Raffinose is on the nose, and why beans make people fart...
Raffinose is is a complex carbohydrate (a trisaccharide made up of galactose, fructose, and glucose - which are sugars).
Raffinose is present in beans and brassicas (cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli), and whole grains.
Usually, raffinose is broken down by an enzyme called alpha galactosidase.
Humans and other animals with one stomach (not ruminants like cows and sheep) don't have the enzyme, so the raffinose doesn't get digested by the stomach and upper intestine.
When the raffinose from beans and other vegetables get to the lower intestine, they come into contact with bacteria which makes it ferment resulting in the production of carbon dioxide, methane and/or hydrogen.
Obviously, this gas needs to escape and usually this is by farting.
Reuters has recently reported that beans can be pre-fermented before cooking to lessen the fart factor. Duh!
See - 'Study shows secret to gas-free beans' Reuters, 26 April 2006.
If you must eat beans including soy, don't give it to the cat.
I have no explanation for farting dogs.
*As always, please check out Cooper and Camilla who always have interesting things to say.
.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo........
My human got home just a few minutes past my dinner time and I meowed and meowed at him as he put the key in the door. He thought I was greeting him (like my brother Fatty used to), but I was yelling at him hurry up.
He finally changed the oven light. I watched him the last few days struggling to do it. First he couldn't undo the oven light cover. He even went to buy a long nose pliar, but that didn't work, but he did eventually get the cover off. When he did so, he found that he had bought the wrong light bulb. When he finally did it this evening, you'd think he'd won an Olympic gold medal!
Anyway, I'm happy as he bought a small cheap piece of pork (enough for dinner and for sandwich lunch the next day) which he roasted for dinner, and I was given some, but only after I had eaten most of my usual raw chicken wing.
He also spent too much time in the kitchen tonight, when all I wanted to do was lie on his lap. It's not too much to ask is it?
keisercat@wildmail.com
Raffinose is present in beans and brassicas (cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli), and whole grains.
Usually, raffinose is broken down by an enzyme called alpha galactosidase.
Humans and other animals with one stomach (not ruminants like cows and sheep) don't have the enzyme, so the raffinose doesn't get digested by the stomach and upper intestine.
When the raffinose from beans and other vegetables get to the lower intestine, they come into contact with bacteria which makes it ferment resulting in the production of carbon dioxide, methane and/or hydrogen.
Obviously, this gas needs to escape and usually this is by farting.
Reuters has recently reported that beans can be pre-fermented before cooking to lessen the fart factor. Duh!
See - 'Study shows secret to gas-free beans' Reuters, 26 April 2006.
If you must eat beans including soy, don't give it to the cat.
I have no explanation for farting dogs.
*As always, please check out Cooper and Camilla who always have interesting things to say.
.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo........
My human got home just a few minutes past my dinner time and I meowed and meowed at him as he put the key in the door. He thought I was greeting him (like my brother Fatty used to), but I was yelling at him hurry up.
He finally changed the oven light. I watched him the last few days struggling to do it. First he couldn't undo the oven light cover. He even went to buy a long nose pliar, but that didn't work, but he did eventually get the cover off. When he did so, he found that he had bought the wrong light bulb. When he finally did it this evening, you'd think he'd won an Olympic gold medal!
Anyway, I'm happy as he bought a small cheap piece of pork (enough for dinner and for sandwich lunch the next day) which he roasted for dinner, and I was given some, but only after I had eaten most of my usual raw chicken wing.
He also spent too much time in the kitchen tonight, when all I wanted to do was lie on his lap. It's not too much to ask is it?
keisercat@wildmail.com
posted by Keiser at 21:30
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