Although a lot of people find burping to be an offensive, disgusting habit, it can also be a lot of fun to those of us with twisted, silly sense of humors. Learning how to belch on command can allow you to perform all kinds of neat party tricks such as burping your ABCs and calling someone by name in the form of a burp. The options are truly fun and endless. But in order to become a burping-on-command master, you must first understand the interesting bodily process that causes humans to burp.
What Causes People to Burp?
Although carbonated drinks and excess gas are considered to be the springboard of the burping process, the bacteria located inside a human’s digestive system is the root cause. Many people are aware of the fact that minuscule bacteria particles are located inside everyone’s digestive system. These particles aid in the digestion process by taking a portion of undigested food and turning it into vitamins B and K. However, most people are unaware that the byproduct of this process is the stinky methane gas we are all too familiar with–burps and farts.
Even if you refrain from drinking carbonated liquids, you will involuntarily swallow enough oxygen and nitrogen throughout the day by simply breathing, talking, and eating. Once the day is over, the extra gas you have swallowed must be released one way or the other. The scientific experts who work and study at the School of Medicine at Indiana University have estimated that the human body releases up to a quart of gas each day.
However, in the case of infants, they do not have fully developed digestive systems, which means they need assistance with producing a burp. This can be accomplished by holding them in a variety of positions while patting their back.
Conditioning the Burp-on-Command Process
Proper training is the key to developing this interesting, yet disgusting skill. You must condition the throat in order to teach its muscles how to release air trapped inside. A few methods that will help include drinking a beer, soda, or gulping down a huge quantity of water and then doing jumping jacks. This will get the bodily burping process stimulated.
Let the burp occur naturally while paying close attention to the muscles involved. Proper burping will start at the stomach’s lower muscles and end with a full feeling in the esophagus. If you tilt your head backwards, you will allow the trapped air to be released freely out of the mouth.
One you have mastered the basic technique, you can move on to more advanced burping skills such as burp volume. This requires you to control how the air is released by using your tongue and throat muscles. The key is to prolonging the release in order to avoid a quick burp, which does not make an impressive sound. Use the back of your tongue to keep the pocket of air in place and then force it out with your stomach muscles to create a smallish, satisfying sound.
Now that you have added some weight to your belches, you need to extend the burp’s length. This is simply a matter of controlling your stomach muscles; this will stop a quick release of gas. If executed perfectly, your burp will be released slowly and build pressure along the entire length of your esophagus.
Congratulations, you know how to effectively control your burp in order to produce the desired sounds and lengths. It is now time to move on to the final step that will allow you to produce a belch on command. To do this, you will need to force air into the stomach. So take a deep breath and once you feel your esophagus tightening, swallow the air in the back of your throat and immediately return it by relaxing the throat muscles and letting it be released