Why do beans give you gas?

Question

Why do beans give you gas?

Answer 1

Most of the higher fiber veggies and the cruciferous veggies cause gas.  

I don't exactly know why they cause some people such a problem. I have never had that problem, possibly because I have eaten most of these since I was big enough to stuff food in my own mouth.

I put about a teaspoon of ground ginger per 2 cups of dried beans in each kettle of beans. This works amazingly well and doesn't give the beans any off flavor. But you have to warn those who might be allergic to ginger that you have used it in your beans or veggies such as cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, etc.

Answer 2

i really dont know why. I put a tablespoon or so of baking powder in my beans and it releases the gas.  You can see the foam so you know it is working.

Answer 3

Beans contain a substantial amount of oligosaccharides, which are complex sugars that are hard to digest.  Because they are difficult to digest, some amount of the complex sugars can pass undigested into the intestine, where the bacteria that live there have a field day--they don't usually get sugar.  The by-product of the bacterial party is a lot of gas.  People with lactose intolerance suffer the same effect when they consume lactose because they lack  the enzyme required to break down that milk sugar into simple sugars (glucose and galactose) that can be absorbed and used by the body.