-
Asked by asiansupreme to Mike, Cees, Anil, Blanka, Emma on 28 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by issi2001, lionalmessi.
Question: Why do we fart?
- Keywords:
-
Michael Cook answered on 28 Jun 2012:
I really wanted to give a good answer to this, but I don’t know enough about it! Here’s what I can work out from a bit of (rather yucky) research:
The *reason* we ‘fart’ (I don’t know what a better word to use is, so I’ll use yours) is because there’s gas inside us that needs to get out (otherwise it would get very uncomfortable indeed!) This gas comes from air that we suck in while eating (close your mouth when you chew! etc. etc.), but also gas that is released through digestion. When your body digests stuff, lots of chemical reactions occur in the stomach. Lots of these produce gases as a result – and it all has to come out somewhere, unfortunately!
-
Emma Trantham answered on 3 Jul 2012:
To add to Michael’s answer:
There are also bacteria inside our guts that produce gases as they make their food.
So for example, when we eat baked beans there are some sugars that we can’t digest. These sugars make it down to near the end of our intestine where certain bacteria live. The bacteria ferment the sugars and this fermentation process creates gases.
Comments
Blanka commented on :
Good answer, Mike!
edward321 commented on :
that is funny
forensicscientist commented on :
We “fart” because there is a build up of Hydrogen Sulphide in us. We release it in our gas because if there’s enough of it in our body, it’s a poison! Hydrogen Sulphide smells like rotten eggs, which is why our farts do too.
Mike commented on :
Oh wow, bonus fact! Gross bonus fact for double fact points! Thanks forensicscientist!
Blanka commented on :
Actually this might be a useful one: http://www.heptune.com/farts.html
asiansupreme commented on :
thanks for giving me that website.
whkevandcam commented on :
the why do you burp then isnt that how you get rid of that type of air inside your body
Emma commented on :
Gd point. Burping is how we get rid of some of the air in our stomachs. Maybe we are not very good at burping all of it out? Maybe there is air trapped inside some of our food that escapes being burped out because the food is not digested properly until it gets into the intestine
whjamandellie commented on :
this is funny how this goes on inside us and we just think of it as a life thing when acctually it is really complicated :s