Where do all the farts you hold back go? You will never dare to hold back your farts again after reading this!

When you want to fart, many people try to hold back their farts because they are worried about the "smell" and "sound" and for the sake of the occasion. So, where do these farts go? Is it bad for the body? In order to satisfy everyone's curiosity, today we will talk about these "fart things"~

01 Fart, what is it?

Farts are actually the gas in the intestines. Farting, medically known as anal gas discharge , is an inevitable physiological phenomenon caused by the discharge of gas in the digestive tract through the anus.

The chemical composition of farts includes: nitrogen accounts for about 59%, hydrogen accounts for about 21%, carbon dioxide accounts for about 9%, methane accounts for about 7%, oxygen accounts for about 3%, and other chemical substances account for about 1%, which is composed of foul-smelling gases such as indole, skatole, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia.

However, more than 99% of the gas in farts is "colorless and odorless", and only less than 1% of the gas is the culprit that smells like rotten eggs .

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There are three main sources of farts:

The first is the gas that comes in through eating, drinking or swallowing . When we have a meal, drink water, swallow, chat, etc., we will unconsciously swallow air into the digestive tract. If these gases go up, they will form belching or hiccups, and if they go down, they will form "farts". Therefore, it makes sense to chew slowly and "not talk while eating and sleeping".

The second is that the food you eat is fully mixed with saliva, gastric juice, pancreatic juice, and bile, and then slowly peristaltically pushed to the intestines, where it is then fermented by the microorganisms in the intestines day and night, producing gas in the process of decomposition. As a result, "farts" of different flavors are emitted from time to time as the human intestines peristalsize.

The third is that the gas in the blood and tissue fluid diffuses directly into the intestine through the intestinal mucosa .

02

What factors may cause too much fart?

Not farting is not a good thing, but if you fart too frequently or your farts are too smelly or have a strange odor, it may also be an abnormality of the digestive tract.

The specific reasons for farting too much can be divided into physiological factors and pathological factors:

1. Physiological factors

It is common when people eat anything they want, gobble up everything they eat, talk while eating, and swallow a lot of gas . The second most common cause is eating too much crude fiber or gas-producing food , such as white radish, garlic, beans, potatoes, taro, onion, sweet potato, etc.

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2. Pathological factors

It is common in people with gastrointestinal dysfunction, indigestion, intestinal flora imbalance, constipation, etc. If the gastrointestinal peristalsis is slow, it will lead to indigestion, causing food to easily remain in the gastrointestinal tract, and a large amount of gas will be produced after bacterial decomposition; too fast gastrointestinal peristalsis can also cause indigestion. In addition to not allowing food to have sufficient time to digest and absorb, the gas in the intestine will be quickly expelled from the body due to the accelerated peristalsis of the gastrointestinal tract; the beneficial bacteria in the intestine decrease, and the gas-producing bacteria increase, which will lead to more gas production.

Secondly, patients with organic diseases , such as intestinal tumors, enteritis, intestinal polyps, gallstones, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, hepatitis, etc., may experience increased flatulence. For example, the synthesis and secretion of digestive enzymes in patients with chronic pancreatitis are reduced, which will affect the digestion of food and easily produce a large amount of gas in the intestines.

In addition, when you smell a fecal odor in your farts , be careful that you may have severe constipation ; when you smell a fishy odor in your farts , you need to be alert to the possibility of gastrointestinal bleeding or intestinal tumors , and you should go to the hospital as soon as possible for further diagnosis and treatment; when you find that you can't fart , be careful that it may be related to intestinal obstruction or gastrointestinal motility dysfunction . At this time, do not delay, and go to the hospital immediately.

03

Where do all those farts go?

In some public places or more serious, formal and solemn occasions, the constant urge to fart can indeed become a distress. So some people have raised a "soul-searching question": is it possible to hold back a fart that is "on the verge of collapse"?

In fact, when the urge to fart suddenly strikes, just do the anal lifting exercise , try to squeeze your legs together, and at the same time lift and contract your anus to hold the fart back. Most of the farts can be successfully blocked, and the urge to fart will soon disappear without a trace.

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But in fact, the fart does not disappear, it just leaves in a way you don't expect.

Those farts that travel around the end of the intestine but are ruthlessly rejected will return to your intestine along the same route, and then split into two groups. One group will wait for the next opportunity to fart, while the other will continue to go back into the stomach and then flow up to the esophagus, and may finally be discharged from your mouth through burping .

The other part will seek out alternative and unique pathways - it will be reabsorbed by the intestinal wall into the blood, flow into the systemic circulation, then be filtered through the liver to reach the lungs, and finally, be expelled with breathing and regain freedom.

04

Does holding in your farts have any effects on your body?

Holding in a fart occasionally is harmless and insignificant, but holding in a fart frequently may have adverse effects on your health:

1. Especially when the intestines are suffering from diseases or constipation , more harmful gases such as hydrogen sulfide, skatole, ammonia, etc. will be produced, which will be absorbed into the blood by the intestines and finally enter the liver with the blood, causing adverse effects on the liver, increasing the liver's detoxification and detoxification burden and weakening the detoxification function .

2. If you hold your fart back in your stomach, gas will accumulate in the intestines, causing symptoms such as bloating and abdominal pain .

3. If the intestinal wall absorbs these harmful gases in farts for a long time and enters the blood, it may cause skin aging or other diseases .

4. Holding in farts may also affect gastrointestinal motility, reduce digestive function, and cause constipation . Long-term constipation will lead to more and more waste and toxins in the intestines, which will produce more waste gas and form a vicious cycle.

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05

How to fart gracefully?

1. Adjust your posture. When sitting, let your buttocks separate naturally. Do a small movement to open them to the left and right , or move your buttocks to one side, transfer the center of gravity to one of the petals , and lift it slightly in the same direction, or lift half of your buttocks off the stool, relax your buttocks, increase the diameter of the "chrysanthemum", or cross your legs;

2. When standing, stick your butt out slightly, or turn sideways to create a channel for the fart; you can walk back and forth to break up the big fart into small ones and release them quietly;

3. Try to slow down the speed of farting, and try to use the anal lifting exercise to control the strength and tightness of the anal sphincter, while reducing the abdominal pressure, allowing the fart to be discharged slowly, a little bit at a time, in batches. Of course, this requires more exercise of the anal lifting muscles in daily life.

Also get these life tips :

When eating, slow down, don't rush, chew slowly, don't talk loudly, don't make loud noises, and reduce the amount of gas swallowed;

Eat less high-protein, meat, soy products, onions, leeks and other foods that are easy to produce gas, and try to eat less sulfur-containing foods that are difficult to digest or avoid eating raw, cold and greasy foods;

Eat small meals frequently and avoid overeating;

Develop good bowel habits to avoid constipation;

Strengthen physical exercise and take more walks to promote gastrointestinal motility, increase nutrient absorption, and improve gastrointestinal function.

Now that we are talking about the anal lift, your anal lift assistant reminds you:

Have you done your anal lifting today?

Author: Li Tian, ​​Chief Physician, Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University

Reviewer: Tang Qin, Director of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association