Gas, Burping, or Bloating That Begins After Eating or Drinking
Gas, burping, or bloating is common after you swallow air, eat foods
that cause gas, or drink carbonated beverages. This is normal and usually can
be prevented by making some simple changes.
The amount of gas that different foods cause varies from person to
person. Examples of gas-producing foods are:
- Peas, lentils, and beans of all
kinds.
- Vegetables, such as artichokes, asparagus, broccoli,
brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, green peppers, onions, peas,
radishes, and raw potatoes.
- Fruits, such as apricots, bananas,
melons, peaches, pears, prunes, and raw apples.
- Wheat and wheat
bran.
- Eggs.
- Carbonated drinks, fruit drinks, beer, and
red wine.
- Fried and fatty foods.
- Sugar and sugar
substitutes.
- Milk and other dairy products in people who have
trouble digesting
lactose, the main sugar found in
milk.
- Packaged foods that contain lactose, such as breads, cereal,
and salad dressing.
Gas, burping, or bloating after eating or drinking also may be caused
by an inability to:
- Digest certain sugars, such as
lactose, fructose, or sorbitol. These sugars are often
added to processed foods and medicines to make them taste sweet. Lactose is
found in milk, cheese, and other dairy products.
- Properly absorb
nutrients, vitamins, and minerals from the digestive tract (malabsorption
syndrome). Causes of malabsorption syndrome include:
- Absence or low levels of certain digestive
enzymes.
- Diseases of the pancreas, such as
cystic fibrosis.
- Diseases caused by
parasites, such as
giardiasis, worms, or
amebiasis.
- Changes in the bacteria
normally found in the intestinal tract.
- Diseases that affect the
intestine itself, such as
celiac disease, which often develops in childhood
after foods that contain
gluten are added to the diet.
- Surgery that
alters or reduces the length of the intestinal tract.
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.
Your doctor can check your symptoms to find out what is causing them
and recommend treatment. Treatment may include changes in your diet, medicine
to replace digestive enzymes and help reduce symptoms, and nutritional
supplements such as iron.
Credits
| By | Healthwise Staff |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | William H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine |
| Last Revised | July 12, 2011 |