UPDATE!! Fennel is great and I will continue to consume it, but it seems papaya fruit and papain (the powdered enzyme from papaya) are much more effective in dealing with my flatulence. To read my papya article, go here
Along with today's current powderkeg issues with Iran, North Korea, Terrorism, a failing economy, The "Occupy Protests", there is another big problem that, unless it is properly addressed, mankind cannot move forward. That is the issue of flatulence, or the more common word which I will only use once in this article, "gas".
For me, I have had this issue for years, especially since I eat a lot of veggies and still some dairy on my Whole Foods Pizza, but fresh fennel has seemed to bring instant and hopefully permanent relief to this age old issue.
My research on the subject seems to state that to use fennel for this type of problem, either brew a fennel tea or eat fennel seeds. Fortunately, some remedies also mentioned straight, fresh fennel, so I went for that more practical approach. Fennel looks like a cross between a huge scallion onion, celery, and the leaves of a fern tree. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the fastest way to get a new fruit, veggie, or superfood into your diet it to throw it straight into the smoothie. Since my smoothies now contain kale, spinach, orange bell peppers, broccoli stems, the fennel works great preventing any gas because sometimes I can overload the smoothie which is very nutrient dense. I throw a stalk of the fennel straight into the blender, pure simplicity.
Chopped Fennel leaves as a green garnish over a pizza slice does the trick
When I eat my frequent Whole Foods Pizza slices, the green little fern-like branches of the fennel stalk work very well diced up as a green garnish topping for the pizza.
I ate a slice of Whole Foods pizza while I was writing this article, and the fennel solution is working great. Often, my late night meal consists of Wild Caught Salmon and Organic Corkscrew pasta with my home made Olive Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar dressing. The white fennel bulbs work exceptionally well. I cut them up into a shoestring-like mini slaw, add a few shredded carrots, although most times they work as a stand alone side. Fennel has a very pleasing minty, liquorice kind of taste, very good when I pour a little salad dressing, sprinkle some coarse ground black pepper and some Pink Himalayan salt. I find it works best when I use a generous amount of fennel, but it's great taste make it a very pleasing new addition to my raw veggies.
As I have said a few times, I really find a sense of accomplishment when I find, try, execute, and succeed at some home remedy to some ailment or issue, and I am really happy I tried this one, because of the simplicity of adding it to my diet and the immediate results. I don't I have the ability to resolve the growing USA/North Korea conflict, but I have done my bit today with fennel to solve one of burdensome problems plaguing mankind.
Update to article on 3/25/2012. I can attest for sure to the fact that fennel does work for gas relief, since several times I have run out or simply forgot to cut up some for my plate, and that gas and bloating came back. Also I noticed that when I bought some non-organic fennel from Trader Joes, it did not work as well as the organic fennel from Whole Foods. ~dw~
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