Why Do People Fart? Everything You Need to Know
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Flatulence Removes Gaseous Waste From Our Body So We Don't Die
- Photo:
- zarprey
- flickr
- CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0
Gas may just seem like a comedy gold mine, but they're also a vital part of our daily lives. Throughout your day, your stomach, intestines, and colon will begin to fill with various gasses. These gases are waste products from other bodily functions, such as digestion, and they need to get out of us or they can cause cramping, pain, and possibly worse. After all, with enough waste in our body, we can turn septic!
Burping helps out with the gasses in your stomach, but once it hits the intestines and colon, it comes out as a fart instead. Put simply, it's good for your health to let one rip.
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- 2
Some Flatulence Comes From Eating
- Photo:
- Chris Pirillo
- flickr
- CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0
This is probably the cause most people associate with stinky gas, and good reason. Most foods have at least some level of carbohydrates, and not all of this can be broken down into liquid and solid waste.
Undigested carbs pass into the intestine and colon, where they're picked apart by bacteria, such as the healthy kinds of E. Coli. These bacteria produce gas, which fills the intestines and colon and eventually need to be expelled when it builds up too much. In short, almost every time you eat, you've giving your body fuel with which to make toots.
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Some Particular Foods Will Make You Pass Gas More Often (And Worse)
Pretty much everyone has heard that beans are the magical fruit and "the more you eat, the more you toot." In reality, that's actually pretty accurate. Certain foods, especially those high in carbs, create a higher volume of gas in the intestines and colon. That can be made worse by spicy foods, those high in acid, red meat, carbonated beverages, high-sugar foods, and high-fiber meals.
In short, yes, beans do make you fart more. They're joined in the fart-power foods category by cabbage, onions, prunes, apples and even Brussels sprouts. So, never mind that Brussels sprouts taste nasty, they're also a fart machine.
Agree or disagree? - 4
You will Continue to Fart Even After Death
- Photo:
- Arnett Gill
- flickr
- CC-BY-ND 2.0
While everyone has gas, regardless of where or who they are, it's also worth noting that people continue to fart even after they are dead. After the rest of your body dies, the bacteria in your gut are still trying to break down food, and will continue to do so for a while.
Even though you're not moving around anymore, the gas still needs to go somewhere, so it comes out in the form of a fart, sometimes out your mouth rather than your anus. It might sound a little funny to think about, but you can bet it's probably really startling for morgue workers on a quiet night.
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It's Called Silent but Deadly for a Reason
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- Apionid
- flickr
- CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0
You might be surprised to know that the quietest toots are often the stinkiest, and for very good reason. When you eat certain substances, are sick, or have a chemical imbalance in your body, digestion can actually lead to fermentation. This fermentation creates small, warm pockets of gas that are full of bacterial metabolic products, that may even burn or sting on the way out.
Because these are small and not moving very quickly, they don't make much of a sound, even though they're particularly noxious. If you constantly have these farts, there might actually be a problem.
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Gas Doesn't Make Sounds Because of Your Butt Cheeks
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One common misconception is that the noise of a fart is really the sound of your butt cheeks flapping against each other as air escapes. In truth, that's not the case. The sound a fart makes is produced by vibrations in the anal opening, rather than the cheeks, and the type of sound it makes depends on several factors.
The tightness of the anal opening, the velocity of the fart (which can be determined by the volume of air and the pressure), and by the position in which you are sitting or standing. That's why, sometimes, it might take a little shifting around to fart quietly while in polite company.
Agree or disagree? - 7
You Can, In Fact, Light Farts On Fire
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- MattysFlicks
- flickr
- CC-BY-NC 2.0
We've all probably heard the legend of the blue flame, or at least that you can light a fart on fire if you do it right. Many pants have caught on fire in an attempt to prove this, so you really shouldn't try this at home (especially when you've been drinking). That being said, it is possible to do.
You see, farts are made up of many components, which include hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and methane, all of which are flammable substances. When the gas is expelled and mixes with the ignition source, like a match or lighter, it can catch fire like a mini fireball. The color of the flame depends on your own body chemistry and the amount of the different gases in the flatus, so blue flames are genuinely possible if you've got enough methane in you.Agree or disagree? - Photo:
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Lots of Stinky Farts Could Indicate an Underlying Health Problem
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- dlebech
- flickr
- CC-BY-NC 2.0
Speaking of toots that can be deadly, toots tend to be a normal, harmless part of life, even if they can cause a little bloating and discomfort. However, if you're constantly having stinky, burning, or even feces-mixed farts, they might actually be indicative of some serious health issues.
Some of these conditions include constipation, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), celiac disease, gastroenteritis, and malabsorption. Many of these conditions are annoying more than anything else, but malabsorption can mean that you're not getting the nutrients you need, and gastroenteritis is an infection that can become more serious over time. So, as proud as you might be of your stench powers, if they're getting really bad, it might be time to see a doctor.
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You Might Fart More If You've Just Had a Baby
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- howardignatius
- flickr
- CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0
Visible health changes can also cause you to fart more as well. After having your first child as a mother, you might notice that you're more gassy than usual. That's actually perfectly normal and is nothing to really worry about. Right after childbirth, the muscles around the vagina and anus can be damaged, which leads to difficulties holding in flatulence.
A Swedish study found that up to 25% of women have trouble with farting too much after giving birth, for up to five months. So your best option is really just to wait it out.
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If You Fart a Lot After Eating Dairy, You Might Be Lactose Intolerant
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- invisible monsters
- flickr
- CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0
If you're noticing that you have really bad and painful gas after having dairy, you might actually be lactose intolerant. Most people have some level of lactose intolerance, and it isn't life threatening or permanently damaging per se. However, it can be a huge discomfort that can impact the quality of life for many people and it's actually really each to treat with diet changes and medication.
So, if you're in gassy pain after having a glass of milk or an Alfredo sauce, it might be worth your time to get tested for lactose intolerance. Especially if you live or sleep with someone with sensitive nostrils.
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Some Flatulence Comes From Swallowing Air
So, now that we know why farts form, you might be wondering what causes that gas to build up to the point that it needs to be expelled? There are several reasons that toots can begin to form, and one of the most common ones is simply swallowing air. That can happen if you eat too fast, drink carbonated soda, breathe deeply, or even just sleep.
The fact of the matter is that you're constantly swallowing air, and when it gets into your stomach and intestines, it needs to come out. Thus, you fart. Flatulence from trapped air tends to be a lot less smelly than other types.
Agree or disagree? - 12
Toots Can Move at 10 Feet Per Second
You might notice that there's a delay from when you hear a fart to when you smell it, but that hardly means that toots are moving slowly. Scientists, for some reason, decided to measure how fast farts really go when they're moving at top speed. What they found is that these fast little puffs can actually travel at 10 feet per second, or a little over three meters per second.
By comparison, that's almost seven miles per hour, so even though it's a little gust of odorous wind, it's got some horsepower behind it.
Agree or disagree? - 13
The Magnitude of Your Toots Can Be Genetic
Some fathers might hear their young sons fart and smile while saying "that's my boy!" Well, they might not be entirely wrong to say that. Two out of three humans regularly produce toots without any methane in them, while one out of three always produce methane.
Scientists are not fully sure why this is, but some of them suspect that there's a genetic aspect to it, because it seems to run in families. If both parents are methane-producers, there's a 95% chance that the child will produce methane too. To put it simply, if you come from a line of methane-filled farts, you will have them too (and will be able to perform the blue flame, if you're dumb enough to put a lighter next to your butt).
Agree or disagree? - 14
Your Toots Stink Because of Sulfur
You know that mineral that smells like rotten eggs? Well, that's basically the same substance that makes your farts reek. The general makeup of toots consist of 59% nitrogen, 21% hydrogen, 9% carbon dioxide, 7% methane, 4% oxygen, and merely 1% hydrogen sulfide (sulfur). That means that the smallest part of your fart is actually what gives it the biggest impact!
Depending on whether swallowing air, eating, or normal blood flow is the cause of the fart, that percent can vary, and can mean a distinctly stinkier fart. Of course, none of this has much to do with why farts make the funny sound they do.
Agree or disagree? - 15
People Pass Gas an Average of 14 Times Per Day
Some people say that women never fart. First of all, that's not true, everyone farts, and actually some studies show that women may even have more concentrated fart-smells than men. But besides that fact, we all fart all the time, no matter our race, gender, religion, or age. Go ahead, look at the people around you and just know that they fart regularly.
What's more is that we pass gas not once or twice every day, but roughly 14 times per day! Much of that happens while we're sleeping because the anal muscles are more relaxed, but the simple fact is that everyone toots, more than once every two hours. This number can be significantly higher based on diet and genetic predisposition.
Agree or disagree? - 16
Quitting Smoking Can Make You Less Farty
So, let's say you're trying to fart less. While changing your diet, exercise habits, and medications can help with that, there's one other thing you can do as well. Smoking takes more air into your body than usual, and causes you to swallow more air than the average person. That air, and the fumes from whatever you're smoking, can get trapped in your body, and can mean that you fart more regularly, especially after smoking.
The air can also build up in your esophagus and stomach, and may make you burp more as well, so you're likely to be a gassier person in general if you're a regular smoker.
Agree or disagree? - 17
Some Toots Come From Your Blood
- Photo:
- gerait
- Pixabay
Even without food, your blood can still create gas that needs to escape your body. Most farts contain some amount of carbon dioxide, which is produced by blood flow, that brings oxygen to bacteria living in various parts of the body.
The bacteria uses the oxygen brought by flowing blood to different organs to help power them, and then creates waste in the form of carbon dioxide gas, much like we do when we breathe in and breathe out. While toots may be made of all these different factors, there's really only one factor that makes them stink. . .
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