Ever had a burp that smells like bad eggs? It’s certainly not pleasant - especially in a social setting! But like most medications, anti-obesity medications come with side effects that you may have to navigate, particularly at the start of your journey. And one side effect that I don't hear enough people talk about, are sulfur burps.
So today, we’re doing a deep dive into why sulfur burps can happen on anti-obesity medication, what to avoid, and potential remedies to alleviate symptoms. We’ll also touch on gas and bloating and tips to reduce discomfort. Plus, stay tuned for future episodes where we'll be exploring additional side effects to help you manage the unique challenges associated with anti-obesity medications.
Remember: This podcast provides general educational information. Always consult your doctor and medical team for personalized advice and guidance on any symptoms you’re experiencing.
00:28 - Dr. Rentea stresses the importance of consulting with a medical team about any symptoms you’re experiencing while taking anti-obesity medications. 03:40 - We learn why sulfur burps are a common side effect of anti-obesity medications.
05:59 - Dr. Rentea outlines a list of what to avoid to help alleviate sulfur burps.
10:40 - Dr. Rentea shares some potential remedies for sulfur burps. 11:10 - We hear a recap of what can trigger and alleviate sulfur burps and Dr. Rentea’s take on digestive enzymes.
12:38 - Dr. Rentea discusses factors contributing to gas and bloating.
Quotes
“Straws actually can make the gas situation worse. So I would try to eliminate the straws that you use.” - Matthea Rentea MD
“Things that are contributing to taste, but not calories, they're incredibly gas producing.” - Matthea Rentea MD
“Food that is higher in sulfuric content is going to make it worse. For example, something like eggs.” - Matthea Rentea MD
“I think that the same things that are contributing to sulfur burps are really contributing to the gas.” - Matthea Rentea MD
“Maybe you went up too quickly on the fiber content. That's usually a huge culprit.” - Matthea Rentea MD
“I don't know that there's anything that walking doesn't help, but you're really getting the bowel moving and you're going to get that gas passing along.” - Matthea Rentea MD
Ever had a burp that smells like bad eggs? It’s certainly not pleasant - especially in a social setting! But like most medications, anti-obesity medications come with side effects that you may have to navigate, particularly at the start of your journey. And one side effect that I don't hear enough people talk about, are sulfur burps.
So today, we’re doing a deep dive into why sulfur burps can happen on anti-obesity medication, what to avoid, and potential remedies to alleviate symptoms. We’ll also touch on gas and bloating and tips to reduce discomfort. Plus, stay tuned for future episodes where we'll be exploring additional side effects to help you manage the unique challenges associated with anti-obesity medications.
Remember: This podcast provides general educational information. Always consult your doctor and medical team for personalized advice and guidance on any symptoms you’re experiencing.
00:28 - Dr. Rentea stresses the importance of consulting with a medical team about any symptoms you’re experiencing while taking anti-obesity medications. 03:40 - We learn why sulfur burps are a common side effect of anti-obesity medications.
05:59 - Dr. Rentea outlines a list of what to avoid to help alleviate sulfur burps.
10:40 - Dr. Rentea shares some potential remedies for sulfur burps. 11:10 - We hear a recap of what can trigger and alleviate sulfur burps and Dr. Rentea’s take on digestive enzymes.
12:38 - Dr. Rentea discusses factors contributing to gas and bloating.
Quotes
“Straws actually can make the gas situation worse. So I would try to eliminate the straws that you use.” - Matthea Rentea MD
“Things that are contributing to taste, but not calories, they're incredibly gas producing.” - Matthea Rentea MD
“Food that is higher in sulfuric content is going to make it worse. For example, something like eggs.” - Matthea Rentea MD
“I think that the same things that are contributing to sulfur burps are really contributing to the gas.” - Matthea Rentea MD
“Maybe you went up too quickly on the fiber content. That's usually a huge culprit.” - Matthea Rentea MD
“I don't know that there's anything that walking doesn't help, but you're really getting the bowel moving and you're going to get that gas passing along.” - Matthea Rentea MD
Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. How are you all doing? Hopefully you're hearing this on a Monday. You're starting your week out amazing. I want to do something a little different. We used to do a lot more listener Q and A's and sometimes you will email me different questions and I get a lot of questions on social media when I'm making different videos and I figured today I want to go over a few common side effects that people will have on these anti obesity medications and see if there can be any helpful little tips and tricks here. Now, a big disclaimer, big, big, big, big, big. It's that this is general educational information. Please make sure that you talk to your doctor and your medical team about any symptoms that are going on for you because There might be other things happening that are not related to the medication Remember correlation is not always causation. So just because you started a med and something's happening It doesn't mean that there might not be something else that made that happen And so you're not ever ever ever ever remember this is one of our rules We don't just listen to things on my podcast and then go to sleep Go do that. We run it by your medical team. This is more meant to be an educational space that maybe you hear something, it sparks something, you can maybe go talk to your doctor, your dietician, whoever you need to talk to, and you can kind of go through some things. So I actually within my clinic, this will already have passed by the time that this episode airs, But we actually, within the clinic, I once a month do a workshop. There's also a Q& A within the Rentea Metabolic Clinic. So those are two things that we do. And then we also have a nutrition call. So there's actually a lot of support within the clinic, in addition to meeting with me and the different resources that we have. And the topic that we just did are managing side effects of GLP 1s. So again, if you're new into this world, GLP 1s, these are the injection, anti obesity medications, things like Wegovi. or ozempic, you might hear that name, menjaro, or zep bound, again being terzepatide and semaglutide. So, those are the types of medications that I'm talking about, but honestly, a lot of these things also can apply to a lot of the older generations of medications. And so, there are just some things that people go through. Now, I don't think in this one episode, I'm not going to be able to cover as many things that I did within my clinic. I think we talked about, look at the list here, I think we talked about sulfur burps, gas and bloating, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea. If you get headaches, if you have different illnesses, if you're low hunger, but you're still trying to get nutrition. And so there's a lot and we obviously like we, that would be like a whole masterclass. Like we can't, we can't do all that on here. But today I figured I'll see how far I can get with, let's say, sulfur burps and, nausea. We'll see if we, I think constipation we've actually talked a lot about on a previous episode. I will go ahead and link that episode in the show notes. If you're interested for constipation, more what to do. Constipation, remember, is always going to be your water fiber movement. We've just hit this a lot. We've done a dedicated episode on constipation and then also a lot on fiber. So we'll make sure to link that. I know we have a lot of new listeners. Okay, so let's start out with this. Let's say you are either newly starting these medications or you've been on them a while. A lot of the time you're going to have to navigate side effects, and I want to just normalize this for a second, often I feel it's been so sensationalized in the media, Oh, these medications have all these side effects. And if you really think about it, these medications are being managed appropriately by your physician, the patients that I have, they're not dealing with that many of them, but every so often things will pop up. And the more we know. what to do, it makes these things occur less often, or we know exactly what to do when they do pop up. So I want to start with one that I don't actually hear enough people talk about, which are, the sulfur burps that can occur. So I'm just going to give a little bit more context here. By the way, this can happen even if you're not on GLP 1 medication. So I know that there are people in primary care that would tell me about this, this sulfuric, think like rotten egg type of taste or smell, like just really not pleasant to experience that when you're eating or coming up. So it's really a foul smell and taste of your burps, right? And what is quite literally happening here is that When you're on these medications, the digestion is slowed down, so how long food is staying in the stomach and then how, how slow it's going through the intestine. So because it's in the stomach longer, your food is starting to already ferment. And there is a gas, hydrogen sulfide. That is a gas that is emitted. And instead of it being further along in the tract and then further along in the GI tract, and then with time, you would just be having different gas that you would pass at different times, right? Just throughout the day. which is a very normal thing that occurs with our eating, well now, because it's higher up, you are having that come upward. And that is not a pleasant experience. So, this is occurring because of the slower gastric emptying. Which is expected, and this is not happening all the time, and I want to go through this because you might notice, like, why is it that sometimes I have it and sometimes I don't? So I want to go through a few common things that you might not think about. I think this is very helpful if we're going to talk in the context of, hey, these are things that really help if you do these things. And then other things, maybe try to avoid those because they might make it worse. So let's start out with the things to avoid because I find it's a lot easier to think about what to eliminate sometimes than what to bring in. Okay, so let's talk about the avoid list. We're going to, one of the things that's, that's interesting here is, so think about if this is actually a gas problem, right? then it might be incredibly helpful if you don't do things that provide more gas. So let me give you an example. If you are using a straw, when you use a straw, you have to create suction to get that liquid to come up. So straws actually can make this worse. They can make the gas situation worse. So I would try to eliminate the straws that you use. I am someone that I love using a straw. I have all the disposable ones, the glass one, I have all of it. But I will tell you, at times, let's have a TMI moment, I've been on both Wacovia and ZepBound. I am on ZepBound and there are just times when, I'll walk through the list further down here, when we get to this, that don't, that if I'm having too much, too many of these, um, cruciferous veggies, right, things like broccoli, I'm going to have to eliminate the straw use for period. So straws can contribute. Also carbonated beverages. Now here's the thing, you might be listening and you're totally unaffected by any of this, then you don't need to do any of this, right? Literally, ignore and move on. But this is just for those that are affected. So, using a straw, beverages that are carbonated, so any of your type of sodas, it doesn't matter what the flavor is and what it's doing, but again, it's just, it's literally infused with, when you have a carbonated drink, it's that it has infused gas in there. Okay, the other thing that really contributes to this is eating too quickly. Again, quite literally, you're gulping things down. Again, I want you just to imagine that we're just talking physiologically right now. You know? So slowing down, chewing your food really significantly, just really slowing down, that can help. Alright, another thing that is, that is, again, it's just a purely physiologic standpoint. I want you to think about that food that is higher in a sulfuric content is going to make it worse. So, for example, something like eggs. Have you ever noticed that? This, that when you're getting sulfur burps, you suddenly become intolerant to maybe having that egg or two that you might have really liked in the past. So I just wanna throw that out there. Maybe you. you know, for a day or two, just until this thing passes, you either cut that down or eliminate it. The other thing, like I talked about, the cruciferous veggies, so things like broccoli, brussels sprouts, this just might be a time that you either want to eliminate or cut down on them. The other thing that's going to contribute to this is going to be, again, not just those type of veggies, but anything that's really high fiber. So, things like beans, right? So, you're someone that you love your chickpeas, your black beans, your whatever it might look like. That might be a culprit. Also seeds. So I think about, I'll give you an example, chia seeds. You hear me talk about this all the time. I've recently been obsessed with this chia seed pudding. And you know what? We're going to go ahead and link the recipe underneath. Cause I don't think some of you, you know, I don't think anyone really sees majority of my stuff online anymore. So I made this chia seed pudding. I can't remember all the ingredients. We'll link the video down below if you want to see it. But it's three tablespoons of chia seed, some type of a milk based product, some strawberry in there. And I think I did a few walnuts and then on top like a stevia brown sugar sweetener. So if you want to make that we'll put it down below, but all of that fiber is gonna contribute to making this worse So again, you're only gonna worry about this stuff if you're getting these symptoms The other thing that we want to throw in there are gonna be nuts. So nuts seeds beans the cruciferous veggies Too many high sulfur foods things like that. And then the other really important big culprit is going to be sugar alcohols. So a lot of people when they're trying to cut down on their caloric intake, but they still want things to taste good, sugar, the, the sugar alcohol. So things that are contributing to taste, but not calories, they're everywhere. So number one, they're incredibly gas producing. And I'm, I'm, I'm laughing so much during this episode, because so many things are coming to mind. I don't know if any of you have ever seen this. This used to be a massive. Maybe it's just within the medical community that this gets passed around, but there, have you ever looked up on Amazon, the Haribo, I hope I'm saying that name right. They're sugar free gummy bears. If you look through some of these sugar free products with things, What people will write, it's hilarious how they talk about just like shooting in the toilet, going to the bathroom. I'm sorry if this is a TMI episode, but my point is sugar alcohols are gonna be in a lot of the drinks, a lot of the bars you have, so you need to look into that. So take all of this into context. So that's really all the things we don't want to do. Now let me say really quick, What are the things that really might help water? So water can help to kind of flush some of that gas out. There can be over the counter things like digestive enzymes. Again, you're just helping the process that's already kind of struggle bussing along. And then I want to stress just all the time. I don't know that there's anything that walking doesn't help, but again, you're really Getting the bowel moving and you're gonna get that gas passing along and then there can be things like like different types of teas like Peppermint tea is always incredibly calming chamomile tea things like that. So Hopefully this was really helpful for you Just to understand if this is occurring for me. Is it something beverage related? Am I eating too quickly? Did I suddenly decide? Oh I got from Costco, a bunch of broccoli. And, you know, I mean, honestly, that's always what does me in. We will, we will get like a Costco broccoli, which their broccoli is divine. Can anyone relate to this? And then I'll just be having it every single day, maybe a cup's worth, right? By the time I have some with lunch, some with dinner. And just after a few days, my body's like, and we've had enough because I do that. I do eggs every day and it all kind of just adds up. I do the chia seed. I mean, imagine chia seed, pudding, eggs, broccoli. That will be potentially rarely like a sulfur burp situation for me. It is so unpleasant when it occurs, by the way, it's, it's just horrendous. So hopefully that's helpful. And then focusing on, Hey, am I getting my water in? I don't even think that you necessarily need to do the digestive enzyme. If you're not doing those other things, I think that's more helpful than adding the digestive enzyme. I just add that when we've tweaked these other things and it's not getting better. So we cut back a little on fiber. We. We're a food detective with things that didn't get better than I would add the digestive enzyme. You're walking, you're seeing what other things can help. So hopefully, like I didn't realize that this was going to be such a long time spent on this, but you know what? Let's just have this be more of a focused episode just on sulfur burps today. And, and then I'm also just going to really quickly touch on gas and bloating. And then in another episode, we'll talk more about nausea and other things. So I want to just quickly say with gas and bloating, I think that the same things that are contributing to sulfur burps are really contributing to the gas. So again, it's usually, maybe you went up too quickly on the fiber content. That's usually a huge culprit. People think overnight, okay, I don't want to get constipated. You're, you're doing like the radical shift, which is fine, but it's just, it's not helping you out all at once. I mean, do a fiber audit, right? See how many grams per day you're getting. For women we want at least 25 grams per day, for men at least 38, sometimes I hear some people say 30, but then I hear other dieticians say 38, so we're just going to realize in our mind that men need more fiber than women, sometimes when you do the audit, You are just shooting for the moon, which is amazing, but then it can cause problems for you sometimes. So when I've done audits for myself, I actually usually get about 40 grams of fiber per day, which is a lot higher than the, than the recommended amount. Well, when I say recommended, that's the minimum amount, right? But my point is that sometimes you went up way too quickly. Like my body is used to this at this point. I no matter what my weight has been, have actually relatively always had a great nutrition. What I was doing, there might have been times where it was a lot more carb or not, and not enough protein, things like that, but I actually always got veggies, and I always got a lot of these high fiber foods, and so to me, I'm used to it, but other people are not. The other thing too, I'll say just personally, I spend a lot of time moving, right? So I will walk in the morning, I walk throughout the day, little 5 10 minute increments, and It's not just that you want to sit there passing gas, but again, I'm sorry. This is such a an intimate episode if you would But we've got to do things to actually move things along so are you Moving things along. Are you what's your fiber content like and then let's say, you know acutely you need some help That's where I would look into something like gas acts, which is cymethicone Or something like Pepto Bismol. Honestly, though, I find the other interventions work better than just sitting there and taking Gas X. We need to, like, overall solve the problem for you. So maybe, like, that type of fiber doesn't work for you. So some people, there's just something about beans. There's just, The combination does not work for them, but other types of fiber are fine. Like they're not getting that if they eat a chia seed pudding that has 10 grams of fiber, but that is happening if they have that same equivalent of 10 fiber worth of chickpeas, things like that. So let's leave today where we just really did a deep dive on sulfur burps and gas and bloating. I hope this is helpful for you. Save this episode, share it with a friend that might be in a similar situation. and we'll be back hopefully next week where we'll talk a little bit about some other side effects. So we'll make sure that you have a good little library here of kind of how to think about some education on all these different areas. All right. I want to ask if this was helpful for you today, or maybe because of this, you went and looked at my blog again, it's rentierclinic. com forward slash blog. We have all this written out so that it's really like easy for you to come back to. If you're loving this, Please make sure to write us a review wherever you're listening. It really helps to get the word out and share this with a friend, someone that is going through this. I have been so humbled recently to hear that physicians are recommending my podcast to their patients. That is such an incredible honor. And also those of you that have told me that when you started this journey, you found me or you've been listening along and it's been helping you. I can't tell you how much that means for me to hear. And when you write a review, other people are able to find Hopefully this podcast, it has some, some good sound perspective from someone that's actually clinically practicing all the time. All right. I hope you have a great, great rest of the week and we'll talk soon.