What can your farts tell you about your health?

What do United States President Harry Styles and your next door neighbor have in common? Farts.

Whether you find farting inappropriate or aren’t afraid to let it rip, everyone cuts cheese in one way or another. Your body is designed to fart, and you can expect an average of 10 to 20 farts a day, says Harvey Hamilton Allen Jr., gastroenterologist at Digestive Disease Medicine of Central New York. He says the human body can hold up to 1,500 milliliters of intestinal gas; it’s almost the size of 6 cups of water. “Studies have shown that people perceive they are emitting a lot of gas,” says Allen. “But pretty much people before and after eating have an equal amount of gas. So it’s just the perception that it’s abnormal.”

Fart is a natural byproduct of your digestive system that lets you know your food has been properly digested. But farts are more than White Castle’s revenge; they can also act as a treasure trove of medical secrets. Whether you’re venting gas from the attic or basement, your smelly, frequent, or loud farts could be a sign of an underlying health problem.

You could be pregnant

If you honk frequently, it could be a sign of pregnancy. When you are pregnant, your body races to produce many hormones, including progesterone. progesterone helps create and maintain the lining of the uterus throughout pregnancy. This is because progesterone wears many hats and also acts as a relaxing smooth muscles. An increase in progesterone can relax and slow down the digestive tract.

Inessa Khaykis, gastroenterologist at Vanguard Gastroenterology in New York City, says excess gas during pregnancy could also come from the baby pressing down on the intestines as it expands during pregnancy. “[Those are] just one of the symptoms that could be associated with abdominal distension and excessive gas production, “she says.” Bacterial overgrowth and some parasitic infections are other conditions that can cause fluid to build up in the body. abdomen that could also put pressure on the digestive tract. “

You are lactose intolerant

Another reason for excess gas is lactose intolerance. Even if you’ve never had a hard time eating dairy products before, there’s a good chance you will as you get older. At 20 years, 30 million Americans become lactose intolerant, and around 65% of the entire human population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy.

Dairy products are broken down by an enzyme called lactase, but the body makes less of this protein after our first few days. The low levels of lactase make it difficult to digest, and then it is transmitted to the colon, which is populated by bacteria. These bacteria end up breaking down the lactose, but at a cost. “The bacteria picnic at our expense with all the fermentation and gas production that ensues,” says Khyakis.

Your mental health takes its toll

If you’re feeling anxious before your big meeting at work, the butterflies in your stomach may actually be gas. Scientists recently discovered a link between mental health and gas production. A study presented to Virtual UEG week 2021, a European gastroenterology conference, found that extreme burping and farts are associated with symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression.

According to American Psychological Association, stress and anxiety strain your muscles in response to an impending threat. Your tight muscles include the stomach muscles, causing digestion to slow down. Not processing your food effectively causes it to pass more slowly, resulting in a gaseous stomach. Additionally, stress makes it harder to swallow food and can increase the amount of air in each sip. The result is an increase in burping and farts.

You might have a disease

Fart is not abnormal. But if you cut the wind and feel pain while doing so, it could be a sign of cancer. This is because cancer can accumulate gas in the digestive tract, causing you to pass gas more often.

One of the signs of stomach cancer is excessive farting associated with abdominal pain, bloody vomiting, and bad breath. Pancreatic cancer creates indigestion and makes it difficult to break down food and absorb nutrients, causing gas and bloating problems. Colon cancer and Crohn’s disease can block your bowels and cause gas to build up.

People with Crohn’s disease often have problems with their small intestines absorbing nutrients from food. Undigested food travels to the colon, where the gas-producing bacteria feast. Additionally, severe Crohn’s disease can leave you vulnerable to bacterial overgrowth, altering the makeup of the gut microbiome. A to study found that people with Crohn’s disease and excess bacteria in the small intestine had 75% more farts than people without.

It’s just a sign of old age

In short, as you get older, you are more likely to develop health problems that predispose you to producing more gas.

While the elderly have recently less abdominal surgery, people who need surgery to repair hernias and bowel disease are at risk of developing sticky bands of tissue called abdominal adhesions. Khaykis says adhesions slow down the intestinal tract. Relaxed intestines can lead to an overgrowth of gut bacteria in the gut microbiome. The more dynamic your bacterial population, the more gaseous bacteria can produce.

Another potential reason is diabetes. The the risk of diabetes increases with age, and an unintended consequence is an increase in gas. “As they age, people develop diabetes and may take medications for other health problems that could slow down their digestive system,” says Khaykis. “It can alter the intestinal flora, which can lead to excessive gas production.

When to consult a doctor

If in doubt, you may want to see your doctor if something is wrong. “If something is wrong or is perceived to be wrong, it is just safer to check because there are many underlying medical conditions that can present very similarly,” says Khaykis. “So your doctor can sift through additional signs and symptoms to arrive at the correct diagnosis.”

Allen agrees that you shouldn’t hesitate to see your doctor if the roar of your back is affecting your quality of life. While most people with abdominal discomfort feel better when they release a little gas, alarm signals should go up in your head if you also have severe diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal tenderness, pain. nocturnal abdominal pain and rapid weight loss.

How to stop farting

Most of the time, farting is normal and just another part of our smelly existence. But if you don’t want to condemn yourself to rotten egg-like farts for the rest of your life, Allen says there are ways to minimize gas production.

Most of the excess, smelly gas comes from the food you eat. Limiting certain foods can help identify the cause of your bottom burp. For example, dairy products and sugar-free candies that contain sorbitol – also found in fruits like peaches and apples – can make you carbonated. While foods such as chicken, onions, and coffee tend to have odorous gases due to a naturally smelly compound known as sulfur.

Gas can also be the result of excessive ingestion of air. “Most people swallow a lot of air if they eat too fast or if they swallow their food,” says Allen. “Smoking and chewing gum [also] increases swallowing, and that’s a very common thing. ”

Still, farting is inevitable, and you shouldn’t cut out gas-producing foods like broccoli and beans entirely just because they cause you to slice up the cheese a little more than usual. You’re going to fart, and it’s good. Even if you find it embarrassing, it’s good to remember that farting is as natural as breathing.