What you can do about farting and belching

Keep a diary

If you really want to get to grips with the problem, keep a diary of what and when you eat for a week. Also note when you pass wind, and whether it is mild, moderate or severe each time. This may help you to pinpoint foods or drinks that are responsible.

Minimizing belching

Avoid fizzy drinks and hot drinks.
Do not rush your food. When you gulp food you swallow more air.
Do not overeat. To avoid gas, it is better to eat little and often.
Chew your food properly. This helps the saliva to work on it so it is properly digested, and you are less likely to swallow air with food that is chewed small than with large lumps.
Do not use chewing gum, and try to avoid sucking on pen tops.
Stop smoking.

Minimizing flatulence

Pay attention to the advice for minimizing belching to reduce swallowed air. Some swallowed air may be passed as flatulence instead of belching.
Try to avoid large quantities of the particular gas-forming foods listed above, but make sure you eat enough fruit and vegetables to avoid constipation and give yourself a balanced diet. The carbohydrates in many foods (such as potatoes, rice, corn and wheat products) are well absorbed so will not worsen flatulence. Dietary fibres, such as bran and cellulose, are also innocent, because they are not converted to gases by gut bacteria.
Do not suddenly increase the amount of fibre in your diet; the gut needs to get used to increased fibre gradually.
Avoid slimming foods containing sorbitol. Some people find that reducing their intake of ordinary sugar helps.
Remove 80% of the most troublesome carbohydrates from dried beans by covering them with water, bringing them to the boil and boiling for 10 minutes, turning off the heat and letting them soak for 4 hours. Drain off the water, replace with fresh water and cook the beans according to your recipe. Or use tinned beans.
Take plenty of exercise. This helps to keep the bowel moving normally.
Avoid tight clothing.
Try taking a charcoal tablet (available from pharmacies), or eating a charcoal biscuit (available from health stores) before a meal.
Your doctor might be willing to give you a course of broad-spectrum antibiotic. This can sometimes help by changing the balance of bacteria in the gut.
Anti-wind products can be bought from pharmacies. They disperse bubbles of trapped wind by creating larger bubbles that can pass out of the system. They may relieve your discomfort, but may make you fart and belch even more.
Beano (see useful contacts) is a product containing the enzyme galactosidase, which is said to improve the digestibility of gassy carbohydrate foods. It is made from a mould, so avoid it if you are allergic to moulds or penicillin. You take it just before your first bite of food. It is available from some pharmacies and health-food stores.

Disguising wind

If you make a smell in the lavatory, light a match this makes the smell disappear as if by magic. Considerate people keep a box of matches by the lavatory for this purpose.
If you have a serious flatulence problem, you might consider special pants (Under-Tec) that have a large replaceable carbon filter in the seat. This filter removes the smelly chemicals. The other parts of the pants are airtight, so wind can escape only by passing through the filter.
In the USA, a cushion that filters flatulence is available. The Flatulence Filter is covered in grey tweed fabric and looks like an ordinary chair cushion, but is packed with charcoal. It lasts about 12 months, and the manufacturers claim It makes a great gift.

Written by: Dr Margaret Stearn
Edited by: Dr Margaret Stearn
Last updated: Friday, February 12th 2010

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Comments on this article

Posted by uche ejorh on 25/05/2010 at 10:27:17 am

I always fart and bleech but now i know what to do to fart less and bleech more this a very good website if you want stop farting and bleeching go on this web: when you fart would you get worried? After choose what you want.

Posted by S on 11/02/2010 at 12:11:00 am

from last week or so i feel bloated at night. It is very uncomfortable and it keeps me awake. I find it very difficult to pass the wind ie i want and need to but just can't which makes me very rest less. what can i do to solve this problem

Posted by CommonSense on 09/02/2010 at 09:54:00 pm

Just don't eat too much (especially cold meals)and don't drink fizzy drinks. Exercise more for better muscles control. Nowadays people eat far too much.

Posted by bert on 22/01/2010 at 09:01:00 am

why do i follow through when i fart

Posted by Anonymous on 16/12/2009 at 01:08:00 am

Ok recently I've had realy bad wind my diet aint as good as it should be but nothing's changed that I didn't do a few weeks ago. It's embaresing as they smell teriable but I get a sick feeling if I bottle it up and doing that makes it 10X worse when I get home

Posted by Sid on 10/11/2009 at 10:47:00 pm

Any advice to prevent follow-through after farting?

Posted by Franko on 24/09/2009 at 03:41:00 pm

Good article- you should also list it under Flatulence. You did not mention the leading solution for gas odor - the Flatulence Deodorizer by Flat-D Innovations in the USA, http://www.flat-d.com/ It is an activated charcoal cloth pad you place in your own underwear and it absorbs the gas smell. Check it out - it really works.

Posted by Anonymous on 08/08/2009 at 07:22:00 pm

when i break wind i make my girlfreind sick , but my little girl laughs , do i need to see a doctor

Posted by Anonymous on 30/07/2009 at 10:29:00 pm

My flatulence is always worse late afternoon onwards. I eat a low fat, high fruit and veg. diet, no pulses, and low red meat. I walk everywhere,fast! my main source of embarrassment is during sex,when the amount of wind build-up in my colon is making me hold back in my enjoyment of sex.

Posted by Anonymous on 15/03/2009 at 03:14:00 pm

What can be done when farting is so frequent(every 20-30 minutes ) that you can not control? Sometimes wind is so small that you can not feel it yet others smell it.How can you deal this ?

Posted by Anonymous on 14/01/2009 at 08:08:00 am

What can be done about farts that occur without warning when you are walking around. This is very embarassing at work or in company.

Posted by Anonymous on 01/01/2009 at 07:01:00 am

What can be done about wind (farts) that no odor, just make noise and seem to come out of nowhere?