How can I stop burping after taking fish oil?

Right now, with the softgel already down, four things to do in the next two hours

How can I stop burping after taking fish oil is asked by a reader whose softgel is already down and whose burps have already started, which makes it a different question from how to avoid them, and the honest page splits it into what to do right now and what to change tomorrow, because most burp pages answer tomorrow and this reader wants the next two hours. Right now, first: eat something solid. A softgel taken on an empty stomach, or just before a meal that has not arrived, dissolves within minutes and its oil floats on top of the stomach contents, where every relaxation of the sphincter sends its smell up, and a meal eaten now, even a small one, bread, a banana, a bowl of something, gives the oil a mass to mix into and sink beneath, the gastric fat literature's finding that fat mixed with a meal empties with it while fat alone floats, so the first remedy for a burp already happening is the dinner the softgel should have come with. Second: stay upright for two hours, since lying on the sofa or going to bed rests the stomach's contents, oil on top, against the oesophageal junction and refluxes what would have stayed down standing, the reflux-and-posture literature's rule, so the two hours are spent sitting up or walking and not horizontal. Third: skip the peppermint. The instinct for a fishy burp is a mint, a mint tea or a peppermint capsule, and peppermint relaxes the lower oesophageal sphincter, the peppermint and reflux literature's finding, so the mint that freshens the breath also opens the door the burps come through, and the better mouth fix is water, a slice of lemon or plain gum, with the mints saved for a day that did not start with a fasted softgel. Fourth: wait, because a burp episode from a fasted softgel lasts a few hours and nothing on a shelf shortens it, the oil clearing as the stomach empties, so a reader who has done the first three has done everything the next two hours allow and the rest is the clock.

Tomorrow, three changes in order, why the right-now fixes are not the tomorrow fixes, and the split filed

Tomorrow, three changes in order. The first, timing: the next softgel goes in the middle of a meal, after several mouthfuls and before the last, which is the single change that stops most fish oil burping on the first day it is tried, since an oil swallowed into a stomach already full of food is held down by it and empties with it, and with food, as most readers practise it, means just before the food and does not count, the avoid-burps page's one-week protocol beginning here. The second, the bite test: a softgel bitten open should taste mildly of fish and not of paint, old nuts or a sharp chemical edge, and a tub that fails the test is rancid, its aldehydes repeating on the breath for most of the day whatever the timing, so a failed bite means a fresh tub, stored cool and dark with the lid closed and finished within a couple of months, and no timing change fixes a rancid oil. The third, the product: if a week of mid-meal softgels from a fresh tub still burps, the form or the size is the lever, a stated triglyceride form sitting better than an unstated ethyl ester for many users, a 500mg softgel twice relaxing the sphincter less than a large one once, and an enteric-coated softgel releasing past the stomach altogether for the reader who burps on every uncoated oil, the enteric literature's fewer-burps finding at a cost premium. Why the right-now fixes are not the tomorrow fixes is worth saying plainly: eating now rescues a softgel already taken badly, and it works, but a reader who plans to rescue every softgel with an emergency banana has the order backwards, since the meal is supposed to come first, so the right-now page hands over to the tomorrow page after one use. The split filed: right now, eat something solid, stay upright for two hours, skip the peppermint and wait a few hours; tomorrow, mid-meal, a bite test and a fresh tub, and then form, size or an enteric coat, with the worked example being tomorrow's softgel, a triglyceride form for the middle of a meal, £14.99 for 90 at 17p.

The verdict, rescue this one with a meal and an upright two hours, and take the next one properly

How can I stop burping after taking fish oil: right now, with the softgel already down, eat something solid so the oil that has floated on an empty stomach has a meal to sink into, stay upright for two hours rather than lying down, skip the peppermint or mint tea that relaxes the sphincter the burps come through, and wait out a few hours that no remedy shortens, and tomorrow, take the next softgel in the middle of a meal after several mouthfuls, bite one for the paint or old-nut taste that means a rancid tub to replace, and if a week of mid-meal softgels from a fresh tub still burps, change to a stated triglyceride form, a smaller softgel or an enteric coat. Tomorrow's softgel: Futuro Labs Omega 3 Fish Oil, one mid-meal, 180mg EPA and 120mg DHA, lab-tested purity, 90 for £14.99 at 17p a day.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

I just took fish oil and I am burping, what can I do right now?

Eat something solid, since a softgel on an empty stomach has dissolved and its oil is floating and a meal gives it something to sink into; stay upright for two hours; skip the peppermint, which relaxes the sphincter; and accept that a few hours of burps will pass with nothing on a shelf shortening them.

Does peppermint help fish oil burps?

No, it makes them worse: peppermint relaxes the lower oesophageal sphincter, the door the burps come through, so a mint, a mint tea or a peppermint capsule freshens the breath while opening the door, and water, a slice of lemon or plain gum is the better mouth fix.

Should I lie down to let the fish oil settle?

No: lying down rests the stomach's contents, oil on top, against the oesophageal junction and refluxes what standing or sitting would hold down, so the two hours after a softgel are spent upright, and a bedtime softgel is the one most likely to burp for that reason.

How do I stop the burping happening again tomorrow?

Take the next softgel in the middle of a meal, after several mouthfuls and before the last, which stops most fish oil burping on the first day it is tried, then bite one to check the tub is not rancid, and only if a week of that still burps change the form, the size or to an enteric coat.

How long will the burping last this time?

A few hours: the oil clears as the stomach empties and a burp episode from a fasted softgel passes within the afternoon or evening, while burping that lasts all day and repeats every day points to a rancid tub rather than the timing, checked by biting a softgel for a paint or old-nut taste.

Sources

1. The gastric emptying literature: fat slows gastric emptying more than carbohydrate or protein, so a fatty meal or an oil taken shortly before exercise leaves more in the stomach during the session and is the usual advice to avoid before training. PubMed record
2. The reflux and posture literature: lying flat within an hour or two of eating, and of taking an oil, increases reflux because the stomach's contents sit against the oesophageal junction, so a fish oil softgel taken at the pillow refluxes more than the same softgel taken with an upright meal. PubMed record
3. The reflux trigger literature: peppermint, chocolate, alcohol and large fatty meals relax the lower oesophageal sphincter and worsen reflux, while chewing gum, staying upright and a small starchy snack are among the simple measures that reduce it after the event. PubMed record
4. The fish oil oxidation literature: oxidation is measured by peroxide value, anisidine value and their combination as TOTOX, with the industry monograph setting limits of 5, 20 and 26 respectively, and surveys of retail fish oils finding a meaningful share above those limits, freshness being a quality dimension a label rarely shows and a certificate does. PubMed record

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