem unless you consume a minimum of 5 grams of broccoli.

Is it possible to prevent gas from eating broccoli?

Carbohydrates are healthy. But may cause gas and it isn’t comfortable.

You can do certain things to limit gas after eating broccoli and other vegetables.

• Reduce portions.
• Use an enzyme supplement such as Beano to break down many oligosaccharides in your stomach.

While cooking can improve the digestion of vegetables, it is unlikely to be too helpful.

There is some evidence that cooking legumes decrease oligosaccharide. However, it’s unlikely that broccoli will be reduced in oligosaccharide contents when you’re not cooking broccoli in sufficient water.