At one point of time or other you must have experienced bloating, burping, or gas, especially, when you had consumed heavy foods. These digestive problems are something very natural and are generally not serious or hazardous for health. Basically bloating or belching happens when either air gets swallowed by mouth or when the food breaks down during the digestion process. If you repeatedly feel bloating and burping and find it hard to do your daily activities freely, it is important to find out ways and means to alleviate the problem.
1. Bloating
Causes
When the gas does not get passed by burping or flatulence, then it builds up in the stomach as well as our intestines and leads to bloating of stomach. Bloating often appears with abdominal pain. This pain can vary in intensity, though. It becomes important for the person then, either to pass the gas or have a bowel movement, in order to get relief. There are a host of factors that causes this, like eating heavy foods, stress, and smoking, any kind of disease in gastrointestinal tract, lactose intolerance, and irritable bowel syndrome. It’s a condition in which the person feels a lot of abdominal pain and cramps and experiences changes in bowel movements.
Prevention
Bloating can be best avoided by reducing the intake of gas producing foods. There are many foods, which are rich in carbohydrates and are responsible for causing gas like baked beans, cabbage, carbonated drinks, cauliflower, lpears and the seemingly harmless chewing gum.
2. Belching
Causes
The act of belching or burping is basically an outlet for the collected air in the stomach. People tend to swallow excess air when they eat or drink fast, have a habit of talking while eating, chew gum, or drink carbonated drinks or drink their drinks through a straw. Belching is usually caused by distended stomach due to swallowed air. This distention causes abdominal discomfort and belching helps to relieve the discomfort by expelling the air.
Excessive air in the stomach is not the only cause of belching. Some people develop the habit of belching and that actually does not reflect the amount of air in the stomach. For some other people, belching is basically a response for any kind of abdominal discomfort not restricted to abdominal gas. Acid reflux or acidity can be another reason behind belching; as acidic juice from stomach comes up in the esophagus, the person might again and again swallow to clear it off and in the process might swallow some air also. In some other cases, chronic belching occurs due to gastritis or peptic ulcer.
Prevention
Belching can be reduced if you eat and drink slowly, avoid carbonated drinks, avoid eating chewing gum or hard candy, avoid smoking and treat heartburn or acidity. You can treat occasional heartburn by taking the OTC drugs or by sipping cold milk three – four times a day. Serious heartburn must be treated by a doctor.
3. Flatulence
Causes
Flatulence is commonly known as farting and is the act of passing gas from the anus. Gas formation in gastrointestinal tract occurs from two sources, either by swallowing air or is produced by bacteria that normally lives in intestine. These bacteria produce gases – hydrogen and /or methane when foods like and starch do not get properly digested during passage through the small intestine.
Other sources of gas may be food left in colon, changes in the intestinal bacteria due to some medical intervention, swallowed air that migrates to colon and constipation because the more the waste is left in the colon, the more it will ferment.
Prevention
You can avoid flatulence and the discomfort caused by it by avoiding the foods that form gas. Gas producing foods are generally those foods which are high in protein also like beans, peas, lentils,etc. Besides if dairy products affect you badly then try low lactose varieties in your food. Avoid eating fat laden foods frequently because fat foods slower digestion and gives food more time to stay in colon and get fermented. For sometime cut on high fiber foods also because most of the high fiber foods make a lot of gas. Eat slowly and try chewing your food properly. Besides, always take a short walk after your meals.
When to seek medical intervention
Along with bloating and belching if you also experience diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, and nausea. Or blood in stools, sudden weight loss, chest pain or fever than it should be taken seriously and you must consult a doctor. These symptoms could signal an underlying digestive condition. Its important to treat them before they affect your daily life in a big way.
