Science reporter Belinda Smith stepping in this week to guide you through the week in health news.
Floating air biscuits, blasting the rump trumpet, cutting the cheese … whatever you call it, flatulence happens to everyone.
And farts can be funny. But they have a serious side, as my colleague Jacinta Bowler found out.
How often you let one rip can tell you a fair bit about gut conditions and your inner health. And while some of us may think we pass wind more often than the typical person, the truth is we're probably not dropping our lunchbox often enough.
That's partly due to our diet and the fibre in it — or lack thereof, generally. Certain types of fibre are especially good for our colonic health, but a side effect is gas production.
Abrupt changes in what we eat can change how our bum burps smell. People who start eating a whole lot more meat, or guzzle protein shakes, can get a particularly stinky case of "protein farts".
Scientists suspect their foul odour is driven by an amino acid called cysteine, which is found in high levels in some meats (among other food sources).
Certain types of protein-fermenting bacteria that live in our gut use up that cysteine and pump out hydrogen sulphide — also known as rotten egg gas — as a by-product.
So the next time you let one rip, stop and think about what that expulsion is really telling you.
Newsletter feedback? Have a topic you want us to cover? Send us an email.
For all the latest in health, check out our dedicated health page, catch us on Instagram, or browse our Health & Wellbeing collection on ABC iview.
