Burps, burps, breaking wind – everyone does it. And more often than you might think: The average person burps 30 times a day; and with passing wind, while eight to fifteen times is average, anything up to 25 times is perfectly normal.
In either case, it can be so subtle that you don’t notice it. But for some people it can be a problem, usually because it’s too frequent, uncontrollable or sharp!
However, there are steps you can take to curb these problems.
First, regurgitation: This is essentially the body’s way of getting rid of the excess air that ends up in the esophagus instead of the airways.
We all do this to some degree when eating or speaking, but some people swallow too much. This is called aerophagia.
The average person burps 30 times a day; and with passing wind, while eight to fifteen times is average, anything up to 25 times is perfectly normal
Studies suggest that people who suffer from acid indigestion or indigestion may burp much more often
Fast eaters are prone to this. Poorly fitting dentures can also cause it because you take in more air when you swallow food, like chewing gum.
However, excessive belching can also be a sign of an underlying health condition.
Inflammation of the stomach lining can cause more belching, and studies suggest that people who suffer from acid reflux or indigestion also tend to swallow more air, and therefore burp more. This is because these uncomfortable sensations in the gut cause altered breathing mechanisms that cause people to breathe in more air.
One way to combat this is with diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing. It only takes five to 10 minutes a day and works by using the right muscles when you breathe to prevent air from entering the esophagus.
In a study published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology in 2017, 80 percent of patients with acid reflux and excessive belching who practiced abdominal breathing daily for four weeks saw significant improvement, compared to only 19 percent in a control group.
To do abdominal breathing, sit or lie down, then place one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach. Inhale through your nose for about four seconds and feel your belly expand. Hold your breath for two seconds. Then exhale slowly through your mouth for about six seconds and repeat for five to fifteen minutes.
When it comes to flatulence, I want to emphasize that this is nothing to be ashamed of and it would even be unhealthy not to pass wind. It’s a sign that your gut bacteria are doing their job, breaking down food that can’t be digested elsewhere. A by-product of this process is gas, which then has to escape somewhere.
One concern people have is the smell. I have seen clients whose gas has a room-clearing intensity. It doesn’t have to be, because 99 percent of the gas produced by our gut bugs—hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane—is odorless. The smell comes from sulfur-containing compounds, especially hydrogen sulfide gas.
And how much of it you emit is determined by your diet. Sulfur sources include meat, chicken, eggs, some beer and wine additives, and protein supplements (see recipe below).
Another type of sulfur comes from vegetables such as broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, garlic, onion and leek. However, studies show that vegetables have less odor potential than other sulfur sources.
So if you’re worried about the smell of your wind, try cutting back on meat, beer, and wine, but not your veggies, for two weeks. There’s even a reason to increase your veggies since your bacteria prefer fiber: The more of this they get, the less they’ll ferment the potentially stinky protein in your diet. For some people, it’s not the smell but the frequency that bothers them. Excessive flatulence can be the result of overfeeding your gut bacteria. This can happen if, for example, you suffer from a traveler’s stomach.
In this case, food passes through your gut faster than normal, meaning that by the time it reaches your gut microbes (which usually live in the last five feet of your 30-foot-long gut), it hasn’t been digested as well as it should. has to be. This gives the bacteria more to snack on, so more gas.
This can also happen if you have a food intolerance, for example to lactose (the sugar in milk).
Because you lack the enzyme that breaks down lactose, the gut microbes are hit with high amounts of it, leading to a nutritional frenzy — and lots of gas.
Increasing your fiber intake too quickly can have a similar effect, giving your gut microbes enough to eat.
The fiber-induced gas normally needs to be pushed into the bloodstream and circulated that way. But if you’re not used to eating a lot of fiber, this mechanism won’t work properly (your gut needs time to build up its efficiency) and the gas will be expelled as flatulence.
Don’t let this put you off following a high fiber diet as it has many health benefits – just slow down the rate at which you add it. Think of it like a marathon, not a sprint: your gut is in training.
In addition, eating more fiber can counteract flatulence in the long run, as it helps reduce the risk of constipation (if food continues to ferment in the colon, it ferments more than usual, causing excessive flatulence). Excessive flatulence and bloating are also symptoms of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), in which bacteria that normally live lower in the gut creep up higher, meaning they can feast on food before it is broken down.
SIBO is more common in people with diabetes because they have a higher risk of bowel dysfunction due to damaged nerves in the intestines.
In the clinic, we usually diagnose SIBO with a breath test that detects excess hydrogen production, along with a symptom diary kept by the patient.
And finally, some people struggle with not being able to control their wind when socially appropriate, called flatulence incontinence.
One possible remedy for this is pelvic floor exercises, which can give you a little more control over the anal sphincter (the muscle that controls the release of wind).
This involves first tightening your back passage as if you were stopping gas escaping. Then extend that contraction forward as if you were trying to stop the flow of urine. Your pelvic floor muscles are now tense. Now squeeze this muscle and hold for ten seconds, before releasing and repeating (or hold for three seconds if ten is too hard at first, and work your way up).
Repeat five times, then try ten quick snaps, flexing your muscles back and forth quickly (this works a different type of pelvic floor muscle). Do this preferably once a day.
Like diaphragmatic breathing for belching, pelvic floor exercises are a simple measure with a big payoff.
TRY THIS: Coconut & cocoa bites
Rich in plant-based protein and fiber, these are a great mid-morning or post-workout snack, minus the unwanted sulfur load you might get from protein bars.
Makes 10
- ¾ cup nut butter of your choice
- 3 Medjoul dates, pressed into a paste with ¼ cup boiling water, or 1/4 cup sweetener of choice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- ¼ cup dark choc chips
- 3 tbsp grated coconut
Put the nut butter, date paste, vanilla extract and cocoa in a bowl and stir to mix well. Form the mixture into a large, smooth ball of dough. Tear off small pieces to make ten bite-sized balls. Freeze for 30 minutes to set the dough balls. Add the chocolate chips to a heatproof bowl and melt slowly in the microwave or over a pan of hot water, stirring every 15 seconds until smooth.
Dip the frozen bites in the melted chocolate and sprinkle with the grated coconut. (For extra plant intake, add additional toppings such as chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or ground almonds.) Return to the freezer to set the chocolate and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Sprinkle the bars with sprinkle with the grated coconut
ASK Megan
I just received the results of a food intolerance antibody test. Are these tests accurate as it seems to reflect a high intolerance to certain foods I eat frequently (e.g. ginger root, sweet potato, almonds, kiwi, eggs and dairy).
Sandra Eels, E. Sussex.
Despite the persuasive marketing claims, there is no valid test for food intolerances (other than lactose).
And I’d be especially wary of scientific-sounding “IgG tests,” where a sample of your blood is exposed to various foods and the resulting antibody (IgG) is measured. Unlike IgE tests, which are valid for diagnosing certain allergies, most of us will actually develop IgG antibodies to food during our lifetime, without any symptoms.
So, as you discovered, the IgG is an indicator of repeated exposure, not a food intolerance. Therefore, I wouldn’t let those results influence your food choices.
In clinical practice, we follow a three-step approach to diagnosis, which I call the 3Rs: recording your food intake and symptoms; mitigation of suspected culprits; and finally, reintroducing these foods.
Contact Megan Rossi
Email drmegan@dailymail.co.uk or write to Good Health, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY — please include contact details. Dr. Megan Rossi cannot comment on personal correspondence. Answers should be taken in a general context; Always consult your doctor in case of health problems