Land of Oz

Beans + Beer = wooooo!

Richard L. Potts, M.D., addressed this problem in an article for Chile Pepper magazine, when I was the editor. "The combination of beans and beer tastes good to me--way too good," he wrote. "The problem is, a couple of hours later, it's rumble time, usually followed by eructation (belching), distention, and, eventually, dreaded flatulence. It's only a matter of time before the enzymes in my small intestine reject my beans and beer. They are unable to digest, chemically, all that I have consumed. A little further along, two non-absorbable carbohydrates face off against the intestinal bacteria down there in my large intestine. The resulting chemical clash produces various gasses in quantities large enough to inflate the Goodyear Blimp. Ever so slowly, the gas accumlates. It pushes outward. It meets resistance. The skin covering my belly stretches. My colon is swollen. The expansion continues as the gas seeks the path of least resistance, and with various embarrassing sounds, vents my body."