When food and nutrition is your profession and you’re a dietitian with a sense of humor like me, you kind of know that it’s all about the ins and outs, including the musical accompaniment that certain foods provide us with, much to some people’s dismay.
Recently, I had the good fortune to be at two different conferences for dietitians, and heard a wonderful speaker from Europe talking about fiber and gut health. In her lovely accent, in context of the gut, she smiled and said that we need to help reconnect people to their normal body processes, including what we call gas or flatulence here in the states. She referred to it as “wind” and that as dietitians, perhaps we could all embrace the additional task of helping people be comfortable with normal body processes. Not only was her delivery and word choice delightful on this topic, but she was right. I knew right then and there that I needed to write about this.
Here are five things you can do starting today to help you manage your wind while improving your overall choices:
- Chew thoroughly, and with your mouth closed.
- Increase your intake of delicious fiber-containing foods slowly.
- See your doctor if it’s excessive.
- Exercise.
- Embrace a little human-ness. There’s a constant dance we do between social graces and bodily functions. Do your best to be appropriate as the situation you find yourself in requires, and at the same time, realize, we all have to eat, and we all have to go to the bathroom. That’s us.
Kim Kirchherr 