Farting is a normal thing. As a matter of fact, passing up gas for 15 to 20 times a day is normal. Hell, it can be less or even slightly more than that. However, if you notice that your farts are often occurring even when they’re not supposed to, then there might be a problem. Although it’s kind of an embarrassing thing to discuss, knowing your farts could actually be an essential part of determining how healthy a person is. Little did we know that our farts could actually mean something we don’t even notice.
Read: Use These Natural Remedies to Get Rid of Gas
What is a fart?
In the most basic terms, a fart is a natural process of digestion wherein it releases gas and air that is not needed in our bodies. Everything we do, eat, chew gum, drink water, air is swallowed by accident and we release that by either farting or burping. In the digestive process, food is broken down, right? This is when gases are released and your body has a way of naturally eliminating them from your system – through farting.
Isn’t burping the same thing?
Technically, yes, burping is the same thing. However, farts occur when the air gets trapped inside our intestines; not just within our diaphragms.
Farting too much could be caused by a lot of things, we will first discuss these. Then, we will also talk about what the smell and the feeling of our farts are and what it’s connection to our health.
Your sphincter is too tight
To avoid deep terminologies, the sphincter is the “butt hole.” If you fart small, partial, and short times, then that’s probably the reason why. Another thing is that if the smell of your fart is not that good, to put it in perspective like rotten food, then that’s probably because you ate something that has sulfur. Normally, our bodies release odorless mixes of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide. Sometimes, we even produce methane.
Read: Eating Two Eggs Per Day? What Does It Do To Your Body?
There would be times, however, that we consume foods that are high in sulfur. When these are broken down by our bodies, it produces a smell that is not so pleasant.
You eat too fast
Ever wondered how fast you eat meals? Or even drink water? Whatever we do, when we use our mouths, we swallow air. This is where burping comes in; if the air is only trapped around the upper portion of our bodies, most likely, burping will solve the trick. However, if it’s deep down in our intestines already, our body has no choice but to release it through the nearest opening from where i is – and you know where that is.
A sign of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
When the urge for you to visit the loo for some business is more often than the usual, then it might be a sign that you have an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS is a condition where your large intestine moves food fast and stronger than the usual to your rectum, causing you frequent visits to the toilet partnered up with deep muscle contractions, constipation, and diarrhea.
The sudden movement keeps air inside, causing the unusual feeling of being bloated, gas, and eventually diarrhea. One thing that people with this condition can do is to be active in exercise. Rebekah Gross, MD., a gastroenterologist at the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health at New York University Langone Medical center, says that exercise is crucial.
Exercise, for example, is critical for people with IBS, as it helps expel gas,” says Dr. Gross. Following certain diets that limit gas production also helps.”
Read: Belly Exercises That You Can Do While Sitting On A Chair
You’re sensitive to gluten and dairy products
If you have lactase and celiac disease, then that’s probably one of the major reasons why farts are a normal part of whatever you’re doing. Lactase is made in the small intestine and this is the one responsible in the creation of lactose in our bodies. If you have low levels of lactase, this means that there might be lactose in your colon which are undigested and when bacteria decides to break it down, this is where the nightmare comes.
Having celiac disease, on the other hand, is a totally different story. Gluten, a protein most usually found in rye, barley, and wheat is a protein no one can digest. If you have celiac disease, however, it will trigger an automatic immunity response in your smaller intestine. This would then cause a breakdown in the lining of your intestines, retarding its abilities to absorb nutrients. The effect? You’ll gas them out.
Why do my farts smell?
This is a question that has been thrown for years now – let me give you the answer. Some people believe that when your fart doesn’t make a sound, it contains the energy, and therefore, would be smelly. On the flipside, if it makes a loud sound, it releases everything and it won’t have any smell. That is not the case, however.
If your farts smell too much, then you might want to visit a gastroenterologist to have your condition checked. Farting with a regular smell might be a symptom of Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth (SIBO).
What is SIBO?
SIBO is a condition in the small intestine which disallows it to absorb minerals and nutrients. In addition to that, it could also cause pain and diarrhea because of the mere fact that bacteria is starting to grow in your small intestine in the part of the gut.
Read: I Am Having Problems Because Of My Uric Acid Levels… How Can I Naturally Reduce My Uric Acid?
So, if your farts are smellier than what you think it should just be, it could be because of a bacterial overgrowth in the part of your gut.
Is farting not normal?
Farting is a normal thing. An average person farts at least 12 to 14 times a day although there are some who fart 20 times a day. If you fart in that range, then you’re good. Even if it’s smelly because if it is, it could be a sign that you ate high-sulfur foods.
The majority of your farts should be odorless but it’s also alarming if it doesn’t smell “all the time.” This means that you might not be getting sufficient amounts of protein and sulfur in your diet so you might want to think about that, too.
Farting is actually healthy. In fact, it’s a sign that the bacteria in your intestine and gut is balanced and that you’re just on the right track. If you think and feel for yourself that something is not normal, then that’s the time you may want to have yourself checked.
