Frequent belching sometimes indicates stomach problems

If you have to burp often, it can be very annoying. Especially in company, it can make you feel quite embarrassed. However, everyone burps sometimes. You usually don’t do it consciously, it happens to you and you can’t stop it. Burping is a natural mechanism of the stomach to get rid of excess air. Usually an innocent phenomenon. However, if you have to burp very often, this can be a signal from your body that something is not quite right. We swallow air all day long. That happens naturally and we don’t notice it. When you eat, drink or talk, a small amount of air automatically enters your stomach via your esophagus. Some of this air goes to your intestines together with the (partially) digested food. However, most of the air you swallow during the day remains in the stomach. This causes the stomach to expand a little more. If the stomach wall thinks that the tension is too high, it sends a signal to the brain. In collaboration with the nerves of the stomach, the brain ensures that the sphincter between the esophagus and the stomach relaxes. This way, the air can go from your stomach to the esophagus and ultimately disappear through your mouth: you burp. Sometimes the air is pushed out of your stomach with such force that you let out a loud burp. However, in most cases the burp is barely audible.

Natural protective mechanism of your stomach

Burping protects your stomach against too much air and therefore ensures that your stomach cannot expand dangerously. Burping several times a day is very normal. However, if there is a lot of air in your stomach, this can cause you to burp very often. There are even people who have to burp several times per minute. This is of course very annoying. The large amount of air in the stomach also causes a very unpleasant and bloated feeling and can cause nausea. Excessive burping is usually an isolated phenomenon. However, sometimes an underlying disease or condition is the cause.

Burping because you swallow too much air

Often there is no disease or condition that explains the excessive burping. Usually, for one reason or another, you ‘simply’ swallow too much air. This could be because you eat or drink too greedily or restlessly, causing much more air than normal to pass through your esophagus to the stomach. Even if you smoke or chew a lot of gum, there is a good chance that you swallow a lot of air. Sometimes you use the muscles in your neck incorrectly while talking or you tense your neck and throat muscles too much due to stress or tension. The valve that keeps your esophagus closed and prevents foreign substances (or too much air) from entering your stomach no longer works as it should. This causes you to swallow too much air, your stomach keeps expanding and you have to burp often.

Farming because too much gas is produced

In addition to swallowing too much air, it is also possible that too much air is produced in your stomach. The culprits are foods or drinks that provide extra air (gas) during the digestion process in the stomach or intestines. Carbonated soft drinks, cabbage and onions are well-known examples. But beer, leeks, peppers, legumes, fatty foods, spicy herbs and large amounts of (unripe) fruit and sugar can also cause extra gas production. You may have drunk or eaten too large an amount of previous products at once, causing extra air to build up in the stomach. However, it is also possible that the enzymes needed to digest carbohydrates (the main component of the products mentioned) do not do their job properly.

The food you eat is largely digested in your stomach by digestive enzymes contained in the gastric juice. This digested food then goes to our intestines (first the small intestine and later the large intestine). Here it is broken down, again by enzymes, in such a way that it can be absorbed through the intestinal wall. It is normal that not all food can be digested, but when the enzymes do not do their job properly, a disproportionate amount of undigested food remains. This is partly cleaned up by beneficial bacteria. However, they have difficulty with carbohydrates, leaving many residual products, mainly acid and gas. The gas rises to the stomach and is eventually burped up again. In people whose digestive enzymes are insufficiently able to digest carbohydrates, problems mainly arise with products containing lactose (milk sugar) and beans.

Burping due to stomach problems

Most people benefit greatly from eating calmly, a diet low in undigested carbohydrates and sufficient relaxation. Sometimes, however, the complaints persist. In that case, there may be an underlying disease or condition. Frequent belching is common in people who suffer from heartburn or a so-called hypersensitive stomach. With a hypersensitive stomach or functional stomach complaints, complaints such as stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, frequent belching, belching and a bloated and full feeling have existed for a long time, without any physical abnormality being found.

If stomach acid can flow from the stomach into the esophagus (for example because the gastric valve does not function properly), this causes a burning and painful feeling in the esophagus and throat and often a sour taste in the mouth. Stomach acid contains aggressive hydrochloric acid, which must neutralize bacteria, viruses and fungi in the stomach, among other things. The stomach itself is well protected against the acid with a thick mucus layer, but the esophagus does not have this protective layer. Because the transition between the esophagus and stomach does not close properly, not only can stomach acid rise from the stomach, but air can also pass more easily from the esophagus to the stomach.

If, in addition to frequent belching, you also have severe stomach pain, frequent nausea, frequent vomiting and little appetite, you may have a stomach ulcer. With a stomach ulcer, the mucous membrane in the stomach (or duodenum) is so severely damaged that there is a hole in it. This allows the nerves to come into contact with the aggressive hydrochloric acid contained in the gastric juice, which causes severe pain. Sometimes the stomach ulcer causes bleeding in the stomach. There will be blood in your vomit or stool (which will then be black and tarry). Always go to your doctor immediately.

Burping due to gallstones

Not only do you have to burp a lot, but you regularly have severe, persistent pain in the upper right side of your abdomen, you feel nauseous, you have to vomit, you have white stools, dark urine and yellowish skin, then you may be suffering from gallstones. Many people have gallstones. The hard, stone-like clots are formed in the gallbladder, but only cause symptoms when they get stuck in the bile ducts. Due to the blockage, the bile fluid cannot flow to the intestines. Bile fluid contains bile salts that break down the fats in our food, making them easier for digestive enzymes to digest. Without bile fluid, the enzymes cannot break down fatty foods sufficiently, resulting in many residual products (including gas). Stool gets its brown color from the bilirubin in the bile fluid. Without the bile fluid, the stool is white. Because the bile fluid cannot be drained, it can end up in your blood. This in turn causes your skin to turn yellow and your urine to turn dark. If gallstones cause complaints, they usually have to be removed surgically.

Burping due to incorrect breathing

A disorder of the larynx or the nose or pharynx can also cause you to burp a lot. This probably has to do with the fact that you breathe and swallow in a different way. A simple cold can also cause frequent belching for the same reason. For example, incorrect breathing also occurs in people who suffer from chronic hyperventilation. The breathing is then too deep and too fast. This allows more air than normal to enter the esophagus and stomach, causing you to burp a lot. Other stomach complaints such as bloating, pain and nausea are also common.

Effective treatment is sometimes difficult

If the belching is caused by an underlying disease or condition, it must of course be treated. If belching is an isolated phenomenon, effective treatment is often difficult. If you use the muscles in your neck and throat incorrectly or if you swallow incorrectly, a speech therapist can sometimes offer a solution. In most cases, however, the treatment consists of good dietary advice and certain lifestyle rules, possibly in combination with medications that prevent or reduce gas formation.

To ensure that you swallow less air, it is important to eat and drink calmly and to chew your food thoroughly. It is also better not to chew gum and it is (extra) wise to stop smoking. It is also important to follow a balanced, fiber-rich diet. Avoid carbonated soft drinks, beer, large amounts of sugar and fat. It is also better to eat as little as possible of products such as new potatoes, peppers, leeks, onions, garlic, legumes, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, radishes, plums, melon and unripe fruit. All these products can increase the production of air (gas) in your stomach. Finally, try to avoid stress and tension. During these periods you often tense the muscles of your neck and throat and you swallow much more air without noticing.

Everyone needs to burp every now and then. It is a natural mechanism that ensures that the stomach can get rid of too much air. However, if you have to burp very often, it can be very annoying and annoying. If no disease or condition is found that can explain your complaints, that is of course reassuring. However, your complaints do persist and in severe cases they can significantly affect your daily life. However, in addition to any medications, good eating and lifestyle habits can make a big difference.

read more

• Persistent stomach complaints due to a rupture in the diaphragm
• Nausea and bloating due to a ‘lazy stomach’
• Unexplained stomach complaints due to a hypersensitive stomach