You pouch has probably reached maturity and is now more capable of dealing with new foods like salads etc...If I were you, I would test a small quantity of beans (1 sort of bean at a time...they are all different and may need different treatments to make they digestible for you), alone, and see how you do with them and then integrate the beans with either tomatoes or tomato sauce (they marry well together) and see how you do...it is a real question of food combining...bean are protiens and shouldn't be mixed with other protiens so avoid eggs, cheeses, chicken etc with them as well as breads, potatoes or rice and you may be able to avoid the gas.
Sharon
ps, beano is a digestive enzyme if I am not wrong and honestly, couldn't hurt.

can you please explain why proteins shouldn't be mixed together?

can someone point me in the direction of good reference reading on food combining? that is interesting.

Gee, I eat beans all the time, with and without animal protein. I put them in my soups and salads that I eat practically every day. Don't have any problems with them. I only get excess gas if I eat a huge bowl of chili, or something similar, but nothing I caanot manage.

Back when I was in school and taking nutrition courses, they never said a thing about combining proteins, other than if you were going vegetarian, you should combine your plant proteins, because most plant proteins are not complete. But, nowadays, they have found that as long as you mix it up in general, you don't need to combine in the same meal.

I know there is some diet thing where they have rules about food combining, but I've never heard of any science to it. It is for weight loss and does not work any better than any other diet. It mostly forces you to pay attention to what you are eating by having strict rules. It can't hurt you though. Just Google food combining diet and you will find a lot.

And does Beano work? It depends on whether the enzyme you don't have enough of is the one in Beano.

Jan

I discovered food combining in 91 when I read a book about it...I had had my pouch for about 12yrs and had had quite a bit of pouchitis and other 'functional' problems...I started to read the book and spent about 48hrs doing a liquid fast (water, coffee, tea, juice etc) and then started seperating my protiens and carbs (eating protien OR carb meals but not both at once) and only eating fruits in the morning, as afternoon snack or before bedtime but not during or after meals...I understood the principals of digestion and the processes so not mixing made some sense to me...
I made a great discovery once I started...I seemed to digest better, easier and with fewer problems when it came to my fruits and veggies...
This is not a suggestion for others to follow this...it works for me but does not mean that it will for you...I just seem to find that the system is pouch friendly for My pouch...I have fewer difficulties with othewise unfriendly foods if I respect the rules...which I don't do as much now...I don't use it for weight loss (that would be too easy!)
PM me if you want more info or details...
Sharon

I eat the crap out of hummus and regular chick peas. Only reason I avoid black beans it the skin doesn't digest to well for me to poop out of a tube. Otherwise I am good to go on beans and I don't use beano.

I eat lots of beans as well. Sometimes they create gas, sometimes they don't. Typically the gas they do produce isn't severe, though.

I've used beano in the past, but I think the all-purpose digestive enzyme I now use (wholezyme from Whole Foods) works best - I take one with dinner every night.

I've tried Beano and Gas-x with great hope that they would lessen my sometimes excruciating gas, but I've only been let down. I guess it's like Jan says, it might be the enzyme you need so it's definitely worth a try. Best of luck to you--may your results be better than mine!

Jeff

It's not actually true that anti-gas pills weren't made for j-pouches. They are made for those who have gas issues whether or not one has a colon or not. Many people on this site have found that Beano helps with gas. It seems Beano is usually more effective as gets rid of gas while Gas-X just gathers the small gas bubbles into larger gas bubbles so the groupy gas gang can be burped out.

You should give each a try and see if either works for you. You should try one at a time so it's clear which one works or doesn't work. And you should give it a while to see if you get results.

kathy

That is correct. Anti-gas products were not made for j-pouches, but they weren't made for colons either. They are made for gastrointestinal gas. The pills don't care if you have a colon or not, particularly since that is not where they work primarily (if they are going to work).

Same with digestive enzymes like Beano.

You just have to experiment. There really are no "pouch specific" medications.

Jan