Enjoying a baseball game in the Summer at the ballpark is as American as apple pie. And speaking of apple pie, there are plenty of fans who enjoy the food just as much as the game — and maybe even a little more. However, the truth is that, though ballpark food favorites are delicious, they can be pretty bad when it comes to causing gas. These are the ballpark staples that could be behind your gas.
Ballpark Foods That Could Be Causing Gas
Peanuts
“Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack. . . ” Not so much. Crunching on this ballpark staple can cause gas because nuts are chock full of fiber and fat, so it takes longer for the body to digest them. The longer they take to work their way through the digestive system, the higher the odds are you’ll end up bloated and gassy. And if you opt for salted nuts, that can cause more water retention and bloating.
Ice Cream
This delicious way to cool off at the ballpark could be causing your gas. Dairy lactose is the culprit here, which can cause bloating, gas, and stomach aches even if you don’t have a problem processing all the sugar. Obviously, if you’re lactose intolerant the symptoms are a lot worse, but even if you don’t have the condition, lactose can still cause these issues.
Sugar-Free soda
This one is a threat in more ways than one. Many diet sodas contain fructose as a sweetener alternative to sugar, which can cause gas in the digestive tract. Plus, there’s the carbonation issue. Fizzy bubbles can be fun, but carbon dioxide gas can get trapped in your stomach and cause it to swell up. That means even seltzer and sparkling water are culprits.
Alcohol
We get it—baseball and beer go hand in hand. But you might want to ditch the booze at the ballpark if you want to avoid getting gassy. Research from the American College of Gastroenterology found that it only takes one drink per day for women and two for men to cause an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine, leading to gas as well as bloating, abdominal pain, constipation, and diarrhea. Plus, if you have a sweet drink like a piña colada, your body produces a gas to help digest it faster, so you’re in even more trouble.
If you still can’t resist these ballpark favorites, get some Gas-X to go along with them to stop gas and bloating fast.
