Everyone farts, be it me, you or anyone else – let’s face it, we all do it 14 times a day on an average. Since none of us is an exception, it’s perfectly okay to accept it as a universal phenomenon that helps us relieve (release rather) a buildup of gas within the lower part of our body. While most of us do it secretly to avoid any embarrassing situations arising out of this otherwise-booming act, we’ve people who do it loud enough to make others question why they did it actually. Well, let me explain why we fart.
Farting, or flatulence, is a serious gaseous outbreak that can come as a surprise to anyone. A fart, according to Wikipedia, is a bodily function of passing intestinal via the anus. If we delve into details to find out its exact origin, we may begin by saying that flatus or intestinal gas originates from the breakdown of food by the digestive system or the air we swallow while eating. As enzymes, stomach acids and intestinal bacteria break foodstuffs into simpler digestible elements, they create energy for our body, aside from liberating gas in the process.
On the other hand, if we can’t expel the air that we swallow while eating, drinking, breathing or chewing by a burp, it also travels through the stomach and intestine ready to come out louder or quieter than you’d have imagined.
You might have thought what makes a fart stink so badly. Well, a fart is a gaseous mixture of hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane. And so, it smells obnoxious due to breakdown of sulfur-rich compounds found in some foods, such as cabbage, onions, meat and eggs. Nevertheless, not all farts are that devastating in nature; some are mild as well.