Science Talks


All the people in the world are unified by one thing and all of them fart. We all do it. Any place, any time.
According to some research, humans fart 12-25 times a day.
Of all the food we eat, vast majority of the gas comes from Carbohydrates. Protein and Fat generally don’t contribute to fart, especially Fat. If you eat lot of Fat, you extract oily stool that easily slides out and rarely causing gas. Carbohydrates are primarily three types of food – Sugar, Starch and Fiber. When we eat anything, the food goes from stomach to small intestine and then to large intestine. The enzyme in the small intestine helps digest the food. Sugar and Starch are generally easily digested in the small intestine. It’s the food which goes past the small intestine into large intestine, without being digested, is the problem. These carbohydrates move into the large intestine, where bacteria begins to break them down, releasing intestinal gas in the process.
Undigested carbohydrates include:

  • Sugars: such as fructose, raffinose, and sorbitol, which some fruit and artificial sweeteners contain.
  • Soluble fiber: found in dried beans, nuts, and fruit.
  • Insoluble fiber: found in root vegetables and wheat bran, amongst other foods.
  • Starches: such as corn, wheat, and potatoes.

Some foods are known to create high levels of intestinal gas. Such as
Foods rich in raffinose – like beans, whole grains, asparagus, broccoli, sprouts, cabbages.
High sulphur foods and drinks like garlic, onions, cauliflower, wine, beer.
Foods made with Sugar alcohols. Sugar alcohols provide sweetness without the calories of regular sugar. They are present in most of the ‘sugar free’ processed food.

Some Fart Facts

  1. The average person produces 0.6–1.8 liters of intestinal gas each day.
  2. Research has found no significant difference between the amount that younger and older people fart. Likewise, there is no notable difference between the sexes.
  3. Healthy individuals pass gas between 12 and 25 times a day.
  4. Only 1 percent of the gases expelled in farts smell bad. These include foul-smelling gases such as hydrogen sulphide.
  5. More than 99 percent of the gas that people pass consists of just nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane.
  6. People pass more gas when they are asleep.
  7. The word ‘fart’ comes from the Old English word “feortan,” which means ‘to break wind.’
  8. Soaking beans in water overnight can reduce their tendency to trigger farting.

Farting is as natural as eating and breathing. Adjusting your diet can result in fewer farts.

November 28, 2021

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