Fast, Natural Relief from Belching.

Traditional doctors don't always take belching seriously, so they may advise patients simply to take antacids.

According to alternative nutritionists and physicians, however, excessive belching usually occurs when the digestive system isn't working right. If you don't have enough stomach acid and digestive enzymes, the food you eat is likely to just sit in your stomach and small intestine rather than being digested properly. When this happens, the food may produce gases that cause bloating and constant, uncomfortable belching.

How do you stop it? If you want temporary relief, you can take an over-the-counter product with the ingredient simethicone. It causes gas bubbles to come together and combine so that they're more easily expelled, says William B. Salt II, M.D., clinical associate professor of medicine at Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health in Columbus.

If you want to solve the problem and get permanent relief, however, alternative practitioners say that you should try herbal and dietary supplements. They may actually eliminate excess belching by helping your digestive tract do what it's designed to do.

GINGER: Nearly Instant Relief
The herb ginger stimulates digestion and is good for both relieving and preventing belching, says Mark Stengler, N.D., a naturopathic physician in San Diego. He recommends taking one or two 550-milligram capsules of powdered ginger or 30 drops of tincture right before each meal. Or you can drink a cup of ginger tea with each meal. If you still have symptoms after a week, see a doctor, he adds.

DIGESTIVE ENZYMES:
A Package of protection A lifetime of poor diet, such as eating too many processed foods and not enough fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, may damage the body's ability to manufacture normal levels of digestive enzymes. This can lead to excessive belching, says Teresa Rispoli, Ph.D., a licensed nutritionist and acupuncturist in Agoura Hills, California. You can make up for this deficiency by taking a combination supplement that includes the full complement of digestive enzymes. She recommends looking for a supplement that includes as many of the following enzymes as possible: protease and pancreatin for protein digestion, amylase for starches, lipase for fat, cellulase for vegetable fibers, lactase for milk sugar, and maltase and sucrase for other types of sugars.
Take the supplement before meals, following the dosage recommendations on the label. It's safe to take it indefinitely.

CARDAMOM: Calms the Stomach
Cardamom may help reduce muscle spasms in the stomach, which are one cause of belching, says Dr. Rispoli. It also increases the production of digestive fluids so that food in the digestive tract is less likely to "rot" and produce gas.

You can prepare it as a tea by adding 1 teaspoon of cardamom to 8 ounces of water and boiling for 10 minutes. Drink it hot.

HINGWASTlKA: An Herbal Formula for Better Digestion
In Ayurveda, the ancient system of natural healing from India, belching is a vata condition, meaning that there is an excess of air in the system. Taking the herbal formula Hingwastika can relieve excess vata, says Light Miller, a naturopathic doctor and Ayurvedic practitioner in Sarasota, Florida. She recommends taking two capsules after each meal. It's safe to take this until your belching is relieved, but you should take it only with the guidance of a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner.

TEAS: Calming Cures
Folk treatments for belching include clove tea and citrus peel tea, says Andrew Gaeddert, a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild and director of the Get Well Clinic in Oakland, California. To make the tea, add 1 teaspoon of cloves or finely grated citrus peel to 8 ounces of water and boil for 10 minutes. Drink the tea hot.


BREAK THE BELCHING CYCLE.
Maybe you don't just belch after meals. Maybe you belch all the time, throughout the day, over and over again. This condition is called aerophagia, and it probably means that you're swallowing air, says William B. Salt II, M.D., clinical associate professor of medicine at Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health in Columbus.

Here's what happens. When gas accumulates in your stomach, you may feel bloated, so you swallow some extra air in hopes of provoking a burp. But you probably swallow more air than you belch. This starts a cycle in which you feel bloated, swallow air to relieve yourself, belch, feel more bloated, swallow more air, and on and on. Soon, this process becomes unconscious, and you're belching all the time.

Dr. Salt believes that the best way to cure aerophagia isn't with drugs or professional treatment. It's with your mind. "First, you must understand that constant, unconscious swallowing is the cause of your constant burping;' he says.”Then, you must develop the mindfulness to observe yourself. Mindfulness is awareness of the moment and what is occurring in it. Once you understand that constant swallowing is the cause of the problem, and you ob. serve yourself swallowing, you can usually stop it, and your belching will go away:'