Excess gas is a normal physiological condition. Excess gas or foul-smelling gas can sometimes be uncomfortable. However, if this occurs together with intestinal bloating and indigestion, it may indicate a health problem that needs to be evaluated.
Important:
Consult your doctor if you have severe and long-lasting pain in your abdomen. Be sure to call your doctor, especially if you have nausea, vomiting, bleeding, weight loss, or fever.
Table of contents
How does gas form in the intestines?
Considering that the intestines are a closed tube, gas is a beneficial factor that provides the internal pressure and intestinal resistance necessary for the contents of this tube to be thrown out. The absence of gas can cause the food to accumulate one after the other and form a plug. In other words, the optimum amount of gas is a necessary and beneficial condition for bowel movements and is a sign of health.
Anyone can fart. Some people may fart more than others. The perception of normal can also vary from person to person. If there is a condition that affects your quality of life, intervention may be required.
In fact, everyone throws out intestinal gas, which is a mixture of nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen and methane gas, formed after the digestion of the food they eat, on average 12 times a day or more. Conditions that can be thrown out may not cause problems in the intestines. However, the gas that cannot be eliminated can accumulate in the intestines and cause bloating and tension or a feeling of indigestion.
The human digestive system cannot digest cellulose-containing plant foods on its own. The digestion of these foods continues after the beneficial bacteria in the intestines break down the cellulose and make it digestible. Beneficial bacteria produce gas in the environment during this decomposition process. Gas production may be higher in those who generally eat vegan or consume such foods excessively. This is the reason why digestive problems occur after the use of antibiotics, which for some reason kills most of the gut bacteria.
Stomach acid is the main factor in the process by which ingested food is first broken down and acidified for digestion. With the use of drugs that reduce stomach acid, weakness in the initial stage of digestion can cause food to be transmitted to the intestines without being completely disintegrated. This makes intestinal digestion difficult and can trigger problems such as indigestion and excessive gassiness.
If there is tension and bloating in the abdomen, involuntary gas is produced, excessive belching and gastrointestinal spasms occur, this may be due to a reason that requires medical treatment.
The most common cause of excess gas is air swallowed with meals. There is fullness in the abdomen and air accumulation in the stomach. With burping, patients are relieved. Although the pain is not much, when it is present, it can mimic chest pain and resemble a heart attack picture. Air swallowing is often a habit. Rarely, involuntary swallowing of air may occur in some organic diseases. When swallowed air is not removed by burping, it moves into the intestines. The air trapped in the spleen in the upper left part of the large intestines can cause pain that spreads to the left side of the chest, sometimes to the shoulder or left arm. This is called splenic flexure syndrome. With defecation, the patient usually relaxes and the complaints go away.
When the intestines are stretched with excessive gas, the patient may feel pain in the abdomen. In general, constipation may accompany this picture. Bowel movements may not be enough to expel gas. Irregularity or insufficiency of bowel movements causes gas accumulation and bloating in the abdomen of the patient. This usually occurs in irritable bowel disorders.
With the irregularity of bowel movements, the discharge of accumulated and increased gas can also be perceived as excessive farting in the patient. There are many reasons for this. Sometimes the contents of the food eaten, the abnormal response and irritation of the intestines to food, frequent air swallowing, dietary habits and toilet habits are factors that affect excessive farting.
In some patients, milk and dairy products can cause lactose intolerance and cause bloating. This may be accompanied by excessive flatulence and even diarrhea. A similar situation can occur in people who experience irritation against gluten-containing foods.
The feeling of discomfort against fatty foods is more common in people with biliary and pancreatic disorders. In this case, digestive problems may accompany the symptoms.
People who are allergic to foods may develop allergy symptoms and intestinal irritation symptoms following the ingestion of the allergy-causing food.
Flatulence is more common in diseases where the absorption of some nutrients from the intestine is impaired or in some other gastrointestinal system disorders.
Conditions that cause indigestion, excessive gas and bloating and excessive farting in the intestines:
- Functional or psychosomatic conditions
- Natural causes
- Pregnancy
- Inactivity and being bedridden
- Long time travel
- Medicines
- NSAIDs
- Fungicides
- Laxatives
- Lipid-lowering statins
- organic causes
- Esophageal diseases
- Reflux
- Achalasia
- Esophageal obstruction
- Stomach and duodenal diseases
- Gastritis
- Gastric ulcer
- Duodenal ulcer
- Gastric cancer
- Biliary tract diseases
- Cholecystitis
- Cholelithiasis
- Pancreatic diseases
- Pancreatitis
- Pancreatic cancers
- Intestinal diseases
- Malabsorptions
- Intermittent intestinal obstruction
- Irritable bowel disease
- Abdominal angina
- Cancers
- Systemic diseases
- Tuberculosis
- Heart diseases
- Kidney failure
- Chronic liver diseases
- Diabetes mellitus
- Esophageal diseases
Foods that produce excessive gas:
Foods that produce carbohydrates are the main factors in gas formation. Although fatty foods do not cause gas, they can cause bad odor.
- Candies
- Raffinose: Found in beans, cabbage, broccoli, asparagus, other vegetables and grains
- Lactose: Found in milk and dairy products. Milk, cheese, cream and ice cream etc.
- Fructose: Found in onions, artichokes, pears and wheat, it is also used as a sweetener in foods.
- Sorbitol: A natural sugar found in fruits such as apples, pears, peaches and plums. It is also used as an artificial sweetener.
- Starches: Patatex is found in abundance in wheat, corn and vermicelli and causes gas formation. Starch in rice does not create gas.
- Fibers: Soluble fibers produce gas, while insoluble fibers are excreted without being digested. Soluble fiber is commonly found in dried beans, peas, soybeans, lentils, oats, and most fruits.
To get rid of excess gas:
- Eat small and frequent meals
- Try not to swallow air through your mouth
- By taking note of what you eat, identify which foods cause you discomfort and stay away from them.
- Don’t force yourself to burp. Because when you burp, you swallow air.
- Reduce your intake of foods that cause gas when you eat. Generally, baked goods, finely ground creams, sulphate and carbohydrate foods can cause gas.
- Do not smoke, chew gum, or suck on candy.
- Do not drink beverages using a straw
- Do not use narrow-mouth bottles.
- Don’t eat fast.
- If you have a problem with your dentures, have them fixed.
- Do not go to bed immediately after eating. Try to move.
- Relieve the digestive process by reducing fatty meals.
- Do regular physical exercise. Exercise facilitates the movement and removal of gas by opening the intestinal spaces.
- Try not to consume foods that use artificial sweeteners.
- Drink enough water.
- Try to consume natural probiotics like yogurt.
Consult your physician, as medical treatment of excessive gas, indigestion or bloating can be done after the detection and evaluation of the condition causing it.