If you are wondering why you’ve had problems with excess belching or belches that smell like eggs or sulfur, there are ways to learn how to get rid of sulfur burps and put this embarrassing problem behind you.
You can have flatus that smells of sulfur, too, and the reasons and ways to get rid of that problem are very much the same.
If you are having any major problems like abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, or a fever, you should get checked by your doctor right away. If you have a lot of sulfurous burps or flatus (farts), you might want to talk to your doctor about getting tested for H. Pylori, which is a common bacterial infection of the stomach.
If this has been going on for a long, long time, you might want to ask your doctor about the possibility of issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease (GERD).
Reasons You Have Sulfur Burps
There are a few reasons that burps will taste or smell of sulfur. Most often, it has to do with the kinds of foods you are eating.
First of all, make sure you aren’t wolfing down your food. Gulping down food in a huge rush, and not chewing up your food enough, you can introduce air into the gut, causing you to then have a lot of gas in the gut that needs to escape.
Concentrate on slowing down and enjoying your meal, chewing each bite thoroughly. Also, if your portions are too large, this could affect your amount of belching and farting. Try eating several small meals a day instead of two or three huge meals.
One other reason people have lots of gas is if they habitually chew gum. This is another reason that air is introduced into the gut when it shouldn’t be there. Try stopping the chewing gum, and see if that helps.
If you drink lots of alcohol, you might have gas from that. Beer, especially, is notorious for causing sulfur-smelling burps or flatus. Cut back on alcohol if possible.
The number one reason for this is likely what you are eating. Foods that are high in sulfur, such as eggs, meat, fish, dairy, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, onions, leeks, and garlic are all major contributors to this problem. High protein foods, in general, are causes of sulfur burps. As stated above, alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer will also possibly cause embarrassment.
Fiber is something that’s very important to get enough of, but if you have potentially overdone it on fiber, that can cause lots of gas to form in the gut. If you eat tons of insoluble fiber in the form of whole grains, flax or chia seeds, legumes, beans, and peas, this might be why you have gas.
Ways of Getting Rid of An Embarrassing Problem
Anytime there is a problem with the gut, it is a very good idea to get checked by your doctor. If you can see a gastroenterologist, that is even better. If you are over 40, you should be getting regular endoscopies, and this would be an ideal way to see if you have an issue like GERD, IBS, or other chronic problems in the GI tract that produce symptoms like too much flatus or belching.
At home, slowing down your chewing and swallowing, reducing the size of meals, and avoiding alcohol and high sulfur foods are the first things to do. You can also add a few things to your diet that might help.
Cleansing herbs like oregano, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary might remedy some of your issues. Chamomile tea, green tea, and turmeric are all especially good for cleaning up the smells of sulfur in the GI tract.
