What Causes Farting? (Possible Causes, Information, and Remedies)

For most of us, the farting process is funny, but it is also a bit unpleasant and tiresome at times. Still, this phenomenon is completely natural and nothing shameful, we all do it, and interestingly enough this is not hidden nor can it be hidden, regardless of gender or similar.

What makes us fart?

This process of flatulence happens because some gas (air) is literally trapped in our digestive system, but for a more eloquent explanation, let us put it this way: the farting gasses are comprised of the following things – 60% nitrogen, then 20% hydrogen, also 9% carbon dioxide, followed by 7% methane, and lastly 4% oxygen.

But in any case, below are the possible and most common triggers of farting and why it happens:

• We ingest some air when we at our meals or when we drink liquids
• The intestines have piled up a lot of bacteria and this starts a chemical process reaction
• Our ingested carbohydrates are not well digested
• We consume some nutrients that sadly, are not fully absorbed and processed well
• We have some other health issues or unresolved health problems

 

So the simple theory based on this is that part of what we consume is processed well, whereas the other part is in the form of gas so it means it is not fully processed and needs to get out in another form.

What is the reason for farting very frequently?

We all differ in this but the one similar thing is the reason that we all have in common – ingestion of food and liquids. Some foods will make you gassier than others, for example, cauliflower, broccoli, dairy foods, cabbage, eggs, nuts, beans, asparagus, high-fiber foods, and lentils too. Besides these as the most common reasons, then we have imbalances in hormones, constipation, smoking, stress, pregnancy, underlying health issues, and aging as well.

What makes the gasses smell very bad sometimes?

The substance that makes gasses smell bad is hydrogen sulfide, the one that we can all describe as smelling like “egg” or “rotten egg”. This substance occurs when the stomach makes excess chemical compounds from the piled-up bacteria which in general does not smell at all and is normal to have in the gut.

Some farting fun facts:

• Up to 99% of gasses we have in the organism have no scent
• People tend to fart approximately more than 10 times daily, and up to 20 times on average
• The fart cannot be ‘postponed’ and eventually it has to get out
• On a daily basis, a human could freely fill up a whole balloon just with gas
• The speed of an existing fart is 11 km/h
• On a more pleasant note, some pills exist that can make the fart scented like chocolate or rose
• Farting pays too, and some people do it for money!
• The fart scent is pleasant to dogs
• Frequent travel and air travel make us be more flatulent because of the pressure
• If you go to meet the tribe Janomani in South America, be prepared to greet and be greeted by exactly farting!

Can farting make us burn some calories?

Take one adult of average values for the health and look, that adult has a minimum of 0.5 and maximum of 1.5 gas liters in his digestive tract in one day. As we mentioned, people can fart around 20 times a day on average, and this is all normal. So, if one fart burns 67 calories, and we follow the average daily values, then it would mean burning around 1340 calories a day, as Dr. Nadolski Spencer said. The good news is that you can shed a pound every 2-3 days just through farting. But in all truths, weight loss is not so perfectly easy as it sounds with farting, and exercise is still the proven way for this.

Any advice for reducing farting?

• Chew slow and have smaller bites and portions
• Cut down on carbs
• Also cut down on starches and sugar
• See if you have an intolerance to some foods
• Plenty of water, especially between the meals
• Treat yourself to magnesium supplements