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What your farts can reveal about the state of your health – and the diet swaps to ease the stench
Apr 4, 2025
HOWEVER uncomfortable or embarrassing they are, farts are a completely normal and healthy bodily function.
It's a sign your digestive system is very much alive, as the food you eat gets broken down quickly and efficiently.
But if you find yourself letting rip and it's particularly smelly, it could provide clues for what's going on inside your tummy.
Your gut is home to a vast and diverse community of microorganisms, collectively known as the gut microbiome.
It includes bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbes, which play a crucial role in digestion, immunity, and overall health.
When it comes to digestion, gut microbes work together to turn large molecules (the sugars, fats, proteins and fibres present in the foods we eat) into small molecules, in the form of fatty acids and gases.
The fatty acids feed the cells lining your bowel, while the gases created naturally escape our body (which is when we fart).
While most the gas that's produced is ordourless, hydrogen sulphide, which smells like rotten eggs, can be particularly pungent - a scent we're all familiar with.
If your farts smell like this, your love of eggs and red meat could be to blame, said Dr Maximilienne Toetie Allaart, a gut microbiome researcher from the University of Tübingen.
Writing for The Conversation, Dr Allaart said: "There's a correlation between what you eat, how much gas your belly creates and how the gas smells.
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