- Take in less air by chewing slowly with your mouth closed and drinking from a glass instead of a straw.
- Drink non-carbonated beverages and eat smaller, more frequent meals during that limit gas-producing foods like beans or cabbage.
- Try over-the-counter antacids that contain simethicone and talk to your doctor if your burps get worse or start to feel painful.
Minimizing Your Air Intake
Chew with your mouth closed. Seal your lips tightly immediately after taking a bite of food or sip of a drink. Don’t open them up again until you’ve swallowed all of the food or liquid. This will keep you from swallowing extra air by accident. Similarly, avoid talking while you are chewing. Talking with an empty mouth is not only polite, it can lessen the possibility of air gulping. You can also ask a close friend or family member to watch you eating a few times and to alert you if you are opening your mouth while chewing.
Count down from 5 after every bite or sip. Eating or drinking quickly can result in more air slipping into your digestive system. This excess air can then cause burping. Choose to eat more slowly by pausing and counting after each bite. This will result in a more relaxing meal and lessen your possibility of gas.
Sip from a glass instead of using a straw. As you suck up the liquid with a straw, you are more likely to push excess air into your digestive system as well. Sipping lets you more closely control how much you are drinking at one time.
Avoid chewing gum or sucking on hard candy. This can be a hard habit to break, but it might be worth it. As you break down candy in your mouth, you may slightly open your lips and suck in extra air by accident. This extra air can then cause burping or hiccupping soon afterwards. If you really enjoy chewing gum, it can be hard to break this habit. When you feel like gum or candy, drink a glass of water instead. This will help to lessen your craving.
Treat any cold or allergy symptoms quickly. If your nose or throat is clogged or congested, you run the risk of pushing extra air into your digestive system when you try to breathe. If you feel unwell, take a nasal decongestant to reduce your symptoms and open your airways. Breathing more freely will often reduce belching, too. Applying nasal strips to the exterior of your nose can also make breathing easier when you are congested.
Get your dentist to adjust your dentures if they are loose or ill-fitting. If you have to correct or adjust your dentures while eating or during the day, then you are likely letting extra air into your system. Go ahead and see if your dentist can adjust your dentures so that they don’t move during regular activities. If the fit is only slightly off, then your dentist may be able to make the corrections in-office. If the fit is very wrong, you might require a completely new set of dentures.
Quit smoking. When you suck on a cigarette you are pulling air down into your lungs, but some of it can slip into your stomach and intestines as well. Smoking multiple cigarettes just magnifies this effect. Smoking as a habit can irritate your digestive system enough so that burping can become a regular problem. Vaping can also result in excess gas getting trapped in your system.
Dietary Changes
Drink non-carbonated beverages. Go with water, tea, coffee, or even juices. Carbonated drinks, such as sodas and beer, contain gasses that can gather in your digestive system and cause burping. If you have to drink a carbonated beverage, go slowly and take small sips to break down the gasses. Similarly, choose non-carbonated bottled water to reduce the possibility of belching.
Change your diet to include fewer gas-producing foods. Baked beans, lentils, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, onions, and chocolate can produce gas during digestion. Fruits, such as apples, peaches, or pears, can also prompt bloating and digestive irritation. Identify those foods that might be causing you problems and take them out of your diet one at a time. Also, avoid foods that contain large amounts of air, such as mousses, souffles and whipped cream. The more air you put down, the more air has to eventually come back up. Some people also find that eliminating gluten helps to reduce burping.
Eat 4-6 small meals throughout the day. Space these meals 3-4 hours apart, so that you’ll stay energized. It’s best if each meal contains a protein, such as chicken, to make you feel satiated longer. This is a great way to avoid eating large meals, which can result in bloating, stomach upset, and burping. For example, a healthy small meal is scrambled egg with a side of wheat toast.
Avoiding Heartburn
Don’t lie down right after eating. The burning sensation that you feel creeping up from your stomach into your throat after or during meals is heartburn. If you eat overly large meals or if you lay down right after eating, then you may be encouraging heartburn. Belching often accompanies heartburn as a sign of general digestive upset.
Take an over-the-counter antacid containing simethicone. Mylanta Gas and Gas-X are 2 of the more commonly available remedies. They help to dissolve and break apart any gas bubbles that make their way into your digestive system. Similar products, such as Beano, target the gas produced by particular foods. Many of these OTC medications also treat general flatulence as well.
Reach out to your doctor if your symptoms worsen. If you start to experience regular or extreme pain in your stomach or abdomen, then this could be a sign of a serious digestive problem. Loose or bloody stools can indicate the same thing. If you start to lose weight quickly, then the burping may be a sign that your body isn’t processing food correctly. Similarly, heartburn can cause mild pain in the chest area. But, it should never become extremely painful or radiating.
Get an endoscopy to rule out the possibility of GERD. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) causes inflammation in the lining of the intestines and can result in excessive belching. To diagnose GERD, your doctor might slide a small, flexible camera tube down your throat to examine your digestive system. GERD can also cause heartburn and ulcers in the intestines.
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