UPDATED June 17th, 2017
Of all the body-related topics that are usually off-limits, passing gas or flatulence (and pretty much anything having to do with your bowel movements) is pretty high on that list. But guess what, it’s time to talk about your farts, because we all do it, and if you want to minimize the stink in your life, you need to get educated about the gas we pass. So what exactly is a fart? The medical term is flatulence, which means “the state of having excessive stomach and/or intestinal gas (waste gas produced during digestion) that is usually released from the anus with sound and/or odor.” Basically, we swallow air throughout our day as we eat and drink, and that air in our body is later released as gas.
Now, while we all fart from time to time (or maybe all the time), sometimes it is a benign release of air and nothing more. In fact, farting is normal and a sign that your digestive system is working. That said, sometimes a fart isn’t just a fart…it is an offensive, and embarrassing release that comes with an odor we would rather eliminate from our life. And the reason for this odor has a lot to do with what you eat. Certain foods come with more gas than others, and certain foods cause your intestines to develop a foul-smelling gas, which has to escape your body at some point. So which foods should you avoid if you want to prevent smelly farts?
Read Related: 18 Reasons Why You Always Feel Bloated
