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Pictured Recipe:Slow-Cooker Mushroom Soup with Sherry
You expect beans to do it. Maybe broccoli. Or, if you’relactose-intolerant, ice cream too. But mushrooms? For some people, they find the fungi gives them a serious case of flatulence.
What might be going on? And, do you have to totally avoid them now to stop the gas?
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They’re a FODMAP-containing food
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FODMAPs are of particular concern if you haveirritable bowel syndrome(IBS), which affects 1 in 7 adults, according toMonash University researchers. Avoiding or limiting certain FODMAP foods is one way to reduce GI symptoms.
They may be high in mannitol
Guess what: Some of the more popular varieties of mushrooms have high levels of mannitol, which is asugar alcoholfrom the polyol family that’s found in many fruits and veggies, says Binder-McAsey. Who would have thought? Farting is a potential side effect, yes, but you may also notice diarrhea: “Mannitol, in particular, can pull water into the large intestine, causing looser stools,” she says.
You’re eating too many higher-FODMAP mushrooms
Pictured Recipe:Vegan Scallops
How mushrooms affect you can also depend on what type you’re eating. Common varieties, like button, portobello, and shiitake, are on the list of higher-FODMAP foods that are more likely to trigger GI issues, explains Binder-McAsey. If you notice that you’re farting a lot after mushroom eating, you have two options: Eat a smaller portion of mushrooms or switch to eating lower-FODMAP mushrooms, which include oyster mushrooms, she says. Canned mushrooms are also lower-FODMAP, according to testing fromMonash University, making them a good substitute when cooking.
Maybe it’s not actually mushrooms causing the flatulence?
Of course, there could be something else going on entirely. If you’re clearing a room after a pizza topped with mushrooms, also consider that it could be something else in the pizza, like the cheese, that your GI system is having a tough time with. To find out if mushrooms are truly the culprit, Binder-McAsey recommendsavoiding them completelyfor a few weeks. Then, slowly incorporate them back into your diet (try cooked first and then raw, as cooked may be gentler on digestion) and check in with yourself about how you’re feeling.
Flatulence can also vary depending on what other foods you ate that day and how much, adds Binder-McAsey. For instance, a stir-fry with loads of mushrooms, broccoli and cabbage might trigger gas more than a sprinkling of a few sliced ‘shrooms atop a salad.
The bottom line
Ultimately, mushrooms, like most higher-FODMAP foods, are healthy and keep yourgut healthytoo, says Binder-McAsey. Benefits of mushrooms may include lowering cholesterol, strengthening the immune system and fighting cancer and they provide important prebiotics that improve gut health, points out a research review in theInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences. (Prebiotics are the food for probiotics.) If you like mushrooms and you can eat them without problem, then you should include them in your diet. If they give you gas, then it may be worth it to figure out if there are ways you can comfortably eat them to snatch up their benefits—and feel good, too.
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