Do Beans Make You Gassy?What Feeding Studies Found
Bloating & DigestionArticleMany people skip beans because they expect gas. In three US feeding studies where adults ate half a cup of beans daily for 8 to 12 weeks, fewer than half noticed more gas from pinto or baked beans in the first week, and only 19% with black-eyed peas. A Sheffield study measured that healthy people pass about 700 ml of gas a day on a diet with baked beans. Here is what the studies show and what helps.
In this article
Beans have a reputation, and plenty of people avoid them because of it.1 A few studies have actually measured what happens.
How much gas is normal
In Sheffield, England, 10 healthy volunteers ate their usual diet plus 200 grams of baked beans, and every bit of gas was collected for 24 hours.2
- They passed a median of about 705 ml a day, ranging from about 480 to 1,490 ml.2
- Women and men produced about the same amount.2
- More came after meals.2
- On a fiber-free liquid diet, the total fell to about 214 ml.2
Most gas comes from gut bacteria fermenting food we don’t digest.2
What happens when people eat beans every day
Three US feeding studies gave adults half a cup of beans a day for 8 to 12 weeks, against carrots or soup:1
| Bean | Noticed more gas in week one |
|---|---|
| Pinto or baked beans | Less than half1 |
| Black-eyed peas | 19%1 |
| Control foods (no beans) | 3% to 11%1 |
The authors concluded worries about bean gas may be exaggerated, and that people respond differently to different beans.1
Does Beano help?
In a small trial, 19 people ate meatless chili with either an enzyme product (alpha-galactosidase, sold as Beano) or a placebo.3
The authors said it works “at least in some patients.”3
Practical steps
- Start small. Add a few spoonfuls and build up over a couple of weeks.
- Try different beans. Black-eyed peas caused the fewest complaints in the US studies.1
- Consider an enzyme with the first bite if gas is the main issue.3
- Track your own response; see how much gas is normal and digestive enzyme supplements.
Try: “I’d like to eat more beans for my heart, but I worry about gas at work. How should I add them, and is an enzyme product worth trying?”
Bloated by Dinner covers this in Chapter 5, “Ten to Twenty a Day,” in a section called “The Sheffield Beans.” Its Belly Clock logs meals and gas over one to two weeks, so you can see whether beans, or something else, lines up with your gassiest hours. See the book.
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It isn't a substitute for diagnosis or treatment from a qualified healthcare professional who knows your health history. See a doctor for gas or bloating with ongoing belly pain, a change in bowel habit, blood in your stool, weight loss you can't explain, or new symptoms after 50. Girl Playbook does not endorse any specific product, test, or provider.
Girl Playbook sells this book. It provides education and worksheets, not individualized medical care.
Sources
The research behind this article, in the order it’s cited. How we source our articles.
- Nutrition Journal (via PubMed Central), 2011Perceptions of flatulence from bean consumption among adults in 3 feeding studies (opens in a new tab)abcdefg
- Gut journal (via PubMed Central), 1991Investigation of normal flatus production in healthy volunteers (opens in a new tab)abcdef
- Journal of Family Practice (abstract via PubMed), 1994Does Beano prevent gas? A double-blind crossover study of oral alpha-galactosidase to treat dietary oligosaccharide intolerance (opens in a new tab)abcde
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