Where does the fart go? Does it really disappear?

What's the harm in holding in your farts?

Many people are embarrassed about farting and are reluctant to bring it up in the open. Sometimes, eating too much garlic, onions, leeks and other pungent foods can also make your farts smell bad, but don't worry.

In fact, farts are a mirror of a person’s physical health. Farting is normal and healthy!

Normally, there is a certain amount of gas in the intestines. Sometimes, it will be secretly blown away from the bottom of the intestines and discharged from the body, which is called "farting", or it will rise to the stomach and burp. "Fart" is a kind of waste gas discharged from the body through the anus. Healthy people will fart at different times every day. Normal people will fart 8 to 20 times a day [1]. Waste gases such as nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia produced by bacteria in the intestines after decomposing residual food are mainly discharged from the body through farting. This is good for the human body and is also a magic weapon for the human body to self-regulate. In Hunan, there is a saying that "people who laugh at farts have no ambition", which can be regarded as a justification for farting.

"There are three urgent things for people to do": poop, urine and farts, which are normal ways of excretion for the human body. In public places, the first two can be solved by finding a toilet, but the urgent fart is somewhat embarrassing. Farts are either loud or smelly, how embarrassing! Especially in some closed places, such as elevators and meeting rooms, once you want to fart, you will choose to hold it in. So where do the farts go? Do they really disappear? Will it affect people's health?

First of all, we have to make it clear that it is impossible to hold in your fart.

Can you hold in a fart? Many people feel that their farts disappear when they are held in, but this is actually an illusion. Farts are gases, and if you don’t let them out, they will gradually leak out, so slowly that you won’t even notice. This is also an important reason why we don’t realize how much gas we expel in a day [2].

Secondly, a fart that is held back also has a temper. If you don't let it out, it will return the same way! It will float all the way to the intestines, be absorbed by the intestinal wall, enter the blood, and then flow to the liver through the blood circulation. After being filtered by the liver, it reaches the lungs, and finally goes up and is exhaled out of the body with the breath. Do you understand? A fart that is not released will eventually be exhaled from the mouth and nose. Don't feel disgusted, the air has been filtered by the liver, it is not dirty! It turns out that a fart that is not released will return the same way, and then be released through breathing or burping, or as a larger, uncontrollable fart. [3]

Since the farts you hold back will eventually come out, does that mean it's okay to hold back your farts? No. From a health perspective, holding back your farts is not something you should recommend. This is because holding back your farts frequently can have adverse effects on your body.

If you often hold back your farts, a large amount of gas will accumulate, affecting intestinal function. The gas will exchange with the blood that reaches the intestinal mucosa and flow with the blood. Toxic gases cannot be released in the simplest way and can only find other ways to detoxify. This not only increases the burden on the body, but is also likely to cause chronic poisoning of the body, causing abdominal distension, intestinal groaning, abdominal pain, chest tightness, and even peritonitis, intestinal obstruction and other diseases. The smell of indole or gases such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide are absorbed into the blood, which can also cause mental depression, indigestion, dizziness and other discomforts. If you don't fart, you will cause internal injuries, so once you have the urge to fart, don't hold it in. [4] If it is in an inconvenient situation, you should find a secluded place to let it go as soon as possible, or use the excuse of going to the toilet to let it go.

References:

Liu Sailiang, Qin Jun. Farting is healthier[J]. Public Health, 2019(12):107.

Joseph. The little secret behind farts[J]. Jiangsu Health Care, 2019(11):51.

Liu Feng. The fart that was held back turned out to be…[J]. Military Digest, 2021(02):44-47.

“If you have to fart, let it out quickly” has scientific reasons[J]. New Rural Technology, 2020(04):70.