What do your farts say about your health?

 

Farts are a normal part of life. Beside sometime sparking laughter, they are indicators of your body’s digestive health. A fart is a buildup of gases and doesn’t always make sounds or leave scents.

The average person farts fourteen times a day. Most of these will be silent and mostly carbon dioxide. When a fart leaves a strong odor it is a sign that you are getting a healthy level of fiber, and that there are sufficient amounts of good bacteria in your intestine.

Sometimes foods are the root cause of your smelly farts.

Broccoli, almonds, cauliflowers, and Brussels sprouts can all have this affect. Foods high in sulfur like eggs and meat can also make your farts smelly. That doesn’t mean you should avoid these foods though.

Those who eat a vegan diet are more likely to experience frequent flatulence as a result of the carbohydrate-rich diet vegans consume.

If this is the case for you and your flatulence is not particularly alarming, discomforting or smelly, there’s not much to worry about.

However, if bloating, discomfort and a very smelly odor accompany your flatulence, this could be a sign of a food allergy. Visiting your doctor for an allergen panel would not be a bad idea.

How smelling farts can help you

Up to this point in the article, you’ve probably been a little hesitant to do the grunt work required to figure out just what your farts say about you – the smelling.

However, according to a study done by the University of Exeter, inhaling small amounts of gas from a fart can protect against cancer.

This is due to the hydrogen sulfide contained in farts.

A fart’s smell mainly comes from hydrogen sulfide. As the various foods you consume are digested, compounds are created (like hydrogen sulfide) that create the range of smells that can accompany gas. Truly bad smelling farts are strong indicators that everything is working well in your stomach.

There have been studies showing that smelling people’s stinky gas has benefits for the smeller. The methane smell may lower the chance of disease and help people live longer. One such disease is dementia. The hydrogen sulfide changes the way enzymes function in the disease. All this, plus the immediate benefits of passing gas, make this once rude action a little more tolerable.

If your gas smells absolutely terrible, it isn’t because you are unhealthy. On the contrary, it means you’ve been eating heavy hydrogen sulfide producing foods. This usually means that you have been maintaining a high fiber diet as well. The only time you should be worried about the smell of your farts is if it involves dairy. If eating dairy increases the rate and worsens the smell of your farts significantly, then you may be lactose intolerant.

While you should still be conscious of where you fart, now you don’t have to fear your gas. If they stink then you’re doing something right. Even if you don’t fart often or with distinctive odors, it doesn’t mean your unhealthy. It might mean you need more fiber though.

4 Suprising Facts about your farts