Can buckwheat cause bloating: does it cause gas formation in the intestines or not, with a gastrointestinal disease the stomach will swell, flatulence, a gas-forming product

How does buckwheat affect the gastrointestinal tract?

Thanks to its composition, buckwheat has a beneficial effect on all body systems, including the digestive system. The product is almost always included in diets for both weight loss and medicinal purposes.

Mechanism of action

Buckwheat gently and naturally cleanses the digestive tract of waste and toxins. It contains fiber, which stimulates peristalsis, improves digestion and softens stool.

The vitamin and mineral composition normalizes the functioning of the gallbladder, kidneys, liver, and also reduces the acidity of gastric juice. That is why buckwheat is recommended to be included in the diet for gastrointestinal diseases.

The main active substances are fiber and polyunsaturated fatty acids. They participate in the following processes:

Attention, poison: the dangers of buckwheat, semolina and other cereals

“Unsolved secrets”: Why cereal porridges are dangerous

Buckwheat, semolina, pearl barley, rice - a person eats an average of about three tons of them in a lifetime. At the same time, few people think about whether cereals are harmful or beneficial for us. But in vain, because porridge gives children not only strength and health, but also obesity, diabetes and rickets. Why is semolina porridge called cereal poison? Is it true that pearl barley can harm men's health? And why is it dangerous to be on a cereal diet? The Moscow Trust TV channel prepared a special report.

Cereal problem

A Muscovite named Zhanna sadly looks at her old photographs. Zhanna two years ago was thin, happy and married. But the husband left for another, leaving her with a broken heart at the open refrigerator door. She ate up a woman’s grief with dumplings, snacked on her complexes with sausage, and washed down her fallen self-esteem with lemonade. As a result, after two years of mental torment, I gained 20 extra kilograms of weight.

“When I used to walk down the street, I caught admiring glances, now this doesn’t happen at all, and it seems to me that people look and think something bad,” says Zhanna Shmeleva.

Now, more often than on the street, Zhanna appears on social networks. There she has a thin face from two years ago, a fit figure, a happy smile and a new boyfriend. The date is scheduled for Sunday, but now Zhanna can’t fit into any old dress. She needs to lose weight, at least five kilograms. During the week.

Photo: TASS/Valery Matytsin

“I would love to try some good diet, but I think that without consulting a specialist, apparently nothing will work,” says Zhanna. In the Moscow clinic, where they professionally deal with weight loss, they know how to make Zhanna adored and desired.

Zhanna's weight is 81 kilograms. Full-fledged weight loss programs are not suitable for her: they are too long. Dr. Mukhina offers a diet that she herself rarely uses and recommends to few people: a diet based on grains.

The cereal diet works simply: all week Zhanna needs to eat porridge with water, without salt and sugar. The promised result is in seven days minus 5 five kilograms. At the same time, cereals saturate the body with vitamins and cleanse it of toxins.

It would seem like an ideal diet, but it is strictly prohibited to follow it without a doctor’s permission! The fact is that most cereals contain little protein, and without it a person simply cannot live fully.

“That is, a week - well, this is the maximum that she can afford, so as not to experiment with her body. Because we need protein for the synthesis of immunoglobulin, and she can simply weaken her immunity and accidentally get sick with something,” says Mariyat Mukhina.

Photo: TASS/Valery Matytsin

Zhanna received clear instructions: from Monday to Sunday, alternate different cereals, combining grains with a small amount of protein. For example, milk. You can’t sit on it for more than a week, otherwise from a lack of protein you can not only lose extra pounds, but also stretch your legs. A lack of protein will quickly lead to muscle dystrophy, problems with the heart, kidneys and liver.

Hundreds of millions of residents of the Soviet Union started their mornings with semolina porridge. Semolina is very finely ground wheat flour. There is a hypothesis that they first began to make it in the Middle East. It appeared in Russia in the 13th century and was very expensive.

Everything changed in the USSR when semolina began to be made from wheat processing waste. Semolina has become the main dish in kindergartens and boarding schools. This grain cost a penny, cooked in minutes, and was very nutritious. Children who survived the famine gained weight literally before our eyes.

Nutritionist Mariyat Mukhina argues that semolina should only be given to children with low weight. What happens if you constantly feed semolina to a healthy child? Nothing good. Traditionally prepared semolina - with milk, sugar and butter - is a very high-calorie dish. There is as much glucose in it as in cakes.

Photo: TASS/Vladimir Smirnov

“Semolina is a fast carbohydrate. That is, this is a really rapid increase in the concentration of glucose in the blood, a high glycemic index,” explains Mariyat Mukhina.

Semolina also contains organic salt phytin, which interferes with the absorption of calcium, so constant consumption of this cereal can lead to heart failure and serious bone diseases, for which calcium is vital.

“If children are fed only semolina porridge, no matter how much they love it, it will be bad for them, because a young child will develop rickets. In fact, in my 20 years of practice, I saw the worst rickets in one-year-old twin girls who were fed semolina porridge six times a day,” says pediatric nutritionist Elena Pavlovskaya.

How not to overfeed your baby

Photo: TASS/ Alexander Karelin

However, if you feed children six times a day with any other porridge, nothing good will come of it either. These children are victims of malnutrition. Moreover, few of them were fed hamburgers and fried potatoes. It’s just that parents don’t always know that porridge is also a very high-calorie food.

“Their benefits depend on how often they are given to the child, we are talking about baby food, and what is added to them, how they are prepared. If you prepare porridge as usual, the porridge should be sweet and fatty. “You can’t spoil porridge with butter” is a famous saying. You’ll spoil it if you put 20-30 grams of oil in there and it will float in this yellow lake, then you’ll ruin it,” says Elena Pavlovskaya.

With poor nutrition, obesity occurs in the first one and a half to two years. And this is not just a cosmetic effect, but a serious illness that can make a child disabled by the age of ten.

“And diseases that were previously considered characteristic of older people (high blood pressure, hypertension, liver fibrosis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cholelithiasis), they are now characteristic of overweight children, who may be 10-12-13 years,” says Pavlovskaya.

How to avoid such terrible consequences? Firstly, you need to pay close attention to the first feeding. If your child is overweight, you should start with vegetables and introduce cereals later. Porridge should be cooked in water or low-fat milk. But the best thing, surprisingly, is to buy them in stores. Porridges in packs for children are safer than those that mothers cook themselves.

Photo: TASS/ Alexander Ryumin

“It is recommended to give the child special porridges for the first time, for children’s preparation, instant in boxes. There are a lot of companies represented on the market. If you prepare them for children yourself fully, in general, it is quite difficult to achieve the same. If you cook it yourself, there is a chance that the child will digest them worse, firstly, and he may have irritation, there may be problems with the gastrointestinal tract, with the stomach, with the gall bladder,” says Elena Pavlovskaya.

The very first children are given porridge from cereals that do not contain gluten. Six-month-old children cannot process it yet. The best option is rice porridge. Buckwheat will also do. Barley and oats should not be given before a year. Small children simply cannot digest them and can become seriously ill.

The first day of the diet almost became the last. Semolina porridge did not discourage the desire to eat at least a little meat, fish, or at least yogurt. But Zhanna can’t do anything other than porridge and a glass of milk. On Tuesday morning she jumped up at dawn - hungry.

Our distant ancestors would not have agreed with Zhanna. In ancient times, wheat porridge was considered a great delicacy. Cooking wheat grains began about eight thousand years ago in the Middle East and Egypt. To learn ancient recipes, we had to go to a small village in Valdai, where, far from civilization, a community of reenactors is trying to live the same way as the Vyatichi, Krivichi and Drevlyans.

Photo: TASS/Dmitry Rogulin

Heirloom cuisine specialist Svetlana Golenkova goes to the barn for wheat. According to tradition, wheat porridge here is prepared not from crushed grains, as now, but from whole grains. It was washed several dozen times. However, our ancestors did not spare time for preparing wheat porridge. This dish was prepared only for major holidays.

“Wheat porridge - it was called spelt. And they cooked it for caroling. That is, this is the winter solstice, somewhere around December 20-21. It was washed, soaked for a day and then simmered in the oven for about six to eight hours. And it opened, instead of elongated grains, its grains became so round,” says Svetlana Golenkova, an employee of the ethnocultural center.

No salt or sugar was added to the porridge. In the Russian oven, it itself became a little salty and a little sweet. But the ancient cooks did not skimp on various additives. Porridge, especially wheat porridge, was part of a religious ritual. Each ingredient in it carried a mystical meaning.

“What could it be? Yes, in the northern regions it is, of course, lingonberries and cranberries, and there could be currants. They could even add nuts there. That is, porridge filled with some ingredients, it became ritual, ceremonial,” says Golenkova.

Why is millet dangerous?

Returning from work, Zhanna dreamed only of this: to lie on the sofa as much as she wanted and eat whatever her heart desired. However, the refrigerator reminded her of a diet of cold wheat porridge, the whole mysticism of which for Zhanna lies in the weight loss effect.

“At first I didn’t like it terribly, but towards evening I already thought that I could eat it,” admits Zhanna Shmeleva.

Photo: TASS/ Vitaly Belousov

Today is the second day. Zhanna eats wheat porridge for dinner, which for some of us can be real poison.

“Wheat grain contains a protein called gliadin. And some people who cannot tolerate gliadin may develop a disease called ciliacia,” explains gastroenterologist Irina Berezhnaya.

In patients with ciliacia, gluten damages the mucous membrane of the small intestine and it atrophies. As a result, the absorption of food in the intestines is impaired. The child begins to lose weight no matter how much he eats. According to statistics, in European countries every hundredth inhabitant has congenital gluten intolerance. How many there are in Russia is unknown, there are no statistics, no studies have been conducted.

“Manifests itself in lack of weight, diarrhea, abdominal pain. Now there is evidence that atypical forms can manifest themselves in anything. Severe anemia, even the development of diabetes mellitus,” says Irina Berezhnaya.

Gluten, in particular, is tolerated well by our heroine, but the grain diet in general is not very well tolerated. Today she secretly measured the volumes.

“As for the results of the diet, they are modest. More precisely, there are no results. It feels like everything is as it was. I still can’t fit into dresses. I have a neutral attitude towards millet porridge, absolutely nothing,” says Zhanna Shmeleva.

Most people confuse millet groats with wheat groats. In fact, they are similar only in name. Millet is millet grains. It began to be grown in China and India, and even before our era, millet spread throughout the world, also as part of ritual rituals.

In Rus', for example, millet was cooked when neighbors or even warriors made peace. How she helped strengthen friendships remains a mystery. The only saying that has reached us is: “You can’t cook porridge with him.” And I must say that the love for millet appeared for a reason.

Millet contains a lot of phosphorus, which strengthens tooth enamel and makes skin smooth. Also, this cereal almost never causes allergies and removes harmful cholesterol from the body. However, millet also has disadvantages. It contains substances that increase gas formation, so people with intestinal problems should exclude millet from their diet.

How else is millet dangerous? It would be more correct to say not what, but by whom. Bugs, mites and butterflies, or pests of grain stocks, as experts respectfully call them, can be found in various cereals. But they love millet especially much.

Federal Center for Grain Safety and Quality Assessment, laboratory specialist Diana Sedova sifts through a batch of millet in search of pests. The first thing she does is look for ticks. These pests are so small that they can only be seen under a magnifying glass. However, there is a lot of harm from them.

Their secretions can cause allergies and intestinal disorders. Of course, no housewife would study cereals with a magnifying glass, but there is another way to detect dangerous pests. Millet or rice infected with mites emit a sweetish honey smell.

One of the most common pests of cereals is weevils. It is better to take spoiled cereal back to the store. By law, you must get your money back. Having eaten it once, you, of course, will not get poisoned, but if you eat cereal with bugs constantly, your health will begin to suffer.

“From a health point of view, for many, these may be allergic reactions to excrement products from insects, or digestive disorders,” explains Diana Sedova.

Mill moth or grain moth. If the common moth feeds on fabric and fur, this one feeds on cereals. Destroys kilograms of millet, oats and rice.

“To experiment, find a flame, close it somewhere with access to food, that is, with some kind of cereal; eventually, after some time, the cereal will turn into dust. That is, there simply won’t be a single whole grain there,” says Diana Sedova.

Zhanna read about dangerous pests on the Internet, trying to drown out her hunger with useful information. The new man of her dreams signaled confirmation of the date.

Rice fashion

In the morning, as soon as she opened her eyes, Zhanna decided not to be a coward and to take a good look at her reflection. The cheeks sunken a little, the stomach retracted a little. Today is the fourth day of the diet - rice.

More than three and a half billion people on the planet eat rice every day. China, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are still arguing over who was the first to grow it. In Europe, this cereal was ignored for a long time. For example, rice was brought to Russia relatively recently, about 300 years ago.

Only short-grain rice has taken root in our climate. And all other types - long-grain, steamed, unpolished, wild and even black - are purchased abroad. Which rice is better and which is worse is a matter of taste. However, there is a folk method that allows you to choose the healthiest rice. Zhanna has been able to do this since childhood.

“The essence of this method is quite simple. The fact is that rice contains starch. And starch means sugar. Sugar is not very healthy. Determining where there is more sugar is quite simple. You need to pour iodine solution into different types of rice. And the rice that is more colored will become bright blue, that rice is more harmful,” says Zhanna Shmeleva.

Nutritionists believe that the healthiest rice is wild, unpolished rice. The whole shell allows you to preserve a lot of useful fiber, vitamins and microelements.

“There are historical data when scurvy developed in the country, during a famine year, and the only ones who felt best were the peasants, because they ate this rice from the fields, unprocessed, and the entire ruling family, in general, became seriously ill, precisely because their rice was polished,” says Irina Berezhnaya.

But what about the regular white polished rice without the shell that we eat all the time? Is it really useless or, moreover, dangerous? It turns out that the enzyme system of Asian residents is designed in such a way that they can eat it several times a day, while Europeans, including Russians, can eat it a maximum of twice a week, no more often.

“In general, for people with diarrhea or intestinal disorders, rice is beneficial because it inhibits intestinal motility. But for a person who does not suffer from this pathology, it will, on the contrary, be harmful, because, as a rule, physical inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle make our intestines lazy,” says nutritionist Mariyat Mukhina.

You need to be especially careful with rice that looks like wild rice. Often this is the most ordinary white rice, only affected by mold. And eating it is strictly prohibited. Such moldy cereals contain potent poisons - mycotoxins.

“Mycotoxins are harmful substances; when they enter the body, they tend to accumulate and poison your body. In addition, mycotoxins – this is a fact proven by science – cause cancer,” says Diana Sedova.

How do deadly substances appear in cereals? A teacher at the Timiryazev Academy, Andrei Myakinkov, reveals this secret: the usual sloppiness of grain producers is to blame.

“If we do not dry the grain, it will remain with high humidity, then during storage such grain may be subject to microbiological spoilage, and in addition to the unpleasant moldy odor, harmful waste products of microorganisms may accumulate in the grain,” says Andrey Myakinkov.

Grain testing for mycotoxins is very expensive and rarely performed. Fortunately, everyone can check cereals for the presence of these poisons at home. “First of all, it’s organoleptic – the presence of a moldy smell. If there is no mold smell, then there is no need to worry,” says Myakinkov.

To enhance the effect of the Stone Age diet, Jeanne decided to ride a bicycle. Ten kilometers is a decent distance for an untrained person. Zhanna's stamina was enhanced by carbohydrates contained in cereals. In addition, cereals remove toxins from the body, so those who are losing weight feel light and free, and even their mood improves.

The experiment has passed the halfway point. Zhanna is pleased to note that she has lost a couple of kilograms. She greets the fifth day of the grain diet with enthusiasm.

Iron treasure

Buckwheat is the main cereal in our country. Meanwhile, her homeland is northern India. In Europe, buckwheat is grown only for honey, and the seeds are sold in pharmacies as medicine. Therefore, foreigners are often surprised by the very existence of buckwheat porridge.

Chefs know hundreds of ways to prepare buckwheat. Dmitry Grachenko introduced this grain into a dish of his own invention: duck with young buckwheat, cedar flour, and a good dozen other ingredients.

Of all the grains in Zhanna’s diet, only buckwheat, according to nutritionists, can be eaten at least every day. What is her secret?

“Buckwheat is one of the healthiest grains because it contains all 18 vital amino acids and contains a lot of microelements, including such rare ones as boron, cadmium, iodine, cobalt. And plus, it also contains vitamins B, E and even vitamin A,” says Mariyat Mukhina.

In addition to carbohydrates, buckwheat contains a lot of protein and important fats. In addition, it removes harmful toxins from the body and normalizes metabolism.

It is believed that this cereal, due to its nutritional properties, can replace meat on our table. Is buckwheat really healthy? Not so. For example, it was previously believed that buckwheat should be eaten if there is a lack of iron. Now it turns out that this is not true.

“Yes, buckwheat really has a lot of iron, but this iron is, unfortunately, poorly absorbed. That is, in order to absorb iron, we need to introduce a substance that contains an acidic environment, and buckwheat is more neutral, so if we ate buckwheat, say, with lemon, then this buckwheat iron would be absorbed very well. And since there are practically no such dishes, we can, in general, completely ignore this iron, which is contained in buckwheat,” says Mariyat Mukhina.

The record iron content is just one of the myths about the miraculous properties of buckwheat. There are others too.

“Once upon a time in our country, for some reason, it was believed that buckwheat lowered sugar. Therefore, all diabetics were simply given free buckwheat. These were still Soviet times and a very long time ago. But in fact, in general, this effect has not been scientifically proven either,” says Irina Berezhnaya.

Many people think that buckwheat is a grain that has undergone minimal processing. They literally picked it on the field, and here it is - on the table. This is wrong. Buckwheat is produced at the factory.

The six-story cereal plant in the small town of Suvorov between Tula and Kaluga is almost the main supplier of buckwheat to all Moscow stores. The assortment of buckwheat on the shelves of the capital's supermarkets is deceptive; it is poured literally from one bag.

“Currently there are very few cereal manufacturing plants left. More and more packaging companies are appearing that purchase products from major manufacturers and package them under their own brand. Thus, when we go into a store, we essentially buy the same product under different brands,” says Alexandra Bondareva, head of the production and technical laboratory of the cereal plant in the city of Suvorov.

Raw grain is first dried, then it takes a long time and is difficult to clean. Everything larger and heavier is separated from the buckwheat grain. After this, the grain goes to the steamer. Steamed cereal cooks faster. However, you can always find so-called green buckwheat on the shelves.

It is considered much more useful. Next, the grain is divided into different fractions, shelled and sorted. Then it is cleaned again. And only after this the grain is scattered into bags. Buckwheat is valued for its high iron content. The valuable substance can be contained not only in the form of microelements, but also in the form of quite tangible metal dust.

“Metallomagnetic dust appears in the grain mass or in cereals when the mechanisms are incorrectly configured. Our grain is transferred from one part, from one working part of our machine, to another working part, and often a screw is used as a transporting device. And if this auger is not adjusted correctly or has some kind of mechanical damage, then metal can rub against metal and this metal-magnetic dust appears,” says Andrey Myakinkov.

If such dust enters the body, it can cause serious problems - from atrophy of the gastric mucosa to damage to internal organs.

A sample of buckwheat with a record content of iron dust is kept in the laboratory as evidence of the sloppiness of the producers. Fortunately, this is a confiscated item and is impossible to find on the shelf.

"Oatmeal, sir!"

Saturday - it's time for the cereal that British ladies and gentlemen adore and most children around the world hate - oatmeal.

Few people liked oatmeal as a child. This is a dish from the diet of harsh northerners. The Slavs, Scandinavians and Germans valued food not for its taste, but for its nutritional value. Oats appeared in Russia at the end of the first millennium AD and quickly gained popularity, because it grew in places where other grains did not grow.

“The English breakfast is very justified in order to start your day right, giving virtually the nerve cells nutrition, giving energy to the whole body. And oatmeal with water is one of the best dishes, one might even say, for daily use,” says Mariyat Mukhina.

Oats are low in calories but high in protein and fiber. In addition, oat grains contain silicon, which strengthens the walls of blood vessels, improves immunity and strengthens bones. However, oatmeal, like semolina, contains phytin, which contributes to bone and heart diseases. The healthiest oatmeal dish is a slimy broth, which is why people don’t like oatmeal.

“But it is in this mucous component that all the vitamins and microelements exist. They seem to come out in this decoction, and this is quite a useful thing,” says Irina Berezhnaya.

The second most useful invention is the invention of the Soviet food industry - Hercules oatmeal. But instant oatmeal will definitely not bring any health benefits.

“The usefulness of such porridge is only its calorie content. Well, the speed of preparation if someone is in a hurry. That is, one-time options are welcome, but daily use is absolutely useless,” says Berezhnaya.

Meanwhile, Jeanne's diet is nearing completion. On Sunday she will have the cereal that most people would call the least tasty - Pepperlovka.

Soldier's food

Few people like boiled barley grains, or pearl barley. This cereal is considered tough and tasteless. In fact, pearl barley just needs to be cooked correctly. Since ancient times, barley has been considered the basis of the military diet. It was also fed to Roman legionnaires, and was given to gladiators after battles as a reward. What is the secret of this cereal?

“Pearl pearl is one of the lowest-calorie cereals among cereals. But its big advantage is that it is digested very slowly. It is recommended specifically for the military’s diet, precisely in order to maintain a feeling of fullness longer,” says Mariyat Mukhina.

Recruits actually eat pearl barley without much enthusiasm.

“We abandoned pearl barley in 2012. This was due to the wishes of the eaters. All the military personnel had a negative attitude towards her. For some reason, no one liked it, this pearl barley,” says Alexander Berezhnoy, head of the food department of the logistics headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces.

Why do soldiers hate pearl barley? They call it “fraction 16”, “tarpaulin”, “shrapnel” and dozens of other offensive nicknames. It's simple: to make pearl barley tasty, you need to cook it for a long time. There is no time for this in the army.

“Pearl barley porridge can be spoiled very easily, since it can either be overcooked or undercooked. Especially if you just add water and don’t add any spices or salt, it will simply taste unpleasant to eat,” says chef Alexander Novoselov.

Is it true that pearl barley has extraordinary energy value? We decided to solve this mystery through an experiment.

– My name is Maxim, I’m 24 years old. I run for fun, my favorite distance is ten kilometers.

– Hello, my name is Kirill, I’m 28 years old. I love a healthy lifestyle and often take part in amateur marathons.

Volunteers have similar parameters. Height is about 180 cm, weight is about 70 kg. A distance of five kilometers is covered in approximately 20 minutes. The performance of our heroes is similar. They usually reach the finish line together. But today Maxim and Kirill will take to the track in different conditions. Maxim had breakfast with pearl barley porridge, and Kirill had a light omelet with chicken breast.

But does pearl barley really have a positive effect on athletic performance? For the first three kilometers, Maxim, who had barley for breakfast, and Kirill, who ate an omelette with chicken, walked level. But closer to the finish line, Maxim seriously took the lead and did not let go of his advantage anymore.

“At the beginning I felt that the food was quite heavy, but during the distance I ran very comfortably and did not affect it at all,” says Maxim.

“The feeling remained, this heaviness, periodically during the run there was some feeling of discomfort inside, powerlessness and even periodic heartburn. By the end, I almost couldn’t even give it my all, as usual,” says Kirill.

Fiber, which is abundant in pearl barley, supplied Maxim with energy throughout the entire distance. This cereal also contains a lot of protein, B vitamins, iron, calcium, copper, iodine and phosphorus. Therefore, pearl barley generally has a positive effect on the entire human body.

“There is another tricky thing about pearl barley: if you use it constantly and daily, it can slightly reduce potency. There are certain substances that have an effect, there is no absolute scientific proof, but it is found in the literature,” says Irina Berezhnaya.

Substances that can ruin the life of any man are called phytoestrogens. Once in our body, they act as female sex hormones.

“But we have not completely abandoned pearl barley, that is, we currently use it to prepare Leningrad rassolnik, because preparing this dish without pearl barley is simply impossible. Well, in addition, when organizing therapeutic nutrition, some diets also include this cereal. But in the volumes in which it is used as a ration, I think that it will not bring any harm to the health of military personnel,” says Alexander Berezhnoy.

After finishing the pearl barley, Zhanna went to bed early in order to get to the nutritionist as soon as possible. She, of course, would like to return to her old forms, and the sooner the better. But minus three kilograms in a week is a good result for Zhanna. It is absolutely forbidden to continue the grain diet any further.

Cereals are a unique product; we are so accustomed to them since childhood that we eat them without thinking. As a result, we consume dangerous grains and neglect those that are truly healthy. So it’s better to spend time and figure out which cereals are necessary and their impact on our body, than to later deal with problems that could have easily been avoided.

Plot: City stories

How does bloating appear?

There is always some amount of carbon dioxide in the stomach, because it is released when hydrochloric acid interacts with food. The duodenum also contains carbon dioxide, formed by the reaction between hydrochloric acid from the stomach and pancreatic juice.

Gases appear in the intestines:

as a result of the activity of bacteria;
during rotting and fermentation of food;
from the circulatory system.

Symptoms

Bloating is an accumulation of gases in the intestines due to a malfunction of the digestive system. This is usually accompanied by an increase in abdominal volume, bloating and an unpleasant feeling of fullness inside.

Bloating occurs both during excessive formation of gases and insufficient removal of them. Gas retention usually begins to bother you in the afternoon. It is at this time that the digestive system works as actively as possible.

Discomfort most often goes away after visiting the toilet, but not always. In some cases, gas continues to accumulate.

Everyone experiences bloating from time to time. Most often it appears due to eating food that leads to increased gas formation.

Usually the swelling goes away quickly. But if there is constant discomfort and pain, this indicates the presence of some kind of pathology. To choose treatment tactics, it is important to identify the cause. To do this you will have to go to the doctor.

Why is it dangerous?

The bloating itself does not pose a danger to human health and life. However, the constant accumulation of gases often indicates the presence of serious diseases, including cancer.

Sometimes gases accumulated in the large intestine are toxic and cause harm to the body. In this case, the liver suffers the most.

Excess bubbles gradually turn into mucous foam, which covers the intestinal walls and interferes with the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

Bloating is considered a precursor and sign of the following diseases:

dysbacteriosis;
chronic pancreatitis;
cirrhosis of the liver;
irritable bowel syndrome;
intestinal obstruction;
cholecystitis;
neurosis;
gastritis.

Can buckwheat cause bloating?

If used uncontrolled and incorrectly, this product can cause bloating. The normal functioning of the digestive organs depends on the foods consumed, their quantity and combination with other foods.

Buckwheat promotes intense secretion of black bile and gases. The body is gradually accustomed to large portions of porridge. In this case, buckwheat is washed down with plenty of clean water. Otherwise, excessive consumption of buckwheat will lead to stomach cramps and flatulence.

Important! People prone to excessive gas formation are not advised to consume buckwheat every day. Also, they should not use the buckwheat diet to lose excess weight.

Why is this happening

Why buckwheat makes you swell:

Binge eating. This is usually the reason why people experience flatulence. This happens especially often in cases where the product was undercooked or poorly steamed. Raw cereals are poorly absorbed by the body and cause heaviness in the stomach. When consumed in large quantities, increased formation of gases occurs.
Combination with fatty foods. Bloating develops with the wrong combination of foods. Flatulence is caused by buckwheat with onions and fatty meats, fish, smoked meats and dairy products. In this case, the stomach remains full for a long time. Fermentation processes begin in it, which cause spasms, pain, discomfort and the release of excess gases.
Eating a portion too quickly. At the same time, the person does not feel full and literally swallows the food. This leads to overeating, which causes gas to accumulate. The feeling of fullness comes about 20 minutes after eating. Therefore, it is recommended to chew buckwheat thoroughly to avoid overeating.
Swallowing air. Nutritionists believe that almost 50% of the gases in the intestines are air, which people swallow while eating.
Eating before bed. Eating buckwheat porridge 1-2 hours before bedtime leads to bloating. At night, the activity of the digestive system decreases. Food is not completely absorbed, remaining in the intestines until the morning. This causes a feeling of heaviness and discomfort. If it is not possible to eat 3-4 hours before bedtime, it is better to reduce the amount of porridge and not combine it with other foods.
Smoking. Smoking has a very negative effect on the digestion process. A bad habit disrupts the secretion of enzymes and hydrochloric acid. Components from tobacco smoke irritate the gastric mucosa and disrupt intestinal function. Because of this, gas formation increases. Smoking also aggravates existing digestive diseases.

Tips and recommendations: what to do if your stomach is swollen

When flatulence is associated with poor nutrition, the menu is adjusted. Sweets, canned food, smoked meats, baked goods, and too salty and sweet foods are removed from the diet.

Instead, experts recommend consuming the following products:

natural kefir or yogurt;
cucumbers;
bananas;
asparagus;
oatmeal;
dill;
fennel seeds or ginger root;
mint or chamomile tea.

These products speed up metabolism and improve digestion, which reduces gas formation. They also remove excess moisture from the body and relieve tension from the muscles in the digestive tract.

What to do if you have bloating after eating buckwheat

If bloating occurs when consuming buckwheat, then experts advise, first of all, to begin treatment by searching for the main cause. You should not ignore such signals from the body and if you experience constant discomfort, be sure to consult with an experienced doctor.

Products that reduce gas formation

If flatulence is associated with poor nutrition and has no pathological causes, then you should adjust your menu, excluding too fatty and salty foods, sweets and baked goods, smoked meats, and canned food.

Instead, nutritionists advise adding foods to the menu that help reduce the formation of gases:
asparagus;
cucumbers;
bananas;
fermented milk products, in particular natural kefir, yogurt;
oatmeal;
ginger root, fennel seeds;
rosemary or dill;
chamomile or mint tea.

The products described above can improve the digestion process, speed up metabolism, reduce the intensity of gas formation, relieve muscle tension in the digestive tract, and remove excess fluid from the body.

Also find out what to do if your stomach is bloated from cabbage.

Traditional methods

Some methods practiced in the field of folk healing help to normalize the functioning of the digestive system, improve metabolic processes, and avoid flatulence. In particular, infusions and decoctions of medicinal herbs, healing cleansing enemas, and products based on essential oils help cope with the problem.

Medicinal plants

Traditional methods of treating and preventing bloating are aimed at preparing various decoctions, infusions and tinctures.

The following popular, simple and affordable medications have an excellent antispasmodic effect for flatulence:

Dill infusion. 1 tbsp. l. Dill seeds are poured into 250 ml of boiling water and left for 1 hour. The resulting infusion is divided into three doses and drunk throughout the day, 20 minutes before eating.
Infusion of carrot seeds. 1 tbsp. l. Carrot seeds are poured into a thermos and steamed with a glass of boiling water. The infusion is left for a day, then drunk three times during the day, before meals.
Infusion of cumin or anise. 1 tbsp. l. herb seeds are poured into 250 ml of boiling water and left in a thermos for 2-3 hours. Use the product throughout the day, 5-6 times, 30 minutes after food consumption.
Chamomile infusion. An effective remedy for flatulence is chamomile infusion, which is prepared as follows: 1 tbsp. l. flowers are poured with 1 cup of boiling water and left for 4 hours. The infusion is filtered and drunk 2 tbsp. l. before eating.
Wormwood infusion. An infusion of wormwood is considered a good natural cure for bloating: 1 tbsp. l. herbs are poured into 250 ml of hot water and left for several hours. Take 30 minutes before meals, 3 tbsp. l.

Did you know? When the stomach makes sounds like “rumbling”, it means that it is filled with hot air.

Medicinal herbs that also help with flatulence are decoctions of:
thyme;
sweet clover;
elecampane;
mint;
lovage

The main thing when treating bloating is to use only freshly prepared decoctions and infusions, without exceeding the recommended dosages.

Enemas

Enemas can quickly alleviate the body's condition during bloating, reduce discomfort and relieve spasms in the intestines. Before practicing therapy through enemas, experts advise purchasing an Esmarch mug or a medical rubber bulb with a volume of 150 ml at the pharmacy.

For enema therapy, various medicinal infusions are used: from chamomile, dill, anise or caraway. To obtain the desired result, also add 2 tbsp to the decoction. l. vegetable oil, and the water temperature should not exceed 40°C.

Enema treatment is carried out as follows:

The person lies on his left side, pulling his legs to his chest.
Esmarch's mug can be hung at a height of up to 1 m.
The nozzle is carefully inserted into the anus to a depth of 10 cm.
Water is introduced into the intestines through a hose.

Approximately 5 minutes after the procedure, defecation occurs. To completely cleanse the intestines, it is enough to introduce up to 2 liters of clean water or medicinal infusion. When carrying out an activity without outside help, the person’s position should be as comfortable as possible, for example, on all fours.