Does Your Energy Bar Give You Gas?
There are many causes of gas, including swallowing air, IBS, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, antibiotics, laxatives, constipation and food intolerances. Guess what ingredient in energy bars may be problematic for some people – carbohydrates! Certain carbohydrates are not digested or absorbed well in the small intestines. Once the carb travels into the large intestine, bacteria that live in large intestine eat the carbohydrate and gas is formed. Bloating, constipation and diarrhea can also occur. This mainly happens with people who have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but can happen to anyone. Unfortunately, some healthy foods such as dates, are often the worst offenders. Keep in mind once you’ve eaten the culprit it, can take many hours for the symptoms to occur. This can sometimes make it difficult to assess the problematic ingredient!
Potentially gas causing ingredients
Common culprits are carbohydrates called FODMAPS. This is an acronym for Fermentable, Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols. Stay tuned for a blog post on FODMAPS! The following carbohydrates are FODMAPS frequently found in energy bars. Keep in mind that many of these ingredients are quite healthy – but may cause symptoms in some people. The ingredients with a star tend to cause the most problems.
agave
fruit juice concentrate (pear, apple)
apples
honey
Larabar is a very healthy bar and contains only natural ingredients. However some of these ingredients, namely dates in this example (Carrot Cake) may cause some problems for some people.
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