Although widespread, bloating is still considered an absolute taboo subject when it comes to our bodily functions. However, many people are regularly plagued by these unpleasant symptoms. However, very few of them want to talk about it.
Therefore, many people are looking for reliable tips and resources that can be used to treat flatulence as quickly and discreetly as possible. In this article, we want to first explain to you what the triggers for flatulence can be. In addition, we would like to show you with detailed assistance which tricks and means can be used to treat annoying flatulence as quickly as possible.
the essentials in brief
- Flatulence is a common medical condition. It is estimated that at least 13% of the German population regularly suffer from annoying intestinal gas and a bloated stomach.
- Food intolerance, wrong eating habits, too little exercise, hasty eating, but also various stomach and intestinal diseases are triggers for unpleasant flatulence.
- There are a number of different remedies and recommendations for alleviating the symptoms of flatulence. This can include various herbal remedies, medication, exercise and a change in your eating habits.
Definition: What is flatulence?
Bloating occurs when an unusually large amount of gas builds up in our intestines during digestion. The gas build-up causes the stomach to become very swollen, and excessive venting of intestinal gas is often accompanied by a bloated stomach. Bloating can be very painful because the gas build-up often causes cramps and an uncomfortable feeling of pressure. (1)
Bloating, especially after eating, is in itself a relatively common thing, as everyone experiences it from time to time. However, if these symptoms occur more frequently and you also complain of persistent pain at the same time, the cause of your flatulence should be clarified in more detail.
Background: What you should know about flatulence
There is no one specific reason for the development of unpleasant flatulence to which this could be clearly attributed. Rather, there can be many different causes that favor your flatulence. (2)
Therefore, in the following, we want to tell you what reasons this could be and, above all, give you an outlook on the different means and ways you can use to treat flatulence as quickly as possible.
How does bloating occur and what can cause it?
Flatulence occurs when excessive gas is produced in the intestines during the digestive process. The excess gas causes the bowels to bulge, which can lead to painful cramps and feelings of pressure. In addition, many people also suffer from flatulence at the same time, as the excess gas seeks a way out of the body.
Therefore, flatulence usually also leads to unpleasant, outgoing intestinal gas. (3) The most common triggers for flatulence and their side effects can be found in the following table.
| trigger | Reason |
|---|---|
| food intolerances | Intolerance to foods containing lactose , fructose, gluten, sorbitol or histamine |
| Groceries | Excessive consumption of foods that have a flatulent effect, e.g. legumes |
| wrong diet | too greasy / too much sugar / too high in fiber / too high in protein |
| lack of exercise | too little movement causes a sluggish bowel |
| stress / strain | In the case of psychological stress, flatulence can develop as a psychosomatic symptom |
| eating habits | Food is gobbled up / food is not chewed through / too much air is swallowed when eating, eg if there is too much talking during the meal / too many carbonated drinks / too little liquid intake throughout the day |
| Diseases | Infections, bacteria, intestinal malformations, hormonal disorders, irritable bowel syndrome |
(4)
If you regularly suffer from flatulence and want to get relief quickly, you should also deal with the points mentioned above in addition to symptomatic treatment. Symptoms can often be alleviated by testing for possible intolerances, changing the wrong diet and eating habits, reducing stress and exercising more.
It is not uncommon for a combination of the reasons listed to explain the occurrence of the symptoms, so that you may have to turn several screws for quick and successful treatment. (5)
Which treatments help quickly against flatulence?
Various options are very suitable for treating flatulence quickly. The options that we would like to present to you below are considered to be particularly helpful.
- Home remedies: These include, for example, herbal preparations based on fennel, peppermint or caraway. Heat, for example in the form of hot-water bottles, can also be beneficial for flatulence.
- Medications: There are various medications available on the market that you can use to quickly treat bloating. Products that contain the active ingredients Simethicone and/or Dimethicone are considered to be particularly helpful.
- Food: Eating a variety of foods can also speed up the rapid relief from your bloating. Ginger, for example, is particularly beneficial. Yoghurt can also support your intestines thanks to the probiotics it contains, as well as lemon juice.
- Exercise: Since flatulence is often a sign of an acute lack of exercise, you should make sure that you are active on a regular basis. This is especially important if you generally tend to sit a lot. Of course, it is particularly advantageous if you exercise continuously, but even a daily walk in the fresh air can already help to counteract excessive flatulence or get rid of it. (6)
You have to try out which treatment method is best for you. Therefore, there is no one right way of treatment, but it must be specially adapted to your body and your needs.
Exercise can ease your digestive problems. (Image source: unsplash / fitsum admasu)
In addition, you should first deal with your personal living conditions and behavior in detail in order to find any clues as to what could possibly be the reason for your flatulence symptoms.
Is flatulence uncommon or even dangerous?
Basically, everyone has flatulence from time to time. This is often related to the consumption of certain foods that cause flatulence, little exercise or stomach and intestinal upsets.
Occasional bloating is completely normal in itself and nothing to worry about.
Even if flatulence occurs more frequently, this is annoying and uncomfortable for those affected, but in most cases the symptoms are not dangerous.
However, if flatulence occurs particularly often or extremely severely without a comprehensible reason being apparent, it is advisable to have the finding medically clarified. In this context, doctors can, for example, diagnose food allergies, bacterial overgrowth in the intestine or even an irritable bowel as the cause and possibly treat them in a targeted manner. (7)
Bloating: Effective approaches to treating and relieving symptoms
There are different ways to quickly relieve annoying flatulence. However, you should first check exactly what the possible reasons for the development of the symptoms could be. We want to support you in choosing the right treatment methods for you. Therefore, in the following sections, we would like to introduce you to different options with which you can quickly combat flatulence.
Which herbal remedies should help quickly with flatulence?
In order to cure flatulence quickly and effectively, various herbal active ingredients are very well suited, which do not require any chemicals and which you can access quickly and easily from home. The following list shows you which plant-based remedies help you with flatulence particularly quickly and effectively.
- peppermint
- Caraway seeds
- fennel
To find out which herbal supplement works best in your case, it is best to try the different variants. In order to give you a direct overview of the remedies and their special properties, we will now present them one after the other.
Can peppermint help with bloating quickly?
The essential oils of the peppermint medicinal plant are considered to be an excellent remedy in the treatment of any stomach and intestinal ailments. Peppermint can also have a strong effect on flatulence, which both relieves the symptoms in general and can reduce the resulting pain.
Herbal remedies, such as peppermint, can help with unpleasant flatulence. Peppermint can be taken in the form of drops, but also as a capsule or as a tea mixture. (Image source: Lajuanna Whittington / unsplash)
Flatulence and the resulting symptoms such as cramps, intestinal gas and pressure pain can be brought under control quickly. Peppermint - preparations can be taken in the form of drops or as tablets. The preparation of a peppermint tea is also suitable, since in addition to the active ingredient of the mint leaves, the soothing warmth can also alleviate flatulence symptoms. (8th)
Can cumin help with flatulence quickly?
The oil of the cumin spice is also said to be able to alleviate the unpleasant symptoms of flatulence. This is also due to the antispasmodic and calming influence that cumin can have on our digestive organs.
Therefore, caraway is also a popular way to treat flatulence quickly and effectively.
Cumin can be consumed very well by preparing a soothing tea from its seeds. At the same time, caraway is also available in the form of drops or capsules, which enable the preparations to be used flexibly. (9)
Can fennel help with flatulence quickly?
Fennel is probably one of the best-known and most popular herbal remedies, which is used particularly often for abdominal pain and especially for flatulence.
Since preparations made from fennel are well tolerated, they are also particularly suitable for the sensitive intestines of babies.
Especially for babies, who often suffer from colic in the first months of life, preparations with fennel are recommended to relieve the annoying symptoms. Due to the soothing and antispasmodic effect of the fennel bulb on the stomach and intestinal tract, you have a large selection of preparations.
These are available in the form of tablets as well as drops containing the active ingredient. A fennel tea can also provide quick relief from flatulence. (10)
Which medications can quickly help with flatulence?
In addition to the various herbal remedies already listed, special medications are also available that are intended to help with flatulence quickly. Preparations that contain the chemical active ingredients simethicone and/or dimeticone have proven particularly effective. We now want to go into the properties of these two active ingredients separately for you.
Simeticon
The active substance Simethicon is used as a fast-acting defoamer - drug. In this form, it is supposed to ensure that the excessive number of air bubbles, which cause the unpleasant symptoms, break up in the event of flatulence. The greatly reduced bubbles can then be automatically absorbed by the intestine.
Another advantage of Simeticon - drugs is that the preparations only act locally in the intestine and can not get into the bloodstream. You can take the active ingredient Simethicone in the form of tablets, granules, drops or as a liquid. (11)
dimeticone
Dimethicone is also one of the anti-foaming drugs that ensure that large accumulations of air or gas in the intestine are regulated. In contrast to Simethicone, however, Dimethicone is one of the slower-acting defoamers. For this reason, drugs that contain simethicone in addition to dimethicone are particularly in demand for a rapid mode of action. You can administer Dimethicone preparations mainly as chewable tablets or by means of drops. (12)
Which foods quickly help with flatulence and which should be avoided?
If you often suffer from acute flatulence and want to get rid of it quickly, you should first deal with your diet. Many people consume foods that are highly bloating on a regular basis and in large amounts without knowing it.
Beans are one of the types of foods that are particularly well-known for having a powerful gas-bloating effect. So if you are prone to flatulence, or even suffer from it regularly, you should rather avoid eating beans. (Image source: Tijana Drndarski / unsplash)
At the same time, however, there are also some foods that have the opposite effect and can alleviate or prevent flatulence symptoms. In the table below, we will show you which foods you should avoid if you have flatulence and which ones can have a positive effect against it.
| Groceries | Impact on Complaints | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| legumes | negative | generally very flatulent |
| cabbage | negative | generally very flatulent |
| Onion | negative | generally very flatulent |
| Leek | negative | generally very flatulent |
| Garlic | negative | generally very flatulent |
| sugar substitutes | negative | strongly flatulent, also sorbitol - intolerance possible |
| dried fruit | negative | generally strongly flatulent, also high sorbitol content (intolerance possible) |
| alcohol | negative | general irritation of the digestive tract possible |
| Fat | negative | general strain on the gastrointestinal tract |
| chewing gums | negative | much flatulence from excessive swallowing of air |
| Yeast | negative | strongly flatulent |
| carbonic acid | negative | severe flatulence from absorption of gas |
| mint | very positive | relaxes the intestinal muscles and relieves cramps |
| fennel | very positive | has an antispasmodic and calming effect |
| Caraway seeds | very positive | has an antispasmodic and deflating effect |
| probiotics | positive | can act preventively |
| Ginger | positive | has a digestive effect |
| anise | positive | regulates and stimulates digestion |
| turmeric | positive | has an anti-inflammatory effect |
| lemon juice | positive | has a digestive effect |
(13)
As you now know, in order to regulate your digestion and get your flatulence under control quickly, you should avoid the foods in the upper part of the table, or at least reduce them significantly. On the other hand, if you are looking for foods that can help you to quickly cure persistent flatulence, you should integrate the foods in the lower half of the table firmly into your diet.
How can our eating/drinking habits affect bloating?
A huge trigger for bloating, especially one that occurs immediately after eating food, is improper eating/drinking habits. A lot of air is swallowed, especially when we are under time pressure or do not allow ourselves the necessary rest when eating and therefore gulp hastily.
This excess air gets into our intestinal tract with food and in the process causes unpleasant flatulence (14).
In addition, hastily swallowed food was usually not chewed sufficiently, which also overwhelms the intestines and can be a further indicator of the development of flatulence. In terms of drinking behavior, it is important that you drink enough throughout the day to counteract flatulence in advance. In this case, non-carbonated drinks are particularly useful, as they are known to additionally promote flatulence.
Can exercise help with flatulence quickly?
We often suffer from flatulence when we move too little throughout the day. The insufficient movement can cause our intestines to become sluggish. This happens especially when we spend most of the day sitting.
In order to counteract such flatulence due to lack of exercise, it is important that we are active for at least 30 minutes a day. Regular sports units are particularly effective in avoiding such flatulence. Brisk walks in the fresh air can also help to prevent this type of flatulence. (15)
Conclusion
Occasional flatulence is a natural side effect of our body and occurs in the course of our digestion. However, if flatulence occurs extremely frequently and is also painful, its origin should be questioned. Triggers for this flatulence can be, for example, intolerances, wrong eating habits, lack of exercise or diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome.
If you suffer from such regular flatulence and are looking for a way to quickly remedy your symptoms, you have different options. In addition to a general change in diet, exercise and avoiding stress, there are also various preparations available that should help quickly against flatulence.
Both herbal remedies, for example fennel or mint, and chemical variants with the active ingredients simethicone and dimeticone can be used.
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