Have you ever stopped and wondered
to yourself, why do we burp?
[burping]
Let's find out on today's episode of Colossal Questions.
Our burps are really nothing more
than extra gas finding its way out of our body,
in this case, our mouths.
[burping]
It might be gross, but it's also a normal way for our bodies
to get rid of all the extra air we swallow throughout the day.
You see, every time we swallow a bit of food
or sip a beverage, we swallow little bits of air
along with whatever we're actually
trying to eat or drink.
That air is mostly made up of gases, mainly nitrogen
and oxygen, which end up inside our stomach
along with everything else we swallow.
Over time, the gases start to build
up more and more until there's too much,
and it's got to get out.
So some gas is squeezed out the stomach
back up into the esophagus, the tube that connects
our mouth to our belly.
From there, the gas is pushed up the esophagus
and out through the mouth in the form of a burp.
[burping]
Disgusting and cool!
That's also why we tend to start burping a lot more when
we sip on a fizzy drink.
All those sparkling bubbles in your beverage
are just bits of carbon dioxide gas.
That's why we call bubbly drinks carbonated.
All that carbon dioxide you're drinking down quickly
collects in your stomach and causes
you to start burping it back out almost immediately.
You can also cause yourself to burp
by eating or drinking too fast.
As you quickly chow down on a snack,
you're swallowing way more air with every bite
than if you took your time with smaller bites.
The same goes for a straw.
All that extra air you swallow with each sip
causes extra burps.
The good news, burping is rarely a health problem.
It's just usually pretty gross, and in certain situations,
downright rude.
But it's also natural.
So don't fret if you need to burp
after sucking down an entire extra large soda in one sip.
[burping]
Just, you know, try to choose your spots.