Unlocking the Secrets of Farts: How Your Gas Might Reveal Important Health Insights

The research in Maastricht looks specifically at the gases that are created in the intestines. Ellen Blaak, a researcher at Maastricht University, explains: “For the first time, we can measure over a longer period of time what gases are produced by intestinal bacteria and how this relates to ‘food that people eat. This research shows that the fermentation of carbohydrates and fiber can have a positive effect on health, while the fermentation of proteins can be negative. Carbohydrates are found in bread and pasta, for example, while proteins are found in meat and nuts, among other things.

36 hours in a room

Sometimes the subjects in the study stayed for up to 36 hours in a room with special equipment, where they got their food and researchers could measure their farts. “The nice thing about this research is that we can see in detail what happens in the intestines after we eat a certain food,” said Blaak. This will help you understand how the balance in your diet affects the gases your body produces.

According to Suzanne Jeurnink, a gastrointestinal doctor at the Diakonessenhuis in Utrecht, the composition of your farts can say a lot about the state of your bowels and your overall health. “Farts are a natural part of the digestive process, but the gases that are released can give us important information about your gut flora and how your food is processed in your body,” she explains. Gases can be something to say about bowel diseases, the effects of medications or even diseases such as diabetes.

Air enters your stomach in different ways. “On the one hand, you sometimes swallow air while eating or chewing, but a lot of gas is also produced by digesting food and by the bacteria in your gut,” explains Jeurnink. Some of this gas leaves your body through a fart or burp, and some is absorbed into your blood. The gases that eventually make you fart are created in the some in the large intestine.This can be about one and a half liters of air.

The body has a smart device that allows you to feel if you are just passing air or if there is also faeces. “Usually your body knows very well if it’s safe to fart or if it’s better to wait until you get to the bathroom,” says Jeurnink. When you fart, you usually feel weight heavier than when you fart. We pass wind 20 times a day. Do you breathe more than 30 times a day? Then there is flatulence.

Don’t hold your body in

Do you ever feel like crying? Then it is better not to hold it too often. “That can eventually cause bowel problems, because you’re always fighting to keep it in,” says Jeurnink.