Belching or burping refers to the noisy release of excess air from the stomach through the mouth. Everyone belches occasionally, but frequent belching can occur as a result of certain habits, diet choices or medical conditions. Doctors may treat frequent belching with medicine if it becomes annoying or embarrassing. Most people can reduce belching by following simple lifestyle changes to eliminate the causes.
Swallowing Too Much Air
According to Jackson Siegelbaum Gastroenterology, frequent belching can result from swallowing too much air into the stomach. Some people can swallow excess air when they eat or drink. They may produce larger quantities of saliva that requires frequent swallowing, or they may have a nervous habit of swallowing more often. Other common causes of swallowing excess air include smoking cigarettes, chewing gum, eating hard candy, sipping through straws, drinking from bottles with narrow openings, drinking carbonated beverages and wearing dentures that do not fit properly.
Foods
Some people have difficulty digesting certain foods, and this can lead to partially digested food passing from the small intestine to the colon, reports the American College of Gastroenterology. Excess air can form in the intestines as a result of impaired digestion. People usually expel the air out of the body through the anus as flatus or gas. However, some people may experience a decrease in the movement of air through the intestines to the anus. The gas may move the wrong way, returning back to the stomach. The air in the stomach then gets released as a burp.
Some difficult-to-digest foods include baked beans, lima beans, lentils, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, lettuce and fruits such as peaches, apples and pears. A person who has problems digesting these types of food usually encounters frequent belching if he regularly consumes them.
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
Gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, is a condition in which the stomach contents flow backward from the stomach into the esophagus, the tube from the mouth to the stomach, explains Medline Plus. Heartburn, or a burning pain in the chest under the breastbone, and other symptoms develop as a result. People with GERD may feel like food gets trapped behind their breastbone after they eat and may swallow repeatedly in attempts to clear the material. This can cause swallowing of excessive air, leading to frequent belching.
