Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pet lover]

I turned from a carnivore to a vegan last week and the transition is killing me, and soon, my students. We are talking about farts to rival all the farts in the world. We are talking sleeping with the window open despite below freezing temperatures because of a fear of dying from inhaling the farts. It hit me during the weekend. It was so bad that the dogs kept leaving the room. Actually, so did I. Back and forth, holding my breath, leaning out the window, five scented candles, misery. Today, luckily, the ungodly stench is gone, but I still have major gas. I nearly exploded today after the last class...holding them in for so long had me in severe pain, but there was no choice. Teachers don't fart. Not unless they want to be giggled about for a long time to come.

Anyway, to get to my point, I NEED something like Bean-O or however that is spelled. The stench could come back tomorrow and there will be kindy kid bodies strewn all over my classroom, writhing with severe nostril pain from inhaling. There is also the chance that my waist of my pants will rip right open because of all the holding in I try to do....wow do I ever swell up.

HELP PLEASE! Go ahead and make bad jokes, poke fun, whatever, but PLEASE also include some informative advice that will actually help.

[casey's moon]

Carnivore to vegan? Sounds a little abrupt... no? Anyway, I don't have an exact answer for your question -- I'm guessing there is nothing like Beano in Korea. I would suggest that you try chewing your food a lot more thoroughly than you usually do, at least while you're still adjusting. Try to make your meal time take longer. Also, try reading online about which foods are gassiest, and avoid those at first, then slowly introduce them to your system. I haven't had your problem exactly, but I've had stomach pains on and off for years and have done a lot of reading about such things. Oh yeah, and try ending your meals with some cinnamon tea. After yogurt (not ok if you're vegan, I guess) it's one of the best things to help digestion. Good luck!!!

[pet lover]

Cinnamon tea? I even love cinnamon! Going to go drink a gallon right now.

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

Whatever you do, don't hold your farts in. Theoretically, that can be fatal.

Read this:

http://archive.salon.com/health/feature/2000/02/24/farts/

Sparkles*_*

[endofthewor1d]

try meat.

[peppermint]

If you're cooking a lot with canned beans, rinse them thouroughly- it helps a lot. If you're starting with dried beans (great way to save money) don't cook with the soaking water. This should help a little.

[pet lover]

I am terrified of introducing beans into my diet at this point!! I'm eating lots of veggies, fruit, tofu (ah, there are the beans!), pasta, mushrooms and lots of grains. This is a big change from my mainly meat and rice diet. I didn't eat veggies before and I was really lazy about fruit. All that cutting, and peeling and slicing was just too tiring for me. Now I'm a slave to my ingredients.

On the bright side: a co-worker told me that beano is made from seaweed! I'm posting this for future generations of mega-farters. AND, I'm inclined to really believe that just plain eating seaweed helps because on Sunday night, I ate lots and lots of seaweed. Monday morning, I was fine....till I ate lunch. Same thing today. Actually, today was not nearly as bad as yesterday--I think that leaving the garlic out of my meal helped. On Monday, I ate about five cloves of nearly raw garlic with my lunch. (I LOVE garlic.)

So, for those FMFs out there (Future Mega Farters), here are some tips:

1. Eat lots and lots of seaweed.
2. Cut down or eliminate the garlic.
3. Remember that tofu is made from beans, which is where farts come from.
4. It's hard to blame the dog when neither of them will stay in the same room as you.
5. I've also heard (but can't find mine so can't try yet) that acidophilus helps. I also can't spell that because I can't find my bottle with the handy dandy label.
6. Try not to move much at all when in public. Chasing kids around just brings it all up (or is it down?) to the surface.
7. Even if you are not sure that cinnamon is helping you, drink it anyway because it's delicious.
8. Wearing a scented panty-liner is NOT really going to make a difference.

[peppermint]

Now we're getting to the root of the problem. Your body is overloading on all the fiber. Baby steps girl, baby steps. I've been vegetarian for over 8 years now- your body will adjust, but you've gotta take it slow.

[eamo]

Let your farts free!!!

Shouldn't you change your login to Bean-lover!!

Sorry, but I have no sympathy with vegans. You want natural? Then eat meat. It's natural for humans to eat meat. Ask your great multiplied by 1000 grandparents.

[pet lover]

Eamo, I became meat and dairy free because I was tired of always being sick, feeling run down, and especially, being sick after every meal. Guess what? I am most likely lactose intolerent and I never knew it until I gave up dairy! Now, after I eat a meal, I do not feel heavy or like I need to throw up. I feel good. Except for the farts, I feel MUCH MUCH MUCH better than before.

But, I still eat honey. I'm not giving that up. And I haven't thrown away my leather shoes or any other clothes made from animal products. And my dogs still eat meat for every meal.

This is a health thing, okay? Don't diss me for wanting to be healthy, vs. sick.

[marlow]

Most often vegetarianism equals healthy. A person can be vegetarian and eat chips and candy everyday. However, often when someone switches they start eating very healthy foods for fear of not getting proper nutrients otherwise. I'm sure if pet lover ate meat along with what she is eating now, she would still have gas.

When I was a vegetarian (a four month experiment that ended in dismal failure), I had a very healthy grain and vegetable loaded diet. I continued that, and just reintroduced meat. When I had made the switch to vegetarianism I became very conscious of what I was eating, because I was scared of not getting proper amino acids and such.

[keithinkorea]

Teachers do fart in class. The trick is to blame it on one of the kids Never fails!

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

[pet lover]

There is nothing silent about my farts. They announce themselves with gusto. Luckily, the seaweed trick seems to be working and the stench is nearly gone and the frequency has gone way down. It's now manageable.

I can't possibly blame it on another student. They are too loud to possibly pass off as coming from another direction.

[casey's moon]

sorry the cinnamon tea didn't help (glad it is delicious anyway), but at least the seaweed is doing the trick! and my dog says hi to your dogs!