What to do if You have to Fart on an Elevator: Gas & Bloating Etiquette

Farting may be all fun and games when you’re hanging with the guys playing video games, but when you’re stuck on an elevator with one other person, or when you’re on a dinner date with a possible Mr. or Mrs. Right, passing gas isn’t so comical.

If you’re like many people, you know this from experience. However, what can you do to stop it?  When nature calls, nature calls, right? Not necessarily. The good news is that you can be a considerate elevator passenger and perfect date when you follow strict gas and bloating relief tricks.

What Causes Gas & Bloating?

Before you can manage your gas, you must first learn the causes of gas. Though there are several — and though the causes of bloating vary from person to person — some factors contribute to stomach issues more than others. Some things that may make you feel extra gassy are as follows:

• Swallowing air
• Bacteria in the large intestine
• Certain foods
• Poor eating habits
• Certain carbonated beverages
• Sugar substitutes
• Medical conditions

Is it Normal to Experience Gas Throughout the Day?

Gas and bloating are common, with as many as 25% of healthy adults complaining of occasional gas and bloat. Of those one in four people, 75% agree that, when they do have gas, their symptoms are severe. Approximately 10% say that they experience symptoms “regularly.”1

For women, bloating is even more common. As many as 75% of women of menstruating age claim to experience gas and bloating right before their periods.

Given these stats, gas and bloating are normal. Individuals who do develop symptoms typically experience relief within a few hours to a couple of days. By implementing proven gas relief tricks — such as drinking more water, eating slower, drinking herbal tea and taking probiotics — individuals can achieve relief even quicker.

That said, while occasional and short-lived gas and bloating are normal, frequent and chronic symptoms may be cause for concern. You should start to worry when your symptoms grow progressively worse, they persist for more than a few days, they are persistently painful or they come with additional symptoms, such as fever, vomiting or muscle aches. If any of these apply to you, you should seek medical attention right away.

How to Avoid Flatulence

If you’re a particularly gassy person, and if you’re tired of being “that guy” in a small space, it may be time to examine the way you eat, what you eat or both. 

Some tricks you can use to stop bloating and passing gas throughout the day are as follows:

• Eat and drink at a slower pace
• Assess your diet for possible food intolerances
• Avoid beer, soda and other carbonated beverages throughout the week
• Increase your physical activity
• Quit smoking (if you do)
• Cut back on the number of gas-producing foods you eat

Below are a few other ways to avoid embarrassing symptoms.

Avoid Swallowing too Much Air When You Eat or Drink

The number one reason people develop gas and bloat is because they swallow too much air when they eat and drink. While it’s impossible to avoid swallowing air entirely, you can limit the amount of air you take in by simply eating and drinking more slowly. If you tend to eat and drink on-the-go, stop doing so, as eating while engaging in other activities makes it easy to swallow excess air.

Save the “Gassy” Foods for Dinner

If you find it hard to give up your dairy products and carbonated beverages throughout the week, save them for dinner at the very least. By saving your gassy foods for the end of the night, you give yourself a solid buffer of between 10 and 15 hours for your body to go through the cycle of bloat and flatulence. If it takes longer for you to achieve relief from bloating symptoms, consider investing in bloat relief aids.

Try Herbs

Though we designed our herbal cleanses to target specific issues and toxins, each contains a mixture of powerful herbs and ingredients that aid in the natural cleansing process. For instance, many of our cleanses contain aloe vera leaf, which both hydrates the body while at the same time flushing it of impurities. Dandelion leaf is another common ingredient, as it offers a range of health benefits. For example, it’s full of nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, vitamin E and iron. Studies suggest that dandelion is also good for liver and digestive organ health. Other herbs our cleanses use include echinacea, green tea, American ginseng root, burdock root, juniper berry and milk thistle. 

Keep Polisorb On You At All Times

If gas and bloating are a frequent occurrence with you, and if changing your diet, exercising more and cleansing your system are not enough to keep symptoms at bay, add Polisorb to your arsenal. Polisorb is a single-ingredient agent that attracts and binds to toxins in your body and quickly ushers them through and out of the digestive tract. With Polisorb, you can experience relief in as few as 15 minutes.

Fast Relief for Gas and Bloating Shop Polisorb

Gas and bloating are no fun, especially when you’re out and about. Fortunately, if you take these tips to heart, you can beat bloat quickly and possibly banish symptoms for good.