Why Am I Burping

Why Do I Keep Farting?

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Eating foods that may be harder to digest or taking certain medications can make you fart more often. Sometimes, frequent farting can occur with certain underlying health conditions or food intolerances.

Whether they’re loud or silent, stinky, or odorless, everyone farts. Doctors say the average person farts anywhere from 5 to 15 times per day. Farting is a normal part of digestion that reflects the activity of the bacteria in your gut. You might also notice that you fart more when you eat certain foods that are more difficult to digest, such as beans or raw vegetables.

While farting every day is normal, farting all the time is not. Excessive farting, also called flatulence, can make you feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. It might also be a sign of a health problem. You have excessive flatulence if you fart more than 20 times per day.

In most cases, excessive farting can be controlled with changes to your diet and lifestyle. But in some cases, it’s necessary to seek out medical attention. What should you do about your excessive flatulence? Here’s what you need to know:

As you swallow a piece of food, mouthful of water, or simply your own saliva, you also swallow some air. This air builds up in your digestive system. More gas builds up when you digest food. Your body works to get rid of this gas either by farting or burping.

All of this is normal. Your farts might be loud or silent. They might be stinky or they might be odorless. Stinky farts are often caused by:

eating high-fiber foods
having a food intolerance
taking certain medications such as antibiotics
being constipated
a bacterial buildup in your digestive tract

Very rarely, stinky farts are caused by colon cancer.

But what causes a person to fart more than usual? Some common causes include:

Hard-to-digest foods

Some foods are more difficult for your body to digest than others. These foods often contain high amounts of fiber or certain kinds of sugars that’re hard for the body to process. Some people may be more affected by some foods than others. Some foods that commonly cause excessive gas include:

beans
lentils
cabbage
broccoli
cauliflower
bok choy
Brussels sprouts
bran
dairy products containing lactose, such as milk or cheese
fructose, found in some fruits and often used as a sweetener in soft drinks and candy
sorbitol, a sugar substitute found in candies and artificial sweeteners
carbonated beverages, such as soda and beer
wheat

Digestive disorders

Some digestive disorders that cause excessive farting include:

autoimmune pancreatitis
celiac disease
Crohn’s disease
diabetes
dumping syndrome
eating disorders
gastroesophageal reflux disease
gastroparesis
inflammatory bowel disease
irritable bowel syndrome
lactose intolerance
peptic ulcer
ulcerative colitis

These digestive disorders interfere with normal digestion, placing stress on your digestive system, and often result in excessive farting.

Stress

Some people experience symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome — which includes excessive farting — when stressed. Some people may also engage in habits that cause excessive farting when they’re stressed, such as smoking, chewing gum, eating sweets or drinking alcohol.

Constipation

The more time food waste spends in your colon, the more time it has to ferment. This often leads to very frequent and stinky farts.

Changes in the amount or type of bacteria in your digestive tract

Antibiotics or consuming food tainted with bacteria can wreak havoc on your digestive tract, causing excessive farting.

Why Am I Burping?

A burp or belch can help ease an upset stomach. But if it happens often, it can be a sign of a health problem. If you burp a lot, it’s probably time to find out why.

Why Does It Happen?

When you swallow your food, it goes through a tube called your esophagus and into your stomach. There your body uses acid, bacteria, and chemicals called enzymes to break it down into nutrients it uses for energy.

What Causes It?

Carbonated beverages and swallowing air are the most common reasons people burp. Most of the time, that gas doesn’t make it to your stomach. Instead it stays trapped in your esophagus until it comes back up.

You’re more likely to swallow air and burp if you:

Chew gum
Smoke
Eat too quickly
Suck on hard candies
Have dentures that don’t fit right

Foods with a lot of fat or oil in them can cause heartburn. This also can make you burp. So can drinks with caffeine or alcohol.

When Is It a Problem?

Burping as many as four times after a meal is normal. But some illnesses can make you burp a lot more than that:

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), sometimes called acid reflux, happens when acid in your stomach flows back into your esophagus and causes heartburn. If you have this only occasionally, you can treat it with over-the-counter medicines. But if you have it a lot, you may need to make changes in your diet or take prescription drugs.
Indigestion, also called dyspepsia, causes pain or discomfort in your upper belly. It can come with belching, bloating, heartburn, nausea, or vomiting.
Gastritis happens when the lining of your stomach is irritated.
Helicobacter pylori is a kind of bacteria that can cause an infection in your stomach and lead to ulcers.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can also cause belly cramps, bloating, and diarrhea or constipation.

How Can I Stop Burping?

If you’re concerned about how much you burp, talk with your doctor. They might have some suggestions to help keep it from happening. They also may run tests to look for signs of a health problem.

If no medical issue is causing you to burp, you might try some of these:

Eat or drink more slowly. You’re less likely to swallow air.
Don’t eat things like broccoli, cabbage, beans, or dairy products. They can lead to gas in your stomach or intestines and make you burp.
Stay away from soda and beer.
Don’t chew gum.
Stop smoking. Your doctor will give you lots of reasons to do this, but it also can help cut down on how much you burp.
Take a walk after eating. A bit of exercise can help your digestion.
Take an antacid.

Show Sources

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

The Mayo Clinic: “Belching, intestinal gas and bloating.”

The Cleveland Clinic: “Gas.”

University of Michigan Health Library: “Gas, Bloating, and Burping.”

International Foundation for Functional Intestinal Disorders: “About GERD.”

American Family Physician: “Evaluation and Management of Dyspepsia.”

Indiana University Health Center: “What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?”

American College of Gastroenterology: “Belching, Bloating, and Flatulence.”

What to know about excessive burping

There is no single definition of excessive burping, but if a person thinks that they are burping far more than usual, they might feel as though they are burping excessively.

A burp is a normal bodily function that occurs when the body releases excess air from the digestive tract through the mouth. The air typically enters the digestive tract when a person eats or drinks.

Excessive burping is often due to the foods and drinks that a person consumes. It can also result from behavioral conditions, such as aerophagia and supragastric belching, or issues relating to the digestive tract, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

If a person feels as though they are burping excessively, their diet may be to blame. Some foods and beverages can make a person burp more than others. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) , these include:

chewing gum
hard candy
fizzy beverages

Chewing gum and sucking on hard candy make it more likely that a person will swallow air, while fizzy drinks release carbon dioxide in the form of bubbles, which a person then burps out.

The NIDDK also note that eating or drinking quickly can make a person swallow more air than they otherwise would. Smoking and wearing loose-fitting dentures can also increase the amount of air that a person swallows.

People who believe that they are burping more because of their diet or way of eating may find it helpful to keep a diary detailing what and how they are eating and drinking.

They can then check to see if there is a relationship between their excessive burping and their dietary behaviors or choice of foods.

The NIDDK suggest that a person should also try eating and drinking more slowly to avoid swallowing more air.

Aerophagia and supragastric belching are conditions in which a person moves air into their esophagus, either consciously or unconsciously.

According to an article in the journal Case Reports in Gastroenterology, aerophagia is when a person frequently swallows air. This air enters a person’s stomach, which either releases it as a burp or moves it into the intestines.

Conversely, supragastic belching occurs when the esophagus immediately releases the air before a person swallows it and it enters the stomach.

Both aerophagia and supragastric belching can result in a person burping frequently.

It is not clear what causes aerophagia and supragastric belching. The author of an article in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology suggests that they may be methods of relieving the symptoms of a bloated stomach or might relate to psychological factors.

Although there is not much research on how best to treat aerophagia and supragastric belching, the author states that speech or behavioral therapies may help a person stop the behavior that causes excess air to enter their esophagus.

GERD may cause a person to burp more frequently.

When the sphincter at the top of a person’s stomach becomes weak, this can allow stomach acid to pass into a person’s esophagus, which may cause them to burp more often.

GERD might also have links with supragastric belching. Some scientists believe that a person with GERD may force air down their esophagus either consciously or unconsciously as a way of relieving their symptoms.

Treating the symptoms of GERD may help a person burp less frequently. According to the NIDDK , a doctor may advise a person with GERD to make changes to their lifestyle, such as losing weight or stopping smoking, or they may prescribe medications, such as antacids.

Share on Pinterest A person should speak to a doctor if excessive burping affects the quality of their life.

A person who burps frequently but experiences no other symptoms and does not find that burping affects their quality of life does not need to see a doctor.

If a person’s excessive burping is bothersome, but they have no other symptoms, keeping a food diary to track what food or drink triggers the burping may be enough to reduce it.

If this does not make any difference and the excessive burping is still affecting their quality of life, a person should speak to a doctor in case aerophagia or supragastric belching is responsible for this symptom. Different forms of therapy may help reduce both of these conditions.

If a person has other symptoms, such as pain in their abdomen, nausea, or pain when swallowing, they should speak to a doctor, who can determine the underlying cause of these symptoms.

Taking simple steps at home may be enough to reduce a person’s excessive burping. However, if this does not work or a person has any other symptoms, they should speak to a doctor.

Once a doctor has worked out what the underlying cause of a person’s excessive burping is, they can determine the most effective treatment and management options.

Last medically reviewed on May 7, 2019

Acid Reflux / GERD
GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology
Nutrition / Diet

How we reviewed this article:

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Acid reflux (GER & GERD) in adults. (n.d.).
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/acid-reflux-ger-gerd-adults
Bredenoord, A. J. (2013). Management of belching, hiccups, and aerophagia.
https://www.cghjournal.org/article/S1542-3565(12)01047-6/fulltext
Gas in the digestive tract. (n.d.).
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/gas-digestive-tract
Morabito, G., et al. (2014). Functional aerophagia in children: A frequent, atypical disorder.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/362441