Sulfur burps are burps that smell like rotten eggs. The smell is hydrogen sulfide, a gas made when bacteria in your gut break down sulfur-containing compounds from food, drinks and some supplements. Most of the time they come from something you ate or drank in the last day: eggs, red meat, broccoli and cabbage, garlic and onion, beer, or a big protein shake. They’re unpleasant but usually harmless, and they tend to pass once that meal has moved through.

To stop them fast, cut sulfur-rich foods for 24–48 hours, skip fizzy drinks, eat smaller and lighter meals, walk after you eat, and try Pepto-Bismol, which binds hydrogen sulfide directly. If sulfur burps keep coming back for weeks, or come with diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss or stomach pain, the cause is probably not just your diet. Giardia, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), slow stomach emptying (including from Ozempic and Mounjaro) and long-term acid suppression are the usual suspects, and they need looking at properly.

Key Takeaways

The rotten-egg smell is hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), made by gut bacteria as they break down sulfur-containing proteins and compounds.
The most common trigger is diet: eggs, meat, cruciferous vegetables, garlic, onion, beer, wine and high-dose protein or sulfur supplements.
Normal gas is mostly odorless. The smell tells you bacteria are fermenting sulfur, and when you can taste it in a burp, that’s often happening higher up the gut than usual.
Slow stomach emptying (from gastroparesis or GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro) gives food more time to ferment and is a common modern cause.
Sulfur burps with diarrhea point toward giardia or hydrogen sulfide–type SIBO, and both need a proper diagnosis.
Long-term PPI use raises the odds of bacterial overgrowth, which links sulfur burps back to reflux treatment.
For fast relief: pause sulfur-heavy foods, drop carbonation, walk after meals, and consider Pepto-Bismol.
See a doctor if they last more than a couple of weeks or come with fever, vomiting, blood, weight loss or severe pain.

What Are Sulfur Burps?

A normal burp is swallowed air plus a bit of carbon dioxide, and it barely smells. A sulfur burp carries hydrogen sulfide, the same gas that makes rotten eggs, drains and volcanic springs smell the way they do. Your nose picks it up at tiny concentrations, so even a small amount is enough to make a burp memorable for the wrong reasons.

People describe them as rotten egg burps, eggy burps or sulfur-tasting burps, and they often come with a sour or eggy taste in the mouth, bloating, and sometimes smelly gas at the other end. The gas itself isn’t dangerous at these levels. What matters is why your gut is making enough of it for you to notice.

Why Your Burps Smell Like Rotten Eggs: The Mechanism

This is the bit most articles skip, and it’s the key to fixing the problem.

Sulfur comes into your gut in two main forms: sulfur-containing amino acids (methionine and cysteine, found in protein foods) and inorganic sulfur like sulfates and sulfites (found in some drinking water, preserved foods, wine and dried fruit). Some gut bacteria use these as fuel. Sulfate-reducing bacteria turn sulfate into hydrogen sulfide, and other species break down cysteine and release it directly.

In a controlled feeding study, fecal sulfide rose steadily as the amount of meat in volunteers’ diets went up. That’s direct evidence that protein intake feeds hydrogen sulfide production in the gut [Magee et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2000].

Here’s the part that matters for burps. Most of this fermentation normally happens in the colon, well away from your mouth, which is why sulfur gas usually leaves as flatulence. If the smell is coming up, one of three things is usually going on:

Food is sitting in the stomach too long and fermenting before it moves on (slow gastric emptying).
Bacteria have moved into the small intestine, where they shouldn’t be in large numbers, and are producing gas much closer to the stomach (SIBO).
There’s simply a very large sulfur load, like a big egg-and-meat meal or a protein shake, and enough gas is made higher up to escape upward.

Stomach acid matters here too. It’s one of your main defenses against bacteria surviving the trip into the small bowel. When acid is suppressed for long periods, that barrier weakens, which is why reflux treatment turns up again further down.

Common Causes of Sulfur Burps

1. Sulfur-rich foods and drinks

This is the cause for most people, most of the time. The biggest contributors:

Eggs, especially the yolks, which are rich in sulfur amino acids. (My guide to eggs and acid reflux covers how to eat them without the fallout.)
Red meat, poultry and fish in large portions.
Cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale.
Alliums: garlic, onions, leeks, shallots.
Dairy, especially if you’re lactose intolerant, since the undigested lactose adds extra fermentation.
Beer and wine, which carry sulfites and, in beer’s case, carbonation that pushes gas upward. See beer and acid reflux.
Dried fruit and processed meats preserved with sulfites.

The pattern is usually easy to spot: a big protein-heavy dinner, a plate of eggs, or a night of beer and curry, then eggy burps the next morning.

2. Protein shakes and sulfur-containing supplements

Whey protein is one of the most common triggers I hear about, because it’s a concentrated dose of sulfur amino acids taken in one go, often on top of an already high-protein diet. Other supplements that add sulfur include N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), MSM, glucosamine sulfate, and minerals in sulfate form (magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate). If your sulfur burps started around the time you added a new supplement, that’s the first thing to test. More on this in my piece on protein powder and acid reflux.

3. Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and slow stomach emptying

This has become one of the most searched causes, and the mechanism is straightforward. GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) slow gastric emptying. That’s part of how they make you feel full. But food that lingers in the stomach has more time to ferment, and protein-heavy meals sitting there for hours are an ideal setup for eggy burps. Burping is a listed side effect of these medications, and people often notice it’s worst in the weeks after a dose increase.

The fix is usually smaller meals, eating slowly, lighter protein portions spread through the day, and avoiding big fatty meals, which slow emptying even further. I cover the reflux side of these drugs in Ozempic and reflux and Mounjaro and acid reflux. The same slow-emptying mechanism applies in gastroparesis, where burping, early fullness and nausea often travel together.

4. SIBO, especially the hydrogen sulfide type

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth means too many bacteria are living in the small intestine. Standard breath tests look for hydrogen and methane, but newer tests also measure hydrogen sulfide. In a 2025 study that sampled fluid directly from the small intestine, higher breath H₂S tracked with specific sulfide-producing bacteria in the duodenum, and those bacteria were linked with looser stools [Villanueva-Millan et al., Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 2025].

So this is an emerging area rather than a settled one. But it fits what people describe: recurring sulfur burps, bloating soon after meals, and loose or urgent stools. SIBO is diagnosed with breath testing and treated with targeted antibiotics, usually rifaximin, under a doctor’s care [Pimentel et al., The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2020]. Some people go on to use an elemental diet when antibiotics don’t hold.

5. Long-term PPI use

This is the reflux connection most people don’t know about. Proton pump inhibitors are very good at reducing stomach acid, but that acid is also a barrier against bacteria. A meta-analysis found PPI users had a moderately increased risk of SIBO compared with non-users [Su et al., Journal of Gastroenterology, 2018].

If your sulfur burps started months into daily omeprazole or esomeprazole, that’s worth raising with your doctor. That doesn’t mean stopping your medication on your own. If you and your doctor decide to come off, my guide to getting off PPIs without acid rebound walks through how to do it without a flare.

6. Giardia and other gut infections

Giardia is a parasite you pick up from contaminated water or food, often after travel, camping or drinking from streams. Diarrhea affects more than 90% of symptomatic patients, and flatulence and bloating are also very common [Stephen et al., StatPearls, National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2025]. Foul, eggy burps are a classic complaint too, which is why sulfur burps with watery or greasy diarrhea after a trip should always make a doctor think of giardia. It’s diagnosed with a stool test and treated with prescription antiparasitics.

7. H. pylori and other stomach conditions

Helicobacter pylori often appears on sulfur-burp lists. It clearly causes gastritis, ulcers, indigestion and excess burping, but there’s little direct evidence that it produces the sulfur smell specifically. If you have upper stomach pain, early fullness or a history of ulcers alongside the burps, it’s worth testing for anyway. See H. pylori and acid reflux. Food intolerances, especially to lactose, and celiac disease can also raise fermentation and gas.

Sulfur Burps and Acid Reflux: The Connection

I get asked about this a lot because the two often overlap. People who reflux often burp more in general, and some belching patterns make reflux worse. I explain those in acid reflux and burping. Belches and reflux episodes are closely linked, and gas reflux can carry stomach contents up with it [Bredenoord and Smout, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2007].

There are three practical overlaps:

The treatment can feed the problem. Long-term acid suppression raises SIBO risk, as above. If you have LPR or silent reflux and have been on PPIs that don’t really help throat symptoms, you may be taking on the downside without much benefit.
The same meals trigger both. Large, fatty, protein-heavy meals and carbonated drinks slow the stomach and push gas and contents upward.
The smell lingers in the throat. Sulfur compounds are also behind a lot of bad breath, which is why people with silent reflux often notice both. My article on silent reflux and bad breath covers that overlap.

The good news is that the eating pattern that calms reflux (smaller meals, earlier dinners, less fat, fewer fizzy drinks, sensible protein portions) also cuts down the fermentation that produces sulfur gas. That’s a big part of the Wipeout Diet Plan: it gives your stomach less to deal with at once, so less of it ends up coming back up.

How to Stop Sulfur Burps Fast

If you’re dealing with them right now, this is what I’d do, roughly in order.

1. Stop the fuel for 24–48 hours

Cut back on eggs, red meat, cruciferous vegetables, garlic, onion, dairy, beer and wine, and pause any protein shakes or sulfur supplements. Lean on lower-sulfur foods: rice, oats, potatoes, bananas, melon, cucumber, carrots, zucchini, and modest portions of chicken or white fish. You’re not doing this forever. You’re just giving the bacteria less sulfur to work with while things settle.

2. Try Pepto-Bismol

Pepto-Bismol is the one over-the-counter product with a real mechanism against the smell. Its active ingredient, bismuth subsalicylate, binds hydrogen sulfide in the gut and turns it into bismuth sulfide. That’s why it can turn your tongue and stool black. In a controlled study, it markedly reduced hydrogen sulfide release in the human colon [Suarez et al., Gastroenterology, 1998]. It isn’t for everyone, though, because of the salicylate. I cover the dose, timing and who should avoid it in Pepto-Bismol for sulfur burps.

3. Drop the carbonation

Soda, sparkling water and beer add gas to a stomach that already has too much, and they force it upward. Stick to still water, and sip it rather than gulping. See sparkling water and acid reflux.

4. Eat small, eat slowly, stop early

A smaller meal empties from the stomach faster and gives bacteria less time and material to work with. Eating slowly also means you swallow less air. Stop eating two to three hours before lying down.

5. Walk after meals

A gentle 10–15 minute walk helps move food along. It’s one of the simplest things you can do, and it helps reflux too. See walking after meals.

What about simethicone, activated charcoal and home remedies?

Simethicone (Gas-X) makes small gas bubbles merge into bigger ones so they pass more easily. It may ease bloating, but it doesn’t remove the sulfur smell, so don’t expect it to fix the rotten-egg taste. More on that in Gas-X for reflux. Activated charcoal gets recommended a lot, but the evidence for gut gas is weak, and it can bind medications taken at the same time. Baking soda will make you burp more, not less. Peppermint and ginger teas are fine to try for general comfort, but neither targets hydrogen sulfide.

How to Get Rid of Sulfur Burps for Good

If they keep coming back, the goal changes from quick relief to finding the pattern.

Keep a simple food and symptom log for two weeks: what you ate, when, and when the burps came. Sulfur burps often show up 6–18 hours after the trigger meal, so the culprit is often yesterday’s dinner rather than today’s breakfast.
Spread protein across the day instead of loading it into one meal or one shake.
Audit your supplements for whey, NAC, MSM and sulfate minerals, and remove them one at a time.
Test for lactose intolerance by cutting dairy for two weeks, if dairy seems to be a trigger.
Review your medications with your doctor: long-term PPIs, GLP-1 drugs, and anything that slows gut motility.
Get tested if the pattern points there: a stool test for giardia after travel, a breath test for SIBO, or H. pylori testing if you have upper stomach pain.

Probiotics are the other thing people reach for. The evidence is mixed. They seem helpful in some situations and can make bloating worse in others. I’ve gone through what the research actually shows in probiotics for sulfur burps.

Sulfur Burps With Diarrhea

This combination deserves its own section because it’s one of the most searched versions of the problem, and it usually points away from simple diet.

A single episode after a heavy meal or a night out is normal and usually settles within a day or two. But sulfur burps with diarrhea that lasts more than a few days points toward:

Giardia, especially after travel, camping or untreated water, often with greasy, foul-smelling stools, cramping and bloating.
Hydrogen sulfide–dominant SIBO, with bloating soon after meals and loose stools.
Food poisoning or a stomach bug, usually short-lived. See acid reflux after a stomach virus if symptoms linger afterward.
Lactose intolerance, which can also appear temporarily after a gut infection.

Stay hydrated, and see a doctor if the diarrhea lasts more than a few days, or sooner if you’re dehydrated, feverish or passing blood.

When to See a Doctor

An occasional batch of eggy burps after a big meal isn’t a medical problem. Get checked if you have:

Sulfur burps most days for more than two weeks despite changing your diet
Diarrhea lasting more than a few days, especially after travel
Vomiting, particularly vomiting food eaten hours earlier (a sign of very slow emptying)
Fever, blood in your stool, black stools you can’t explain with Pepto-Bismol or iron, or severe abdominal pain
Unintentional weight loss
Symptoms on a GLP-1 medication that are severe or getting worse

Conclusion

Sulfur burps look alarming, but the mechanism is simple: bacteria are breaking down sulfur and making hydrogen sulfide, and some of that gas is escaping upward. Usually the fuel is food: eggs, meat, crucifers, garlic, onion, beer or a protein shake. The fix is to cut that load for a couple of days, skip carbonation, eat smaller meals and walk afterward. Pepto-Bismol can also help, because it binds the gas directly. When they keep coming back, the question changes to why sulfur is fermenting so high up. Slow stomach emptying, GLP-1 drugs, SIBO, long-term PPIs and giardia are the main things to rule out.

For a lot of people I speak to, sulfur burps are one part of a wider pattern of reflux, burping and bloating. That’s where the Wipeout Diet Plan comes in. It’s a structured, mechanism-first approach to meal size, timing, fat and protein load, and trigger foods, built to reduce how much your stomach has to cope with at once. I originally designed it for LPR and silent reflux, the harder-to-treat throat-based form, but because it targets the same underlying digestive mechanisms, it works just as well for GERD, heartburn and the gassy, burpy side of reflux.

If you want a lighter starting point, the Wipeout Food Reference Guide is the essential companion. It lists foods and drinks that suit acid reflux and LPR, with their pH values, so you can swap sulfur-heavy meals for gentler ones without guessing.

Take away the fuel, give your stomach less to process at once, and if the burps keep coming back, get the cause tested.

Frequently Asked Questions

What causes sulfur burps?

Sulfur burps are caused by hydrogen sulfide gas, made when gut bacteria break down sulfur-containing compounds. The usual trigger is food, especially eggs, meat, cruciferous vegetables, garlic, onion, beer or protein shakes. Recurring sulfur burps can also come from slow stomach emptying, GLP-1 medications, SIBO, long-term PPI use or giardia.

How do I get rid of sulfur burps immediately?

Stop eating sulfur-rich foods for 24–48 hours, avoid fizzy drinks, sip still water and take a gentle walk. Pepto-Bismol is the quickest over-the-counter option because bismuth binds hydrogen sulfide in the gut. Check that it’s safe for you first, since it contains a salicylate related to aspirin.

Are sulfur burps a sign of something serious?

Usually not. Most sulfur burps are tied to a specific meal and go away within a day or two. They’re more worth investigating if they happen most days for weeks, or come with diarrhea, vomiting, fever, weight loss, blood in the stool or significant pain.

Why do I get sulfur burps on Ozempic or Mounjaro?

GLP-1 drugs slow the rate at which your stomach empties. Food that sits longer, especially protein-heavy food, has more time to ferment and release hydrogen sulfide. Smaller meals, lighter protein portions spread across the day, less fat and a walk after eating usually help. Tell your prescriber if symptoms are severe.

Can acid reflux cause sulfur burps?

Reflux doesn’t make hydrogen sulfide itself, but the two are connected. Reflux often increases burping, the same heavy meals trigger both, and long-term PPI use raises the risk of bacterial overgrowth, which can produce sulfur gas.

What foods cause sulfur burps?

The main ones are eggs, red meat, poultry, fish in large portions, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, garlic, onions, dairy (if you’re lactose intolerant), beer, wine, dried fruit and processed meats with sulfites. Whey protein and supplements like NAC and MSM are also common triggers.

How long do sulfur burps last?

If they’re from a meal, they usually settle within 24–48 hours once that food has moved through. If they last longer than a couple of weeks, keep coming back, or come with diarrhea, the cause is probably something ongoing, like SIBO, giardia or slow stomach emptying, and it’s worth getting checked.

Research & References

Controlled feeding study showing fecal sulfide rose as dietary meat intake increased, which ties protein intake to hydrogen sulfide production in the gut [Magee et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2000].
Study linking higher breath hydrogen sulfide to specific sulfide-producing bacteria in small intestinal fluid, with those bacteria associated with looser stools [Villanueva-Millan et al., Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 2025].
American College of Gastroenterology clinical guideline on diagnosing SIBO with breath testing and treating it [Pimentel et al., The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2020].
Meta-analysis finding that proton pump inhibitor use moderately increases the risk of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth [Su et al., Journal of Gastroenterology, 2018].
Clinical overview of giardiasis, reporting diarrhea in more than 90% of symptomatic patients, with flatulence, abdominal pain and bloating also common [Stephen et al., StatPearls, National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2025].
Review of normal and abnormal belching, including how gastric belching shares its mechanism, transient relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter, with reflux [Bredenoord and Smout, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2007].
Study showing bismuth subsalicylate markedly reduces hydrogen sulfide release in the human colon by binding sulfide [Suarez et al., Gastroenterology, 1998].

David Gray

12 years living with LPR · Consultant & researcher

Every claim sourced to peer-reviewed research Editorial policy

I've lived with LPR for twelve years — the misdiagnoses, the PPI courses that did nothing, the slow work of figuring out what actually helps. Wipeout Reflux is where I translate the research into plain terms for people stuck in the same place. Every claim here is sourced to peer-reviewed work, and I consult one-to-one with LPR sufferers.

View all articles by David Gray

Sulfur Burps: Causes and How to Stop Them Fast