“Looking back, I realized I had never burped in my entire life,” says Isabelle Zeidner, a 23-year-old Columbia social work grad student who lives in New York City. “I noticed it more as I got older.

Burping is a normal part of everyday life. Burps happen when air from your stomach travels back up your food tube – called an esophagus – to your mouth. Air gets into your stomach during activities ...