Question:
Why do certain foods cause malodorous gas?

Hi everyone. I did not sign my name because I'm WAY to embaressed to ask this with my name. But here it goes. Why after you eat "no-no" foods like fatty foods or candybars you have gas. Not only do you have gas, it smells something terrible. Why? Also, the same with your bowel movements. They smell something terrible if I eat those foods. Can someone please explain these embarrising questions to me. THANKS!!!!    — MissAuntieK (posted on December 13, 2000)

December 13, 2000
The odor has to do with mal-absorption. As these foods pass through your stomach and small intestine, they would normally get digested and absorbed into your blood stream. But, since you have some degree of mal-absorption due to your surgery, not all of the food gets absorbed. What is left over goes into your large intestine. In your large intestine, there is a large population of bacteria that will "eat" these leftovers. The bacteria produce waste products that include stinky gas and other stuff. (Even regular people have this problem sometimes, like if they eat beans. Beans have a carbohydrate in them that humans can't digest, so the bacteria in our large bowel get to eat it and produce gas.) So, anything you eat that doesn't get completely digested has the potential to give you gas. This will vary with the type of food and from person to person because different people have different types of bacteria in their bowel, and some bacteria prefer different types of nutrients over others. The best thing to do is learn to recognize those foods that cause you problems, and avoid them. You can also try taking activated carbon tablets to absorb some of the odor.
   — Lynn K.

September 8, 2006
While the amount of gas I have varies with the amount of certain vegetables (esp legumes) in my diet, the worst smells definitely ome from eating protein (which we avoid at our peril). How do I know this? I only began to have really stinky gas and BMs when I got my protein intake up to where it was supposed to be, in my fifth month post-op. I did some web research, and sure enough, protein digestion releases evil-smelling sulfides. Sulfides from a high protein diet are responsible for the smell of dog and cat poop and gas. It hit me- that's exactly what mine smell like, and the fact that it seems "inhuman" has been adding to my distress. I did more research to see what could be done about the smell (I CAN'T decrease my protein consumption), and the only thing that was reported to really help was taking some form of chlorophyll to neutralize the smell. Brain Flash! I have Nu-Greens in my fridge, and what are greens but chlorophyll? Guess what? I had some new greens and a Gas-X about two hours before a first date, and I didn't let one stinker (thank GOD!).
   — Anna W.