Why do we fart?

Before I even start answering the question “why do we fart?” I would first of all like to say that everybody farts regardless of who they are. No one is immune from farting. This means presidents fart, prime ministers farts, kings fart, queens fart, princesses fart, your favorite celebrities fart, and even you and I fart!!!

Bottom line is this: once you are a human being or an animal, you are going to fart.

What is a fart?

Another name for fart is flatulence or flatus. A fart is when air comes out of your bowels. The euphemism for fart is to break wind.

In this article, we are going to take a look at why we fart and what causes fart.

If you are ready to get enlightened, then let us not waste any more time.

Like was said above, a fart is basically the releasing of unpleasant air from the body through one’s bowels. According to scientists, a fart is made up of nothing but gases. The gases that come together to make a flatus are: nitrogen gas, oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and methane.

The gasses above combine and travel down a person’s intestines all the way to his or her rectum or back passage and out of it.

What makes us fart?

There is only one thing that makes us fart, and this is gas. Yes you heard me right it is gas that makes us fart. In the absence of gas we will not fart. Farting is one of the two major ways that the body uses to release extra gas from our system. Extra gas in the body is either expelled from the body through belching or farting. So you either belch the extra gas out or you break a wind to get rid of the extra gas in your system.

The gas or gases that cause us to fart come from two major sources. The first source is as a result of the process of digestion taking place in the body and the second source is simply as a result of the air that we swallow. Let me breakdown these things so that you can understand them better.

Gas enters into our body as a result of swallowing air

We swallow air both consciously and unconsciously. Majority of the air that we unconsciously swallow comes as a result of the food that we eat. You see when you are eating food, drinking water or even chewing gum; you swallow a great deal of air unconsciously. For example, let us say you have got a piece of fried chicken and you begin biting on it and chewing it. As you swallow the piece of meat that you have chewed, you not only swallow the meat but you swallow air too. According to scientists, the air that you swallow while eating is partly made of nitrogen gas and oxygen of course. Now if you remember I mentioned earlier in the article that nitrogen gas and oxygen are among the numerous gasses that come together to make flatulence. The more food that you chew and swallow, the more air containing nitrogen gas and oxygen that you are going to swallow into your system and the more you are going to fart. It is as simple as that.

NOTE: You do not only swallow air from eating. You can also swallow air from chewing gum, talking, breathing, etc.

The second source of air/gas that makes up fart is from the process of digestion

As the body’s digestive system works and breaks down the food that you eat, gas is produced. How is this gas produced? Gas is produced when food is being digested in the large intestine. When digestion is taking place, a lot of chemical reactions occur. As foods ferment in the intestines and acids and enzymes break them down, gases are automatically produced.

According to scientists, the gases that are produced during the process of digestion are hydrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide.

What makes a fart smell bad?

What makes fart to stink or smell bad can be attributed to a particular gas. According to scientists, the hydrogen sulfide gas is the culprit behind a smelly fart. The reason the hydrogen sulfide gas does this is simply because it contains the compound sulfur. Sulfur causes the unpleasant smell in farts. This is the reason why when you eat foods that are highly rich in sulfur such as beans and cabbages, your farts end up smelling very unpleasantly.

Foods that make your fart smell very bad include the following foods: cheese, eggs, soda, onions, meat, fried foods, etc. These foods are very rich in sulfur, which is the reason why they significantly make your fart smell very unpleasant.

Bottom line: the more foods rich in sulfur that you eat, the more smelly your farts are going to be.

Do you want to stop having smelly farts? If you answered yes, then I suggest you cut down your consumption of some of the foods that I have mentioned above.

Why do farts make noise?

The noise farts make comes as a result of vibration from the rectum accompanied with the pressure behind the gas. The more pressure behind the gas, the higher the sound of the fart is going to be.

Is farting a bad thing?

Farting is actually a good thing for the body. So many things in the body would go wrong in the absence of our ability to fart. If you remember, I said at the beginning of this article that fart is one of the two ways that the body uses to get rid of excess gas in our system. In the absence of flatulence, our body cannot properly get rid of some of these excess gases in our system and this of course can be very harmful to the body. This is the reason why some doctors say that holding farts can be very dangerous to your health. According to doctors who believe that holding in farts can bad for your health, you are likely going to suffer from bloating and pressure in the lower part of your body when you hold a fart. They also claim that constantly holding in farts can cause one to suffer from hemorrhoids.

It should be known that not all health experts agree that holding in farts is extremely dangerous for the health.

Facts about farts

Below are some interesting facts about farts:

• According to studies, the average human being farts between 14 and 16 times in a day.
• Farts are not meant for human beings alone; animals also fart.
• We fart more while asleep.
• Farts can be highly flammable. According to scientists, farts that contain a great deal of methane and hydrogen are the ones that can be flammable.
• Pretty girls also fart.
• Although farting is a hundred percent natural bodily action, majority of people - especially females are embarrassed about farting.
• Of all the animals and insects in the world, it is the termites that fart the most.