A recent study found that men fart more when eating a plant-based diet due to good gut bacteria. Take note those of you who feel mortified every time you fart, farting is good for you.
The same must be true for women, only it can’t be proven by science. You’ll understand why this research was conducted on men only when you read how they collected their data. Boys, farting and poos, no problem, but finding 18 willing female participants …… I’m not so sure. Is that sexist? To find out why most women would be unlikely to volunteer for such a study, read how they collected the data for this study.
Ok, so I may have been in lockdown too long that this subject amuses me or perhaps it’s because I’m guilty of letting my fair share of uncontrollable farts slip out at embarrassing times, but I take great comfort in quoting Rosemary Stanton who says “our Western idea that farting is a sign of something being wrong is totally false”.
Rosemary Stanton OA, the first ‘celebrity dietitian, author of 33 books, who received an honorary doctorate for her many publications and role in public health, says that farting is a sign of a healthy diet and a healthy colon.
Thank you Rosemary.
The study conducted by a team at the Liver and Digestive Diseases Networking Biomedical Research Centre in Barcelona compared the effects of a mostly plant-based diet with a typical Western-style diet containing less fruit and vegetables. Plant-based diets promote healthy gut bacteria which cause people to fart more.
The fibre in plant food creates “good” bacteria due to the release of short-chain fatty acids. These chemicals keep the large intestine healthy and protect against bowel cancer. Short-chain fatty acids can also be absorbed into the bloodstream which protects against heart disease and diabetes by lowering cholesterol and regulating blood sugar.
The good news is that despite farting more, the fart gas produced from a mostly plant-rich diet is odourless hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide produced by gut bacteria when they ferment plant fibre. Smelly farts come from hydrogen sulphide gas, a by-product of protein digestion.
So don’t get embarrassed the next time you let one off, your body is doing what needs to be done.
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