Can keto make you gassy?

Keto itself should not cause gas, but you may have preexisting gastrointestinal problems that do cause it.

Colon cells have “roots” that absorb the nutrients passing through the intestines. If you have pre-existing problems with your colon cells, they wouldn’t absorb nutrients and that would prevent the combination of certain enzymes with food particles to break down the food for absorption into the cells. You could end up having undigested food particles in the intestines. The undigested food then would either rot or ferment, causing gases.

Sources of this problem:

• Antibiotics – destroy some of your body’s microbes and cause the body to make more of the unfriendly microbes

• Antacids – when you lose the acidity of the stomach and as you age, you lose the stomach acids

• Junk food

• Small intestines (overgrowth of bacteria entering small intestines can cause gases)

Recommendation:

• Adjust the type of fiber that you consume

• Adjust the quantity of fiber – start with small amounts and gradually increase over time.