What Are Hiccups All About Anyway?

I don’t know much about hiccups so I’m not writing this post to enlighten you. In fact, I am hoping that you can enlighten me.

I am fascinated by hiccups. I used to get them all the time, throughout my whole life. And then, when I went Primal, they miraculously stopped. But I never really knew why. This sudden recovery didn’t follow any logic that I could see. After eliminating gluten and going Primal, my digestion was still a wreck for years to come. My nutritional status wasn’t much better. I still had a laundry list of symptoms. But the hiccups were gone.

What’s even odder is that my daughter Evelyn was a hiccuper as well. I say was because after she eliminated fructose they stopped. Now Maya is a hiccuper and she drinks nothing but breast milk. And I don’t eat fructose or dairy or just about anything allergenic.

Does it run in families? Some kind of genetic defect? I don’t recall ever seeing my brothers or sisters bouncing up and down with hiccups every week… Ahhh! My ignorance drives me nuts!

Hiccups:  a spasmodic inspiratory movement of the diaphragm involuntarily checked by a sudden closure of the glottis that produces a characteristic sound – Merriam Webster Unabridged

Okay so that’s what they are, but why are they? And…

Why does a fetus get the hiccups in the womb?

Why do babies get the hiccups after they eat?

Why do children get them more than adults do?

Why do some adults get them frequently and others not at all?

Is the spasming of the diaphragm sort of like a twitch? Is this a nervous system thing? Could it be related to food allergy, to iron deficiency, to the immune system, undigested food passing through the intestines? Or is it related to the maturity of the digestive system?

Maybe mine wasn’t able to mature until eliminating gluten, Evelyn’s until eliminating fructose, and Maya is just 2 months old and still has an immature digestive system. Is this it? Are they an indication of maturity? (digestive maturity that is. I dont’ have the hiccups anymore but I’m just as immature as ever)

I got hiccups until I was about 26 years old. I had them often. Now I don’t get them ever. No matter what I eat (granted, there are many foods that are totally off limits no matter what the circumstance). No matter how bad my gut feels. No matter how stressful life gets. I just don’t get them. Why?

Please leave links, experience, research, and whatever else in the comments!