What are the common causes of digestive gas and flatulence? How are gas-related illnesses diagnosed and treated. Get the facts about swallowing less air and reducing gas.

Common Causes of Digestive Gas and Flatulence

Gas is a normal result of the foods you eat. As your digestive system processes food, it produces gases like hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane. These gases are then released through burping or flatulence (passing gas). People typically pass gas around 20 times per day, which is considered an ordinary occurrence.

There are two main ways you produce gas: swallowing air and the breakdown of undigested food by bacteria in your large intestine. Swallowing air happens when you eat and drink, and this air is usually released through burping. Whatever air isn’t released through burping moves into the small or large intestine and is eventually released as flatulence.

Certain foods are more likely to cause gas, including carbohydrates found in beans, vegetables (especially broccoli, cabbage, and onions), fruits, dairy products, and whole-grain foods. Soft drinks and fruit juices can also contribute to gas production.

Symptoms of Digestive Gas

In addition to burping and flatulence, gas can cause bloating, abdominal pain, and discomfort. The pain may be mistaken for other conditions like a heart attack or appendicitis. Chronic, excessive belching may be a sign of an issue in the upper digestive tract, such as ulcers or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Diagnosing Gas-Related Illnesses

Since diet is the primary cause of gas, your doctor will ask about the foods you eat and your symptoms. They may have you keep a food and symptom diary to help identify problem foods. They may also ask you to track how often you pass gas.

If bloating is a concern, the doctor may examine you to rule out other conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, a hernia, or colon cancer. For chronic belching, they may order an X-ray of your upper gastrointestinal tract to check for signs of excess air swallowing.

Treatments for Digestive Gas

The main treatment for gas is adjusting your diet to eliminate the foods that cause you the most trouble. However, this may also mean cutting out some nutritious foods, so it’s important to work with your doctor to build a healthy, low-gas diet.

Over-the-counter medications can also help manage gas, including antacids with simethicone, probiotics, lactase products for lactose intolerance, and Beano (which contains an enzyme to help digest gas-producing sugars).

Prescription medications that help move food through the digestive system may also help move gas through quicker. And making lifestyle changes like avoiding gum and hard candies, eating more slowly, and ensuring dentures fit properly can help reduce air swallowing and gas production.

Preventing Excessive or Smelly Flatulence

To cut down on excessive or smelly flatulence, try the following tips:

• Eat smaller, more frequent meals
• Drink and chew food slowly with your mouth closed
• Exercise regularly to improve digestion
• Drink peppermint tea
• Avoid chewing gum, smoking, and sucking on hard candies or pen tops (to prevent swallowing air)

When to See a Doctor

While gas is a normal part of digestion, you should see a doctor if you notice a significant change in your gas patterns or if it’s causing you significant discomfort or embarrassment. Persistent, excessive gas could be a sign of an underlying digestive health issue that requires medical attention.

Key Takeaways

1. Gas is a normal byproduct of digestion, with most people passing gas around 20 times per day.
2. The main causes of gas are swallowing air and the breakdown of undigested food by gut bacteria.
3. Certain foods like beans, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and whole grains are more likely to cause gas.
4. Symptoms of gas include burping, flatulence, bloating, and abdominal pain.
5. Doctors diagnose gas-related issues by discussing your diet and symptoms, and may order tests to rule out other conditions.
6. Treatments include adjusting your diet, taking over-the-counter medications, and making lifestyle changes to reduce air swallowing.
7. See a doctor if you have persistent, excessive gas or it’s causing significant discomfort.

Digestive Gas & Flatulence: Common Causes & Treatments

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

• Which Foods Are Most Likely to Cause Gas?
• What Are the Symptoms of Gas?
• Could Gas Be a Sign of a Medical Problem?
• How Are Gas-Related Illnesses Diagnosed?
• What Are the Treatments for Gas?
• What Can I Do to Swallow Less Air and Reduce Gas?
• More

Gas is a normal result of the foods you eat. As your digestive system does its thing, it makes gas.

Usually, you get rid of gas through your mouth (burping) or through your anus (flatulence). People gas about 20 times a day. It’s an ordinary occurrence, but it can be painful and embarrassing.

You make gas in two ways: when you swallow air, and when the bacteria in your large intestine help digest your food.

Undigested food moves from the small intestine to the large intestine. Once it gets there, the bacteria go to work, making hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane, which then leave your body.

Not everyone will get gas from the same foods.

You also swallow air when you eat and drink. This helps make gas. You usually release swallowed air by burping it. Whatever isn’t released by burping goes into the small or large intestine, where it’s released as flatulence.

You’re most likely to get gas by eating carbs, which are found in foods like:

• Beans
• Vegetables (especially broccoli, cabbage, and onions)
• Fruits
• Dairy products
• Whole-grain foods
• Soft drinks
• Fruit drinks

In addition to burping and flatulence, you may feel bloated. You could also have pain in your belly or sides. That pain could be mistaken for something else, like a heart attack or appendicitis.

Chronic belching may be a sign of trouble in your upper digestive tract, like ulcers or gastroesophageal reflux disease. You may hear this called GERD.

Many things cause bloating, including:

• Fluid build up
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Colon cancer
• Crohn’s disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• A hernia
• Constipation
• Lactose intolerance 
• Celiac disease
• And many others

Since diet is the main cause of gas, your doctor will want to know about the foods you eat and your symptoms. They may ask you to keep a record of what you eat and drink to help them identify foods that cause you trouble. They may also ask you to keep track of how often you pass gas.

You may have to stop eating certain foods. For example, if lactose intolerance is believed to be the cause, you’ll probably have to cut down on dairy.

If bloating is a problem, your doctor may examine you to rule out different things.

If you have chronic belching, your doctor will look for signs that you swallow a lot of air. If they think you do, they’ll look for a cause. They may get an X-ray of your esophagus, stomach, and upper small intestine – they may call it your GI tract — to rule out disease.

Gas problems are treated by changing your diet and by training yourself to swallow less air. There are also prescription and over-the-counter medications that can help.

Changing your diet will mean getting rid of the foods that cause gas. Unfortunately, this may also result in you having fewer nutritious foods. Ask your doctor to help you build a diet that’s healthy but doesn’t cause much gas.

Over-the-counter medications include:

• Antacids — especially those that contain simethicone
• Probiotics — used to help inhibit the growth of bad bacteria and add good bacteria to the digestive tract
• Lactase products such as Lactaid and Dairy Ease — may help people with lactose intolerance
• Beano — contains the enzyme that helps digest sugars in beans and many other vegetables

Your doctor may prescribe drugs to help move food through your digestive system. Medicines that do that may also move gas through quicker.

To swallow less air, you can try:

• Cutting out gum or hard candy
• Eating more slowly
• Making sure any dentures you wear fit properly
• Not drinking through straws

Top Picks

Farting (flatulence) – NHS

Farting, also known as flatulence or wind, is normal. There are things you can do if you fart a lot or it’s smelly. Sometimes it can be a sign of a health condition.

Check if your farting is normal

Farting is usually nothing to worry about. Everyone farts, some people more than others.

What’s normal is different for everyone. If you notice a change or it’s affecting your life, there are things you can do.

Things you can do to cut down excessive or smelly farts

Do

• eat smaller meals, more often

• drink or chew food slowly, with your mouth closed

• exercise regularly to improve how your body digests food

• drink peppermint tea

Don’t

• do not chew gum, smoke, or suck pen tops or hard sweets (to avoid swallowing air)

• do not wear loose-fitting dentures

• do not eat too many foods that are difficult to digest and make you fart

• do not drink too much beer, wine or fruit juice

Food and drinks that can make you fart

• cabbage
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• brussels sprouts
• pulses, like beans or lentils
• dried fruit, like raisins or apricots
• onions
• food or drinks containing the sweetener sorbitol
• fizzy drinks and beer

A pharmacist can help with excessive or smelly farts

Speak to a pharmacist about excessive or smelly farts.

They might be able to tell you:

• if you can buy something to help – for example, charcoal tablets or special underwear and pads that absorb smells
• if you should see a GP

Non-urgent advice: See a GP if:

• farting is affecting your life and self help and pharmacy treatments have not worked
• you have a stomach ache or bloating that will not go away or comes back
• you keep getting constipation or diarrhoea
• you have lost weight without trying
• you’ve had blood in your poo for 3 weeks

What causes excessive or smelly farts

Excessive or smelly farts can be caused when you swallow air or eat foods that are difficult to digest. It can also sometimes be a sign of a health condition.

Do not self-diagnose. See a GP if you’re worried about your farting.

Excessive or smelly wind can also be a side effect of some medicines, including:

• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), like ibuprofen
• some laxatives
• antifungal medicines
• statins

Do not stop or change your medicine without speaking to a GP first.

Page last reviewed: 07 June 2022
Next review due: 07 June 2025

Flatulence – Hadassah Medical Moscow

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Flatulence is a condition in which an excessive amount of gases accumulates in the gastrointestinal tract. It is associated with their increased education or impaired output. Most often, gases accumulate in the stomach, but can also be found in the folds of the colon. Symptoms of flatulence occur in all people – including healthy ones. They may appear due to overeating,

the use of gas-producing or indigestible foods. Also, flatulence is a sign of many diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. If you often experience bloating and it makes you uncomfortable, see your doctor.

Show all

Symptoms of bloating

From time to time, the symptoms of bloating occur in absolutely all people. Gases accumulated in the gastrointestinal tract can be expelled through belching, rectum, exhalation, and blood. Flatulence is usually accompanied by the following symptoms:

• Frequent belching of air;
• Fullness in abdomen;
• Frequent rumbling in the abdomen;
• Depressive mood, insomnia;
• Sensation of pressure under the stomach;

Fast food satiety.

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Causes of flatulence

Gas production in the gastrointestinal tract is not a disease, but a natural process. However, an increase in this symptom can occur with many diseases. Among the non-pathological causes of flatulence are nutritional features. Can cause gas by eating:

• Gas-forming products – cabbage, legumes, sweet apples, carbonated drinks;
• Foods that cause fermentation in the stomach – black bread, sinewy meat, beer, kvass;
• Dairy products;
• Mineral water.

Pathological causes of flatulence include:

• Parasitic infection;
• Infectious process in the intestines;
• Dysbacteriosis;
• Acute inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract – enteritis, pancreatitis, colitis;
• Intestinal obstruction.

Also, pregnant women suffer from flatulence in the later stages: the fetus and the enlarged uterus compress the intestinal loops. Bloating can also occur due to neurotic conditions in which the regulation in the gastrointestinal tract is disturbed.

Methods for diagnosing bloating

If flatulence begins to cause discomfort, you should consult a doctor. Diagnosis of bloating is done by a gastroenterologist. After collecting an anamnesis and palpation of the abdomen, he will send for the following studies:

Complete and biochemical analysis of blood

General analysis of feces

Complete analysis of urine

Analysis for tumor markers and markers of intestinal inflammation

Endoscopic examination of the stomach with biopsy

Ultrasound of the abdominal cavity

9000 2 CRT and MRI

Colonoscopy

Meteorism treatment methods

Approach to the treatment of flatulence is selected by a gastroenterologist based on the diagnostic results. Usually, therapy includes taking medications to break down gases and normalize the microflora of the colon. The patient is prescribed:

• Enzymes. Improve the digestive system, provide good absorption – Festal, Pancreatin;
• Sorbents. Reduce the formation of gases – Phosphalugel, Enterosgel;
• Carminatives. Promote the release of gases from the intestines – Espumizan;
• Prokinetics. Facilitate the movement of food through the intestines – Domperidone, Cerucal;
• Probiotics and prebiotics. Improve microflora – Bifiform, Lineks.

If the diagnosis showed that the patient has diseases in the gastrointestinal tract, the treatment tactics are selected based on it. In case of intolerance to synthetic drugs, remedies from natural ingredients are prescribed – based on dill or fennel. Treatment of flatulence also includes following a special diet with the exclusion of gas-forming products.

Prevention and treatment programs for flatulence at the Hadassah Clinic

Nutrition is the main thing in the prevention of bloating. If it is possible to exclude gas-producing foods from the diet, then the likelihood of flatulence will be minimal. Also remember the following tips:

• If you have lactose intolerance, avoid dairy products;
• Be active and exercise;
• Avoid chewing gums, sodas and hard candies;
• Increase the amount of plant foods in your diet.

Flatulence is a common problem. If it gives you discomfort, contact the Hadassah clinic in Moscow. Specialists will conduct a comprehensive diagnosis, determine the cause of such a phenomenon and prescribe an effective treatment.

Text verified by an expert doctor

Pyanykh
Olga Pavlovna

Endocrinologist, dietitian, Ph.D.

Work experience: 11 years

Published: 06/27/2022

Updated: 06/27/2022

The information provided on the site is for reference only and cannot serve as a basis for making a diagnosis or prescribing treatment. Internal consultation of the expert is necessary.

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