Good question. I took another look at my health guides...

"Fibrous (high fiber) foods like dried beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and bran can be culprits in producing gas when undigested bits of carbohydrates reach the large intestine and are fermented by gas-producing bacteria." (PacifiCare health plan newsletter) Meats have little dietary fiber.

"The problem with foods such as beans and other legumes, and cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage, is that these foods contain hard-to-digest sugars. When these sugars reach your intestines, they can produce gas, dirarrhea and other unpleasant symptoms." (Prevention health magazine) Meats contain few such sugars, although processed meats (lunch meats, hot dogs, sausage, etc.,) may have various ingredients added.

But one anecdotal tidbit involves sulfur. Since hydrogen sulfide is a primary component of flatulence, one might wonder which foods contain high sulfur. You've gotta start with a sulfur compound of some sort to wind up with hydrogen sulfide -- the sulfur has to come from somewhere. From a Dr. Earl Mindell book I have, with numbers (mg sulfur per 100 g food) added from a British health guide, the "best natural sources" of sulfur include "beef 200-330 mg, dried beans 170 mg, fish 200-300 mg, eggs 180 mg, and cabbage ? mg." So this is interesting in that beef (and all meats in general) have relatively high sulfur, as do beans and cabbage.

So, yes, this sulfur component might suggest a connection between meats and gas, although the connection wouldn't be nearly as strong as with legumes or cruciferous vegetables since they ALSO have issues with high fibers and indigestible sugars.

Note that fibers in the diet, while very important to gut health, ironically can CAUSE gas, at least when added abruptly, as opposed to gradually. But sufficient fiber is CRITICAL to promoting beneficial bacteria in the gut, with low-fiber diets sometimes resulting in candida, parasites, or other WORSE gas situtations. Ensuring a high population of beneficial bifido bacteria in the colon can limit gas production since an overpopulaton of the bad bacterias tends to output additional (and often malodorous) gas. Fiber is most definitely your friend -- just add it slowly and try different types to find those which cause you the least gas.