Bodily
functions can be less than appealing most of the time, causing the
discussion of them to be taboo, or at least embarrassing for many. But
discussing them can lead to a lot of deeper knowledge about your own
body, so that you can better understand your health, which is something
that’s most certainly not a taboo subject.
Though flatulence is often left for
comedy, and considered impolite, gross and unsexy to say the least, it
happens. And it happens for a reason. In fact, farts can say so much
about your health and wellness, almost making it pertinent that we pick
through the topic much more openly than we currently do.
What Exactly Are Farts?
Besides funny, smelly, sometimes loud occurrences, they’re also
a mix of swallowed air
that enters the digestive system by accident while breathing, causing
gas to be produced by the bacteria in your lower intestine.
The gas is created via the breakdown
of sugars and starches that your body has trouble digesting. This
breakdown generates about 2 and 6 cups of gas every day. Once it builds
up, however, it must be emptied. And that’s when farting happens.
So is it good? Yes!
If you’re farting regularly, it means you’re eating plenty of fiber, and have a good amount of bacteria in your intestines.
What The Type of Fart Reveals About Your Health
There are many types of farts. Loud,
silent, smelly. But what do they all mean? As for stinky farts, this
scent is the result of
hydrogen sulfide,
which is the gas created when your body breaks down foods with sulfur
in them. Sulfur is found in a variety of super healthy foods, like
broccoli, beans, and cauliflower.
Extremely stinky farts could reveal a
health concern worthy of paying attention to. For instance, if you eat
dairy and immediately feel the urge to pass gas, this may be a sign that
your body is experiencing
an intolerance to lactose.
These types of farts can also be a sign
of a chronic problem, such as irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, or an infection like gastroenteritis.
If your farts don’t have any smell,
they’re healthy and normal, and merely mean air has accumulated in the
body and is now exiting. Actually, 99 percent of fart is made up of
odorless gases. The remaining 1 percent is typically sulfurous.
Farting a lot? That’s typically
normal, too, since the average person usually passes gas about 2o times a
day. But should you experience persistent farting that’s followed by
discomfort, bloating or an extreme smell, you may have a
food allergy.
Smelling Farts and Your Health
When it’s not yours, the smell of a
fart is enough to send you running out of a room. And when it is,
somehow you can handle it. And that’s not something to be ashamed of. In
fact, smelling your own farts can be good for you! There’s a compound
within farts called hydrogen sulfide that gives them their rotten-egg
stench, and it can actually be good for your health.
A small study found that
the smell of farts,
or hydrogen sulfide, can have some incredible health benefits, like
helping the person who farted live longer, while the smell can quell
dementia.
Smelling farts can also help with heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis. The scientists say the stinkier the fart the better, too.
But how can this be? It’s all about the ecosystem in our bowels. According to the study,
when you fart, you help yourself out.
“When cells become stressed by disease, they draw in enzymes to generate minute quantities of hydrogen sulfide.
This keeps the mitochondria ticking over and allows cells to live. If
this doesn’t happen, the cells die and lose the ability to regulate
survival and control inflammation.”
Researcher Dr. Mark Wood explained:
“Although hydrogen sulfide is well known as a pungent,
foul-smelling gas in rotten eggs and flatulence, it is naturally
produced in the body and could in fact be a healthcare hero with significant implications for future therapies for a variety of diseases.”
One more fun fact? Fart noise is actually generated by the flapping of butt cheeks, not the fart itself.
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