Why Does Protein Give You Gas?

And how low protein days could be beneficial.

Photo by LikeMeat on Unsplash

Do you know how everyone loves that person who can fumigate an entire room after they’ve had a protein shake? Maybe someone you love is constantly “passing gas,” causing you to seek shelter beneath your shirt. Maybe you’re that person. Or maybe mom just made her famous chili, and you have a 4-hour flight home the next day, and you’re already planning on blaming it on the baby in the seat behind you.

What is it about protein shakes or even just high-protein meals that can leave us full of gas? Why is it that every time you eat Mom’s chili, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the world knows? Does having gas mean something is wrong with your gut health? What are some remedies to help address this engine-blowing issue?

Gas Creation

No, not the product from Shell Oil that lets you drive around, but rather the gas and subsequent flatulence that our GI Tract creates. Gas in the gut comes from one of four sources (1):

1. Swallowed air and air mixed with food
2. Bacterial fermentation of food products — flatulence from what bacteria eat
3. Chemical reactions in the gut — food mixing with digestive juices
4. Diffusion of gases from the bloodstream — gases that travel from our blood into our gut and out of our backside

For our purposes, we will be referring to mostly numbers 2 & 3, as 75% of gas creation comes from bacterial fermentation (2).

Once you have a buildup of gas, sometimes it just becomes too uncomfortable to handle, and you feel like you have to let it out. Fortunately, most of us have a pretty high tolerance for gas build-up before we start to experience abdominal pain or discomfort (3). The human body is also tremendous at clearing gas, evident in the previously cited study where researchers infused gas into healthy subjects — imagine that plane ride — in a dose-dependent manner, and saw a dose-dependent gas clearance — aka the people who had more gas infused in them excreted more gas out.

Gas commonly occurs after a meal, as solid and liquid ingestion accelerates gas passage through the digestive tract. The major gases in flatus — the fancy medical term for farts — are Hydrogen (H2), Methane (CH4), Oxygen (O2), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and Nitrogen (N). Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is a less commonly produced gas, but when it is, everyone around you sure knows about it — it produces that classic ‘rotten egg’ smell.

Protein Digestion

Some people see gas after a high protein meal as a signal that the protein was not digested well… sort of. Protein consists of peptides and amino acids bonded together — amino acids are the building blocks for protein. Once you’ve had protein and it reaches the stomach, Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) is released, which turns on an enzyme called Pepsin to start breaking down the protein. Once that partially digested protein reaches the small intestine (SI), the pancreas secretes more enzymes to further break down the protein into single amino acids or several amino acids still bonded together (Tri- and Dipeptides). From this point, the amino acids should be absorbed in the small intestine.

Sometimes, for reasons we will discuss shortly, protein is not absorbed in the SI and makes its way to the large Intestine (LI). From there, our gut bugs can ferment the protein remnants. Gut bugs, particularly in the LI, normally ferment carbohydrates — like dietary fiber — as fuel. When our gut bacteria start to ferment protein rather than carbohydrates, some questionable compounds are made: ammonia, phenols, amines, and the previously mentioned Hydrogen Sulfide gas (4).

That is one of my concerns over the the carnivore diet craze, as we don’t have any long-term data on the effects of really high protein consumption — greater than 50% of calories — on the gut microbiome.

What’s Causing These Digestive Issues

As I previously mentioned, under ideal conditions, much of the protein we eat would be broken down and absorbed before making its way to the large intestine. To understand where problems arise, let’s reverse engineer and think back to how protein is digested:

• It starts in the stomach with HCl, so anything that causes low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria), such as acid-suppressing medications (Prilosec OTC, Omeprazole, Tums, H2 Blockers), H. Pylori infection, Pernicious Anemia and Autoimmune Gastritis (autoimmunity to cells in the stomach that produce HCL), and gastric bypass surgery can impair protein digestion.
• Pancreatic enzymes are also needed. Chronic pancreatitis (from alcoholism, certain medications, kidney failure, gallstones) and pancreatic insufficiency (from digestive conditions such as celiac, Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis, and IBS) can impair protein digestion and absorption. There’s even some evidence that Type II diabetics on Insulin see a reduction in the size of their pancreas, along with decreased enzyme production (5).

If you’ve been diagnosed with any of the above conditions, make sure you are speaking with your primary care provider about your treatment options. If you’re looking for protein digestion support, stay tuned for the next section, but I’d also recommend seeking out a practitioner with knowledge and experience in using nutritional and lifestyle support for overall gut function.

Support Options

Naturally, when people hear they are not producing enough of x, y, or z enzyme in the body, the logical next thought is, “I’ll just take it as a supplement!” In those with chronic pancreatitis (as a result of a rare genetic condition called Cystic Fibrosis), adding extra proteases (enzymes meant to break down protein) increased protein digestion and made their stools less odorous (6). AKA, the supplemental enzymes helped.

Gluten, the protein in wheat, barley, and rye, is often touted as problematic for many people. Some commercial products are marketed as being able to break down gluten and help with gluten intolerance/sensitivity issues. However, research shows these supplements may be unsuccessful (7). If you want to know more about the risks/benefits of gluten consumption, particularly for those with autoimmune conditions, check out this article.

From a nutritional standpoint, it might be as simple as you’re eating too much protein per sitting…crazy intelligent thought. But all kidding aside, if you currently eat two protein-heavy meals a day, spacing out your protein intake over three, maybe four meals will be enough to reduce the amount of unabsorbed protein in your colon — meaning less gas. If, however, you feel like you do a decent job at spacing out your protein over three-to-four meals, other nutritional strategies could be:

• Having a low protein day — either by only eating one meal that day or eating the same number of meals but cutting out your protein source. Ideally, this will give your digestive system a break from constantly digesting protein. If you think about it, our ancestors probably weren’t eating the same foods every day. Their diet would vary based on what was available to them. Sometimes, that would be low protein and high vegetables. Pro tip: If you’re going to incorporate this, I would double up on the vegetables and your overall fiber intake to support satiety.
• Creating a relaxing eating environment — with family or loved ones commenced with breath and prayer while being mindful of chewing your food.

Do I have any randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to back up the ladder two claims? Nop. But, the patients I work with have been fortunate enough to experience improved digestive symptoms when incorporating them.

Constantly having gas can really take away from one’s quality of life, making public outings awkward if you were to ever ‘let one rip.’ But know that gas isn’t something that should happen all the time and that there is a way to live gas-discomfort-free. If you’re struggling with a chronic gas problem, I’d recommend seeking a holistic practitioner with experience supporting patients’ digestive function. Shameless plug, that’s precisely my role at The HIVE Natural Health Center. You can click HERE to set up a free Discovery Call with me to go over your goals and for us to get to know each other.

As always, Trust in Your Gut.

Disclaimer: The guide's contents are for educational purposes only and are not meant to diagnose or treat any condition. Do not apply any of this information without first speaking with your licensed healthcare practitioner.

References

1. Levitt MD, Bond JH Jr. Volume, composition, and source of intestinal gas. Gastroenterology. 1970 Dec;59(6):921–9. PMID: 5486278.
2. Hasler WL. Gas and Bloating. Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2006;2(9):654–662.
3. Serra J, Azpiroz F, Malagelada J. Intestinal Gas Dynamics and Tolerance in Humans. Gastroenterology. 1998 Sept; 115(3): 542–550.
4. Yao C, Muir J, Gibson P. Review article: Insights into colonic protein fermentation, its modulation and potential health implications. Ali Pharm & Ther. 2016;43(2):181–196.
5. Silva MER, Vezozzo DP, Ursich MJM, Rocha DM, Cerri GG, Wajchenberg BL. Ultrasonographic abnormalities of the pancreas in IDDM and NIDDM patients. Diabetes Care. 1993; 16(9):1296– 1297. [PubMed: 8404436]
6. Morrison G, Morrison JM, Redmond AO, Byers CA, McCracken KJ, Dodge JA, Guilford SA, Bowden MW. Comparison between a standard pancreatic supplement and a high enzyme preparation in cystic fibrosis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 1992 Oct;6(5):549–55. doi: 10.1111/j.1365–2036.1992.tb00569.x. PMID: 1420747.
7. Janssen G, Christis C, Kooy-Winkelaar Y, Edens L, Smith D, van Veelen P, et al. Ineffective Degradation of Immunogenic Gluten Epitopes by Currently Available Digestive Enzyme Supplements. PLoS ONE. 2015 10(6): e0128065. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128065