What causes excessive gas and flatulence. How to identify symptoms of gas-related issues. Which treatments can help reduce digestive gas and bloating. When to seek medical advice for flatulence concerns.

Understanding the Digestive Process and Gas Formation

Gas is a natural byproduct of the digestive process. As the body breaks down food, it produces various gases that need to be expelled. But how exactly does this process work?

The digestive system produces gas in two primary ways:

1. When you swallow air while eating or drinking
2. When bacteria in the large intestine ferment undigested food

Most people pass gas about 20 times a day, which is considered normal. However, excessive gas can lead to discomfort and embarrassment. Understanding the causes of gas can help manage this common issue more effectively.

The Journey of Gas Through the Digestive System

Gas typically follows a specific path through the digestive system:

• Swallowed air may be released through burping
• Remaining air travels to the small or large intestine
• Bacteria in the large intestine produce hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane
• These gases are eventually released as flatulence

Why does gas sometimes cause pain? When gas builds up in the intestines, it can lead to bloating and discomfort. This pressure can cause pain in the abdomen or sides, which may sometimes be mistaken for more serious conditions.

Common Culprits: Foods That Contribute to Gas Production

Certain foods are more likely to cause gas due to their composition and how the body processes them. Which foods are the main offenders when it comes to gas production?

• Beans and legumes
• Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower)
• Fruits, especially those high in fructose
• Dairy products
• Whole-grain foods
• Carbonated beverages
• Fruit drinks

It’s important to note that not everyone reacts to these foods in the same way. Some individuals may experience more gas from certain foods than others. This is why keeping a food diary can be helpful in identifying personal triggers.

The Role of Carbohydrates in Gas Formation

Carbohydrates are the primary food group responsible for gas production. Why do carbs cause more gas than other nutrients? The answer lies in how our bodies process them:

• Complex carbohydrates are harder for the body to break down
• Undigested carbs reach the large intestine, where bacteria ferment them
• This fermentation process produces gases as a byproduct

While reducing carbohydrate intake can help minimize gas, it’s crucial to maintain a balanced diet. Many high-carb foods are also rich in essential nutrients and shouldn’t be eliminated entirely without consulting a healthcare professional.

Recognizing Symptoms: When Gas Becomes a Problem

While passing gas is normal, excessive gas or associated symptoms can indicate an underlying issue. What are the signs that your gas might be more than just a minor inconvenience?

• Frequent burping or belching
• Excessive flatulence
• Bloating or abdominal distension
• Abdominal pain or discomfort
• Changes in bowel habits

If these symptoms persist or interfere with daily life, it may be time to consult a healthcare provider. They can help determine if the gas is a symptom of a more serious condition or simply a dietary issue.

Distinguishing Between Normal and Problematic Gas

How can you tell if your gas is within normal limits or cause for concern? Consider these factors:

• Frequency: Passing gas 13-21 times per day is considered normal
• Odor: While unpleasant, odor alone isn’t usually a medical concern
• Pain: Persistent or severe pain associated with gas warrants medical attention
• Impact on daily life: If gas is causing social or professional difficulties, seek help

Remember, what’s “normal” can vary from person to person. If you’re concerned about your gas, it’s always best to consult with a healthcare professional for personalized advice.

Diagnosing Gas-Related Issues: Medical Approaches

When gas becomes a persistent problem, medical intervention may be necessary. How do doctors diagnose gas-related issues? The process typically involves several steps:

1. Medical history review
2. Physical examination
3. Food diary analysis
4. Diagnostic tests (if necessary)

Your doctor may ask you to keep a detailed record of your diet and gas symptoms. This information can help identify patterns and potential triggers. In some cases, additional tests may be required to rule out underlying conditions.

Common Diagnostic Tests for Gas-Related Concerns

Depending on your symptoms and medical history, your doctor may recommend one or more of the following diagnostic tests:

• Breath tests (for lactose intolerance or bacterial overgrowth)
• Abdominal X-rays
• Endoscopy or colonoscopy
• Blood tests (to check for celiac disease or other conditions)

These tests can help identify or rule out various conditions that may be contributing to excessive gas or related symptoms. The results will guide your healthcare provider in developing an appropriate treatment plan.

Effective Treatments for Managing Gas and Flatulence

Once the cause of excessive gas has been identified, there are several treatment options available. What are the most effective ways to manage gas and flatulence?

1. Dietary modifications
2. Over-the-counter medications
3. Prescription medications (in some cases)
4. Lifestyle changes

The most appropriate treatment will depend on the underlying cause of your gas issues. In many cases, a combination of approaches may be recommended for optimal results.

Dietary Modifications to Reduce Gas

Adjusting your diet is often the first line of defense against excessive gas. What dietary changes can help reduce gas production?

• Identify and limit trigger foods
• Gradually increase fiber intake to allow the body to adjust
• Choose low-lactose or lactose-free dairy products if lactose intolerant
• Eat smaller, more frequent meals
• Chew food thoroughly and eat slowly

Remember, while eliminating gas-producing foods can help, it’s important to maintain a balanced diet. Work with a healthcare provider or nutritionist to ensure you’re still getting all necessary nutrients.

Over-the-Counter Solutions for Gas Relief

Several over-the-counter medications can provide relief from gas and its symptoms. Which OTC products are most effective for gas relief?

• Simethicone (Gas-X, Mylanta) – helps break up gas bubbles in the digestive tract
• Alpha-galactosidase (Beano) – aids in digesting complex carbohydrates
• Lactase supplements – helps digest lactose for those with lactose intolerance
• Activated charcoal – may help absorb excess gas

While these products can provide relief, it’s important to address the underlying cause of gas for long-term management. Consult with a healthcare provider before starting any new medication regimen.

Lifestyle Changes to Minimize Gas and Improve Digestive Health

In addition to dietary modifications and medications, certain lifestyle changes can help reduce gas and improve overall digestive health. What habits can you adopt to minimize gas production?

• Exercise regularly to promote healthy digestion
• Practice stress-reduction techniques (stress can affect digestion)
• Quit smoking (smoking can increase air swallowing)
• Avoid chewing gum or sucking on hard candies
• Ensure dentures fit properly to prevent excess air swallowing

Incorporating these changes into your daily routine can have a significant impact on gas production and overall digestive comfort. Remember, consistency is key when implementing lifestyle changes.

The Importance of Proper Eating Habits

How you eat can be just as important as what you eat when it comes to managing gas. What eating habits can help reduce gas production?

• Eat slowly and mindfully
• Avoid talking while eating
• Sit upright while eating to aid digestion
• Avoid drinking through straws
• Don’t lie down immediately after meals

These simple changes can help minimize the amount of air you swallow during meals, which in turn can reduce gas and bloating. It may take time to adjust to new eating habits, but the benefits are worth the effort.

When to Seek Medical Attention for Gas-Related Concerns

While gas is usually harmless, there are instances when it may signal a more serious underlying condition. When should you consult a healthcare provider about your gas symptoms?

• Persistent or severe abdominal pain
• Changes in bowel habits lasting more than a few days
• Unintended weight loss
• Blood in stool
• Chronic diarrhea or constipation
• Symptoms that interfere with daily activities

These symptoms may indicate conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, or even certain types of cancer. Early detection and treatment of these conditions is crucial for optimal outcomes.

Potential Underlying Conditions Associated with Excessive Gas

In some cases, excessive gas may be a symptom of an underlying digestive disorder. What conditions are commonly associated with gas-related symptoms?

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
• Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
• Celiac disease
• Lactose intolerance
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

If you suspect your gas symptoms may be related to one of these conditions, it’s important to consult with a healthcare provider for proper diagnosis and treatment. Many of these conditions can be effectively managed with appropriate medical care and lifestyle adjustments.

Natural Remedies and Alternative Approaches to Gas Relief

For those seeking natural alternatives to manage gas, several holistic approaches may provide relief. What natural remedies can help alleviate gas and its associated symptoms?

• Peppermint tea or oil – may help relax the digestive tract
• Ginger – known for its digestive properties
• Fennel seeds – traditionally used to reduce bloating
• Probiotics – can help balance gut bacteria
• Activated charcoal – may absorb excess gas

While these natural remedies can be effective for some individuals, it’s important to remember that they may not work for everyone. Always consult with a healthcare provider before starting any new supplement regimen, especially if you have underlying health conditions or are taking medications.

The Role of Probiotics in Digestive Health

Probiotics have gained popularity in recent years for their potential digestive health benefits. How can probiotics help with gas and overall gut health?

• Balance gut microbiome
• Improve digestion of certain nutrients
• Reduce inflammation in the digestive tract
• Potentially alleviate symptoms of IBS and other digestive disorders

While research on probiotics is ongoing, many people find them helpful in managing digestive issues, including gas. Probiotics can be found in fermented foods like yogurt and kefir, or taken as supplements. As with any supplement, it’s best to consult with a healthcare provider to determine if probiotics are right for you.

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

Enroll

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.

By clicking on the button, you agree to the terms of use and processing of personal data

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.

Department doctors

All doctors

Zavarzina
Natalia Pavlovna

Gastroenterologist-nutritionist

Work experience: 14 years

Cost of admission: from 6500 ₽

Make an appointment

Drunk
Olga Pavlovna

Endocrinologist, dietitian, Ph.D.

Work experience: 11 years

Cost of admission: from 9000 ₽

Make an appointment

All doctors

Prices for dietetics services

Dietetics

90 191