Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH
Aside from the social embarrassment of belching and passing gas,
excessive gas in your stomach can be rather painful.
If you experience this common digestive health concern,
your first step in treating it is to find the cause.
Excessive Gas Types and Symptoms
Many terms are used to describe excessive gas: burping, belching,
flatulence,
bloating. “Most of them are synonyms and describe whether
the gas exits from
the top or bottom of the gastrointestinal tract,”
says Stephen Bickston, MD,
professor of internal medicine and director
of the inflammatory bowel disease
program at Virginia Commonwealth
University Health Center in Richmond, Va.
For example, burping and belching usually refer to gas that escapes
from the mouth
while flatulence, or farting, is intestinal gas that
escapes from the rectum.
Bloating is used to describe the sensation of
excess stomach gas that has not yet been released.
Some gas after eating — and releasing it through belching or
flatulence — is normal.
According to the National Digestive Diseases
Information Clearinghouse, most people produce as many as one to four
pints of gas a day, which they pass, on average, about 14 times a day.
However, if you’re experiencing painful gas and the embarrassment
of chronic and foul smelling flatulence, you can start to play detective
and try to eliminate the cause.
Excessive Gas: Foods to Avoid
Foods such as dairy products, beans, and certain vegetables cause
some people to
have excessive gas. Foods like these contain fiber,
sugars, and starches that don't get
digested and absorbed,
eventually
causing intestinal gas when they are finally broken down in the large
intestine.
One way to manage flatulence and belching is to eat fewer of the
well-known gassy foods.
Everyone reacts differently, but common gassy
foods are fruits, such as apples and pears, certain vegetables including
broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and onions, whole grains like bran, and
dairy products, from milk to cheese to ice cream.
Foods containing sorbitol, a naturally occurring sugar found in
fruits, are on some people’s
gassy-foods list. Others are bothered by
carbonated soft drinks and fruit drinks.
If you discover that these
foods are causing you excess gas, eliminate them
from your diet or eat
them in small portions. When it comes to foods to avoid,
he key is to
be like the Greeks, Dr. Bickston says.
“Everything in moderation.”
Keep in mind that almost any food or combination of foods
can cause
gas in a particular individual.
“Certain foods don’t get along together
in certain people,” says Donald Novey,
MD, an integrative medicine
physician with the Advocate Medical Group in Park Ridge, Ill.
“For
example, some people find they are gassy if they eat fruits with
proteins,
or if they eat starches and proteins together.
It’s personal
and requires a little experimentation to find out what the culprits
are.”
Dr. Novey suggests keeping a food diary and noting when you feel
gassy.
“If you find you’re gassy after eating a certain food, eliminate
it from your diet and see if it helps.”
Cooking may help with the breakdown of some of the offending
ingredients, Bickston says.
“But the style of cooking can also decrease
healthy chemicals found in vegetables.
Boiling seems to breakdown
chlorophyll and other desirable ingredients.”
Look for recipes that call
for steaming as that seems to be a better cooking method for gassy
foods.
Excessive Gas: Not Just (Hot) Air
Here are other steps you can take to help cut down on painful gas:
Related Conditions That Could Be to Blame
If the problem of excessive body gas is persistent or severe,
consult your doctor — it could be a sign of a more serious digestive
condition. Don’t simply ignore the problem or blame it on indigestion,
referred to as dyspepsia by doctors.
Some of the conditions that should be considered if dietary changes don’t help and excessive gas persists:
-
Lactose intolerance. People who are lactose
intolerant are unable to digest lactose, the sugar that is found in milk
and milk products. “I test with a milk challenge,” Bickston says. “The
patient drinks a pint or two of milk — it can be any percent fat. What
follows tells the patients whether they should limit their milk intake.”
-
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). “Patients who
meet the diagnostic checklist for irritable bowel syndrome suffer more
pain at the lower levels of abdominal cavity,” Bickston says.
-
Colon cancer. “Excess gas is rarely the presenting symptom for patients with colon cancer,” Bickston says. “But it does trigger my reflex to remind patients to get screened for colorectal cancer.
-
Upper gastrointestinal disorders. Occasional
belching is normal, but frequent belching may be a sign of an upper
gastrointestinal disorder. These include peptic ulcers, gastroesophageal
reflux disease (GERD), or gastroparesis, also called delayed gastric
emptying.
Also, warns Bickston, if you have had abdominal surgery, a hernia,
or significant weight loss or weight gain, never dismiss your gas-like
symptoms as normal. Get them checked out.
As annoying as it might be, some gas is a natural by-product of the
body’s digestive system. But if your gas is excessive, painful, or
chronic, talk to your doctor about possible causes and remedies.
