Discover the Surprising Health Benefits of Farting You Never Knew!

Everyone does it, but no one talks about it. Passing gas, that is. Farting, flatulence, breaking wind - whatever you call it, it's a natural and necessary bodily function. While often considered embarrassing, farting is actually good for you and indicative of a healthy digestive system. So, why do we fart, and what are the benefits of letting it rip?

Why We Fart: The Science Behind Flatulence

It's normal to have some air in the digestive tract. Air accumulates when you swallow, and the process of digestion generates gases as well. During the digestive process, carbohydrates, proteins, grains, sugar, fat, fiber, etc., are broken into micro and macronutrients. Along with these nutrients, the digestive system releases gas, some of which is absorbed in the digestive tract and the remaining is moved out of the body to maintain homeostasis (healthy body balance). When too much builds up, the body releases it. The intestines push out this gas through the anus, scientifically coined flatulence. Sometimes, air inhaled while eating gets trapped in the stomach and is let out either as a burp or a fart.

Passing gas keeps the pressure within the intestinal tract low and prevents painful stretching of the stomach and intestines. So, farting is essentially the body’s way of letting excessive gas out of the body to maintain its health.

What Makes Gas Smell?

Slow-digesting foods don't completely break down until they reach the large intestine, where they are digested by bacteria. The odor comes from the sulfur-containing gasses produced by bacteria in the colon. Eating foods containing sulfur, like broccoli, cauliflower, onions, and garlic, can result in foul-smelling gas. When bacteria break down these sulfur-containing compounds in the colon, they release gasses like hydrogen sulfide, which gives gas its unpleasant odor.

Common Gas-Producing Foods

Some foods can cause farting because they contain compounds or nutrients that are harder for the digestive system to break down, resulting in more gas being produced during digestion. Common gas-producing foods include beans; certain vegetables, such as cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and peas; oat bran and other high-fiber foods; carbonated beverages; foods containing sorbitol (a sugar alcohol used in many low-calorie foods); and fructose, a natural sugar present in many fruits, including prunes, pears, grapes, dates, and figs. Soluble fiber - which can be found in beans, oats, and lentils - is not digested in the small intestine like other foods. Instead, it moves into the large intestine, where the gut bacteria ferment it, producing gas as a byproduct. Foods like beans and certain vegetables contain oligosaccharides which are complex sugars that the body lacks enzymes to digest in the small intestine. They pass into the large intestine, where bacteria break them down, producing gas. Some starchy foods, like potatoes, corn, and wheat, produce gas as they’re broken down in the digestive system.

The Benefits of Farting: Why You Shouldn't Hold It In

Farting is generally good for you as it’s a natural process that helps your digestive system function properly. Here are some of the benefits of passing gas:

Relieves pressure and discomfort: Gas buildup in the intestines can cause bloating, cramping, and discomfort. Farting helps release this trapped gas, relieving the pressure and preventing pain.
Indicates a healthy gut and maintains digestion: Regular farting can be a sign that your gastrointestinal tract is breaking food down efficiently and that your gut is healthy. Your gut bacteria play a crucial role in digestion, and farting is a natural result of their activity. It helps to maintain a good balance of bacteria in your gut, which is essential for overall health.
Helps detect food intolerances: Excess gas or unusually foul-smelling farts may signal food intolerances or sensitivities, like lactose intolerance or difficulties digesting certain carbohydrates. Farting can be a useful indicator that you need to adjust your diet.
Prevents complications: In rare cases, holding in farts can cause serious digestive issues, such as diverticulitis. This is inflammation of the small pouches in the digestive tract. Regular constipation increases the risk for diverticulosis. So, don’t hold it in for too long if you’ve got to go.
Improves colon health: Releasing gas is always healthier than holding it in. Don’t be afraid to let those farts fly. Holding in gas too frequently can actually irritate the colon. It may also irritate hemorrhoids.
Farting is indicative of a balanced diet: Only a balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibre, and water, helps your body function smoothly. When your body releases gas in the processing of these nutrients, you are doing something right with your diet.
Improve mitochondrial (energy cells) function: Researchers have discovered the benefits of smelling a fart. Smelling one’s fart (hydrogen sulphide) may improve the functioning of mitochondria in the body which also helps in reducing the risk of chronic illnesses.

The Downside of Holding It In

It’s not advisable to hold in farts, as doing so can lead to negative effects on your digestive system, such as:

A buildup of pressure and discomfort: When you hold in gas, it builds up in your intestines, leading to increased pressure. This can cause bloating, cramping, and abdominal pain.
Distention: As gas builds up in your intestines, it can cause your abdomen to become distended, making you feel uncomfortably full. This is particularly problematic when you eat gas-producing foods or if you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which can make you more sensitive to gas buildup.
Impact on the anal sphincter muscles: Regularly holding in gas can gradually weaken the anal sphincter muscles. Holding in farts repeatedly could affect your body’s ability to control gas naturally, making it harder to manage in the long term.
Interruption of the natural digestive process: As mentioned earlier, gas is a normal byproduct of digestion, and holding in farts can interfere with the natural process of eliminating waste products from your body. Farting helps your digestive system remain balanced, preventing a buildup of gas that can disrupt its normal function.
Risk of intestinal issues: While rare, holding in gas could contribute to more serious digestive problems, such as straining the colon and intestines, which aggravates conditions such as diverticulitis and other gastrointestinal issues.

The "Fart Walk": A Stroll to Better Digestion

In case you haven’t heard, going for a walk after a big meal now has an official, trendy name: the fart walk. But unlike some other social media fads, this one is actually worth embracing, since a fart walk really can support your digestive health, experts say. “While the term ‘fart walk’ raises some eyebrows, the concept is rooted in real digestive physiology,” says board-certified gastroenterologist Samantha Nazareth, MD.

"Fart walks" are pretty much exactly what they sound like: a short walk you take after a meal to relieve gas and stimulate digestion. Petty says. “While passing gas isn’t required to experience the benefits of this walk, the practice can decrease bloating and gas buildup and promote smoother digestion.”

Benefits of Fart Walks

Moving your body after you’ve eaten supports digestion by stimulating a process called peristalsis: involuntary, wave-like movements that propel gas and food through your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. “This is why we often encourage post-operative patients to get out of bed and start walking as soon as it’s safe,” Dr. Nazareth says. “Gentle movement helps ‘wake up’ the bowels and kick-start digestion after anesthesia or periods of immobility.” The same principle applies to everyday digestion, she adds.

Just as a post-meal walk can help food move through the digestive tract, it can also help your body process this gas. “Movement encourages trapped gas to pass more easily,” Dr. Nazareth says. In a small 2021 study in the journal Gastroenterology and Hepatology from Bed to Bench (GHFBB), scientists found that walking after a meal was associated with a range of improved GI symptoms, including belching and involuntary gas.

Because you may be able to pass gas more easily during a walk, you may subsequently feel less bloated and uncomfortable. “[Walking] activates the abdominal wall and diaphragm, which can help ease abdominal pressure,” Dr. Nazareth explains. “It’s a gentle way to support overall digestion and can help prevent that sluggish, heavy feeling after eating.” That same GHFBB study also found that exercise could ease feelings of fullness and abdominal discomfort after a meal.

In the short-term, a fart walk is a great strategy to feel less bloated or gassy, but walking after eating can deliver plenty of additional benefits that have nothing to do with digestion. “It can help regulate blood sugar, particularly after a high-carb [meal], by improving insulin sensitivity,” Dr. Nazareth says. A 2022 review in the journal Sports Medicine found that even very short walks of a few minutes were associated with improved blood sugar levels after eating. There are even more reasons to make regular walks a habit for your long-term health. Research has found that walking can increase circulation and support a healthy heart, among plenty of other perks. “No matter when you go on a walk, you’ll experience the benefits of exercise like improving your cardiovascular fitness, strengthening your bones and muscles, increasing your energy levels, and promoting good sleep,” Dr. Petty says.

How to Get the Most Out of a Fart Walk

Any kind of movement after eating is beneficial, but there are ways to maximize the effectiveness of your next fart walk. Here’s how:

Wait a few minutes before you get moving: Ideally, you won’t jump right up from the dinner table and start your fart walk; rather, it’s best to give yourself about 10-15 minutes after finishing a meal before beginning your stroll, Dr. Nazareth says. “This gives your stomach a moment to begin the digestion process without disrupting it.”
Remember that any amount of movement is great: “It doesn’t take long to experience digestive benefits, so a few minutes of light exercise is all you need to get things moving,” Dr. Petty says. For example, in the GHFBB study mentioned above, researchers found that walking after eating for even 10 minutes could help people who frequently experience bloating feel less so.
But know a little longer walk is even better: Even short walks can be beneficial, but longer walks (20-30 minutes) “tend to offer more pronounced benefits for digestion and blood sugar regulation,” Dr. Nazareth says. Her tip: If eating out, park your car further away so you can get a quick stroll after leaving the restaurant. Or, if you ate at home, try one of Peloton’s post-meal walks.
A relaxed to moderate pace is best: “[A fart walk] is not about burning calories or hitting a step goal,” Dr. Nazareth stresses, “it’s about gentle movement.” In other words, you don’t want to go straight into a run or intense HIIT workout after eating, since this could actually divert blood away from your digestive system.

When Farting Might Signal a Problem

Most gas, even incredibly stinky gas, is perfectly normal. Regular farting is a sign of a healthy gut, but excessive farting may be a sign of another condition. Farting about 15-25 times a day with a mild to no smell can be considered normal for any individual. When farting frequency rises above 25 times a day with a foul smell, it surely is a warning sign of a digestive issue, warranting consultation with a doctor or visiting the hospital.

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But having too much gas or really smelly gas might mean there’s an underlying issue. See your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms along with more gas or stinkier gas than normal:

Intense cramps
Feeling extremely bloated
Feeling sick
Throwing up
Constipation
Diarrhea
Abnormal weight loss

These symptoms could be your body’s way of letting you know something isn’t right. It might be a food intolerance. Rarely, it’s a sign of a more serious issue, such as colon cancer. If you routinely experience excess gas after eating certain foods, your body may be trying to tell you the food is upsetting. Talk with a doctor about your symptoms. They may order tests or help you develop an elimination diet to find out which food or foods is causing the excess gas and other symptoms.

Tips on How to Reduce Gas and Bloating

Gas may be good for a sniff now and then, but the source of many farts isn’t always fun or comfortable. Here are some tips on how to reduce gas and bloating if your gas is accompanied by some tummy trouble:

Eat slowly: When you eat quickly, you swallow more air that can turn into intestinal gas. Eat your meals slowly to reduce how much air you swallow. This applies to gum chewing, too.
Drink a lot of water: Constipation can cause poop to stick around in your gut too long. That can make your stomach hurt and produce smellier gas than usual. Water helps loosen up your bowels and keep your bowel movements more regular. Men should drink about 15.5 cups of fluids daily, while women should drink around 11.5 cups.
Avoid carbonated drinks: Soda, beer, and sparkling drinks all contain carbon dioxide, which can turn into gas in your gut.
Go easy on the fiber: Fiber is great for your diet, but high-fiber foods like fruit, oat bran, and beans can all make you excessively gassy. Temporarily reduce them until your discomfort goes away.
Take some medication: Over-the-counter medicines like simethicone (Gas-X) or alpha-galactosidase and invertase (Beano) can help reduce gas and bloating. Gas-X breaks up gas bubbles in your digestive tract. Beano has enzymes that break down sugars to make them easier to digest.
Try some yoga poses: Moving your body will help stimulate and open up your bowels. Physical activity helps move gas through the digestive system and reduces the likelihood of gas buildup.

Elimination Diet

An elimination diet is a method of identifying food intolerances or sensitivities that may be causing various digestive problems, including excessive gas, bloating, and gastrointestinal discomfort. This involves removing certain foods from your diet for a period and then gradually reintroducing them to determine which foods are causing your symptoms.

In the elimination phase, you remove foods from your diet that are commonly known to cause digestive problems. This phase lasts between two to four weeks, and common foods to eliminate include:

Dairy
Gluten
Soy
Eggs
Sugar alcohols
Certain vegetables like onions, garlic, broccoli, and beans
Processed foods and artificial additives

The reintroduction phase involves slowly eating the eliminated foods again, one at a time. Each food is typically reintroduced over three to five days while you observe any changes in your symptoms. For example, if you reintroduce dairy and notice an increase in farting or bloating, it may indicate that you have a lactose intolerance.

Follow a Balanced Diet

A balanced diet provides your body with the essential nutrients it needs to function properly by including a variety of foods in the right portions. It typically includes:

Fruits and vegetables
Whole grains
Lean proteins
Healthy fats
Dairy or dairy alternatives

A balanced diet helps regulate your digestive system and reduces excessive gas by encouraging the intake of easily digestible foods and limiting those that cause bloating and farting.

The Future of Fart Research: Smelling Farts for Health?

But ignore your immediate instinct to leap out of bed and take shelter in the next room until the smell subsides. Recent research in animals suggests that hydrogen sulfide - one of the major components of smelly gas, the one that gives it that “rotten egg” smell - might provide some health benefits in humans, from preventing heart disease to kidney failure. Let’s explore this seemingly odious notion and see what the research says.

One 2014 study conducted by a collaborative research team at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom and University of Texas provides some ample support for the idea that smelling hydrogen sulfide could be good for you. The study was based on the notion that mitochondria, the part of your cells that help produce energy, could benefit from this gas.

In this study, researchers noticed that when cells in arteries or veins experience damage or stress linked to certain conditions, these cells use the body’s own enzymes to create hydrogen sulfide. This gas then allows the cell to better regulate the oxidative stress often caused by these conditions, which eventually results in inflammation that can kill the cell. But as a condition becomes more severe, mitochondria can’t produce enough of the gas to keep up, and the disease continues to get worse.

Researchers thus decided to test a theory: Can exposing cells to artificial hydrogen sulfide help keep their mitochondria strong and prevent diseases from getting worse? So, they created a compound they named AP39 that mimicked hydrogen sulfide. They then exposed cells in blood vessels to it.

Early results suggest that up to 80 percent of mitochondria exposed to AP39 are preserved by the gas. This could have far-reaching effects on many conditions linked to cell death caused by mitochondrial function. More research needs to be done on the interactions of AP39/hydrogen sulfide with other body systems, but early results are promising.

This result wasn’t just a stroke of luck. The same year, a team featuring some of the same researchers also found that AP39 protected mitochondria from damage caused by inflammation.

Early clinical studies on AP39 have only been done in animals. Here’s what the research suggests the compound may be able to do in humans:

Lower blood pressure: A 2015 study found AP39 may make blood vessel walls less stiff.
Treat heart attack and stroke: A 2018 study suggests AP39 may widen blood vessels and make them pump blood more efficiently, which can treat a heart attack or reduce the chances of stroke.
Improve kidney health: A 2016 study suggests AP39 may treat kidneys damaged by inflammation.
Protect your brain: A 2015 study suggests AP39 may protect the brain from damage after a heart attack. A 2016 study suggests it may prevent dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Reduce the effects of aging: A 2018 study suggests AP39 may protect cell structures that weaken over time.

The idea at the center of all these studies is that hydrogen sulfide reduces the effects of oxidative stress on cells. This helps them stay strong and last longer.

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