• Question: why do we burp

    Asked by anon-350285 on 14 Mar 2023.
    • Photo: Hannah Tanner

      Hannah Tanner answered on 14 Mar 2023:

      We burp to release gas from our stomachs. When we swallow food and drink we quite often swallow a bit of air as well. If we swallowed too much air it would just keep on filling up our stomach leaving no room for food. So when we get too much air in our stomachs, we get the feeling of needing to burp. We usually feel better afterwards.
      Fizzy things like fizzy drinks or sherbet also release extra gas in our stomachs, that’s why they make you much more likely to burp.

    • Photo: Laura Lockhart

      Laura Lockhart answered on 14 Mar 2023:

      To get rid of gas from our stomachs- there’s a lot of chemical reactions going on in there some of which produce gas so we burp to get rid of it so we don’t feel bloated.

    • Photo: John Clark-Corrigall

      John Clark-Corrigall answered on 14 Mar 2023:

      It’s really just air going down into the food channel (oesophagus) to your stomach. The air gets trapped and has to come out so is pushed through muscle contractions, it’s some of the same muscles that contract when you are sick. That’s why sometimes forcing burps causes some sick to come up.

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