Why Do I Have So Much Gas?

You’re in a meeting with your stomach muscles clenched, doing math. How long until the next one? Can it go out silently? Is the person on your left breathing through their mouth because of you?

How much is normal

Start with the numbers. NIDDK¹ says people typically belch up to 30 times a day as well. Having gas and some gas symptoms is normal, it says, and many people are bothered by gas symptoms once in a while.

Bloating is a separate feeling, a sense of swelling or fullness in the belly, and it’s common. NIDDK² reports that 16% to 31% of people experience it, and in one US survey about 20% said they’d had it in the past week.

If your count falls in that range, it’s typical. It’s digestion with an audience.

Where it comes from

NIDDK¹ names two sources. You swallow air, and bacteria in your large intestine break down carbohydrates that weren’t digested earlier.

Swallowed air comes from chewing gum, carbonated drinks, eating too quickly, smoking and loose dentures.

The bacterial part is where food matters. When hard-to-digest carbohydrates reach the large intestine, the bacteria there break them down and create gas in the process.

The usual food suspects

NIDDK’s³ list is long, and it includes several foods you’ve been told are good for you. Apples, peaches and pears, and fruit juices. Broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens and kale. Beans, peas and lentils. Milk, ice cream and yogurt. Whole wheat. Drinks sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, such as fruit juices, soft drinks and sports drinks. And sweeteners ending in “-ol,” such as sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, erythritol and maltitol.

NIDDK¹ also lists too much fiber among the contributors.

You don’t have to give all of that up. The point is that gas has a menu.

The cycle effect

If your digestion changes around your period, that’s not your imagination.

Cleveland Clinic⁴ explains that prostaglandins, fatty acids that begin to relax the smooth muscle of your uterus, can have a similar effect on your bowels, which means more bowel movements and even diarrhea. Progesterone adds its own effect. It can cause diarrhea in some people and constipation in others, and tends to show up around ovulation or a couple of days after.

Cravings count too. Cleveland Clinic⁴ says junk food can cause extra-smelly stool and gas.

It isn’t always the gas

Here’s a twist that matters if you feel bloated and gassy but the numbers look ordinary. The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA)⁵ says bloating is not always caused by too much gas. The gut may be oversensitive, may move food slowly, or may lack an enzyme it needs.

The AGA⁵ also points to the brain-gut connection, which is why a stressful stretch can make the same meal feel different.

When it’s more than food

Sometimes the gas has a medical reason. NIDDK¹ links gas and bloating to irritable bowel syndrome, lactose intolerance, fructose intolerance, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, celiac disease, constipation, acid reflux and gastroparesis.

Two related topics have articles here: constipation and a belly that grows through the day.

What helps

NIDDK’s⁶ advice starts with habits. Eat slowly, and sit down to eat when you can. Avoid or limit chewing gum, hard candy and fizzy drinks, and don’t drink with a straw. Make sure dentures fit properly.

On the food side, a doctor may suggest smaller, more frequent meals, or less of the foods and drinks that raise your gas. NIDDK⁶ says doctors may recommend over-the-counter medicines, or products such as lactase for lactose intolerance. It also says to talk with your doctor before you use supplements, probiotics or any complementary or alternative medicine.

The play

Try this: keep a food-and-gas diary

Write down what you eat and drink, and when the gas shows up.

NIDDK³ recommends exactly this to find the foods behind your symptoms.

Look for repeats: the same lunch, the same drink, the same day in your cycle.

When to get checked

Don’t wait if

1. Same day

   Call your clinician the same day if you have severe cramping, or pain together with blood in your stool. Cleveland Clinic⁴ lists both as reasons to get care.

NIDDK¹ says to see a doctor if your gas symptoms bother you, if they change suddenly, or if you have abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea or weight loss along with the gas.

Back in that meeting: the count matters less than the pattern.