Why farting is actually healthy

It wasn’t me. All of us have said this each time we’ve let one slip. Or failed to hold it in.

Yes, we’re talking about farts. Farting is a topic so taboo — yet as common as 14 times a day (the number of times an average person passes intestinal gas in a day) — it’s easier to discuss Mia Khalifa at a dinner party than your farts.
 
Mysterious farts
Just like porn, farts have an air of mystery around them, pun intended. Every time you feel pressure in your rectum, you are clueless as to what’s going to come up. Forget the smell, even the sound is different each time. Here’s why. Each fart’s characteristics depends on a few things: the biggest contributor is that meal you liked so much you couldn’t resist overeating. Then there’s the amount of gas and the force at which it is expelled. All of this combine to make our farts an unpredictable cocktail of gases that will either be a noxious bomb or slip out unnoticed.

The consumerist world would have us believe that farting is the worst thing to have happened to mankind. From reduced-flatulence, legume-based snack foods (foods designed to have all the nutrition of beans but not the farts), to fart-suppressing underwear, to pills that make your farts smell like chocolate – you name it they have invented it. But this little gaseous — sometimes smelly — affair is actually healthy for us.
 
Good for digestive health
Farting is an essential part of digestion. Your stomach and intestines break down food for nutrients. Gas is the by-product of the process. “Normal human digestive system produces 600ml-2 litres of gas daily. And it’s very healthy to pass gas,” says Dr S.K. Tharkur, gastroenterologist, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, Delhi.

Your fart, in fact, has healing properties. According to researchers at Exeter University, sniffing tiny amounts of hydrogen sulfide — a gas present in farts  — can help avert strokes, dementia, cancer and heart attacks. “Although hydrogen sulfide is well known as a pungent, foul-smelling gas in rotten eggs and flatulence, it is naturally produced by the body and could in fact be a healthcare hero with significant implications for future therapies for a variety of reasons,” Dr Mark Wood, a professor at the University of Exeter, said in a statement.

Reduces bloating
“Sometimes, intestinal gas, if not released for any reason, might cause bloating,” says Dr Thakur. And for those who have digestive issues, holding gas in can potentially cause medical troubles for the colon.

Tells you everything is okay
Do you know your body has its own nutritionist? It’s called farts. You must pay attention to them. There’s always a pattern. If the smell is suddenly extreme, or the frequency has shot up or if it hurts while releasing gas, these are signs something is wrong with your body. Your farts can alert you to conditions as mild as lactose intolerance, and as extreme as colon cancer.

And since different foods produce different kinds of gas, noticing farts will tell you what your diet is lacking.

For instance, if you have trouble farting, consuming more fiber and foods like lentils, beans and kale could help, since they trigger farts. “Certain types of carbohydrates in beans and pulses are not digested by the enzymes in our body. They are digested abnormally, by the bacteria in the large intestine, which causes flatulence,” says Dr Thakur. If you’re farting too often, try probiotics, or natural digestive enzymes. “Enzyme deficiency in the body causes maldigestion, which in turn produces more gas,” says Dr Thakur. Exercising and increasing your water consumption could also help.

And if your farts are on the smellier side, it’s a sign to cut back on meat. “Animal protein makes your flatulence stink. But I never tell my patients to cut back on meat. Because I know they’ll never do it. I instead tell them to add the same amount of vegetables in their meal, basically making them cut the consumption of meat to half,” quips Dr Thakur.

Consider this: if you don’t fart for an entire day, you might end up with bad breath, bloated stomach or headaches. “Abnormal digestion causes all kinds of conditions like migraines, halitosis, etc.,” explains Dr Thakur.

Holding it in makes you burp
And if you thought you could just hold it in and go about life scot-free, we have news. “Trying to hold in gas is pointless because we don’t have any control over it. If there is gas, it has to come out and it will find a way,” says Dr K.K. Aggarwal, president, Indian Medical Association.

Dr Thakur agrees, “If the gas is not passed in the normal way, it’ll come out as burps.”

If you’re still embarrassed over farting in public, take advice from Shakespeare himself, who, in The Comedy of Errors, wrote, “A man may break a word with you, sir, and words are but wind, Ay, and break it in your face, so he break it not behind.”