Is Flatulence Bad?

Is flatulence bad?

What I mean by this is...

Why do we fart more the older we get?

Why do we feel embarrassed when "cutting the cheese"?

Where did the expression "cutting the cheese" come from?

Do our farts affect the climate?

Put differently, do our farts pollute?

Are the "silent but deadly" ones really that bad for the environment?

What psychological and psychosocial factors are involved with farting?

What do our olfactory senses tell us about a person, or even about ourselves and the way we feel?

What do the fart sounds tell us about a person, or even about ourselves and the way we react?

Everybody "breaks wind," so why are we seriously that disgusted when we hear and/or smell a fart?

Do our taste buds also pick up the fumes?

These are the morbid questions that kept me up last night. I laughed at these thoughts, but at the same time, I felt depressed because I'm dealing with these strange age-related changes. I can no longer enjoy the same foods anymore, and it's not always because of tummy aches. I cannot enjoy the same foods because they produce more gas than I've ever thought possible!

Psychologically, I'm affected by these changes, and the smells. My goodness! I don't feel like a woman anymore. I feel like this used-up whoopi cushion. Yes, I have IBS, which is supposedly related to my PTSD, but my gosh, why the flatulence? Is it really that bad?

Yes, I tell myself. It stinks!

Flatulence is "carbon neutral". Plants take carbon out of the air to grow. You eat plants, you put the carbon back into the air when you fart.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjdb Flatulence is "carbon neutral". Plants take carbon out of the air to grow. You eat plants, you put the carbon back into the air when you fart.

Thank you @rjdb

I read this article about cows' farts, which got me to thinking about human farts: Scientists Underestimated How Bad Cow Farts Are

Maybe it's all hype, but us humans tend to be more apologetic to animals farting than humans farting, even though animals expel more gas.

I suppose that I've been depressed about my worsening IBS condition, which includes flatulence. I don't want to leave the house if I'm going to be a gas machine and experience embarrasment and others' disgust at my condition. I still have to get some medical tests and a double endoscopy done to figure out what is going on with my GI system, but until then, I thought to ask these questions.

Unfortunately, the world is concerned about human farts, too. It's not just stinky, but to them, it's toxic:

Methane isn’t just cow farts and other facts you didn’t know |

Do you contaminate your environment with harmful bacteria when you fart? — Quartz

After having searched for solutions and answers to some of my questions, I realized that my concerns are not unrealistic. There are reasons beyond why I'm afraid to mingle with people while I'm suffering from excessive flatulence and other GI issues at the moment. One of those reasons is being accused of pollution.

Now don't get me wrong. I am addicted to smoking cigarettes, and I will be working a program that will eventually help me to quit. Cigarette smoke does pollute, and it harms.

However, it would appear that cigarette smoke is more acceptable than human farts in some arenas.

Is this like an evolutionary response?

Also, I tried to be somewhat funny when creating this post. I'm not a comedian, so I don't really know how to execute jokes too well.

That said, some of our medical conditions do affect our psychological and psychosocial conditions. Depression and anxiety come to mind, as do isolation and social embarrassment.

I'm not sure how valid these articles on farts are, but if there is a faint whiff of truth to their hypotheses, then my poor gassy condition means that either I'm responsible for creating my own GI issue through poor dietary habits, or that many factors are responsible (not just me alone) for the flatulence that is related to IBS, for which IBS is also related to PTSD, for which PTSD is related to some offender or source that traumatized flatulence sufferers long before flatulence became an issue. Maybe trauma doesn't cause flatulence, but there appears to be a domino-effect here.

When I consider ACE studies (studies on adverse childhood experience), I think about the quality of life factors. I also wonder if they've ever attempted to do studies on ALE, or "adverse lifetime experience," because not everyone has experience an ACE, but throughout our lifetime, many could have experienced an ALE (including those who've experienced one or more ACEs). I'm wondering if flatulence would be connected with IBS in those cases related to ALEs (including adulthood traumas). Again, there's no causal link between trauma and farting, but there may be a chain reaction somewhere.

ACE and other related studies' outcomes bring about doom-like feelings for me. I want my life to be healthier, not stinky. There's got to be solutions to improve our quality of life, despite scientific predictions. There's got to be solutions beyond Beano to help with the source of our flatulence.

I'm not asking for flatulence tolerance here, but rather, I'm asking for solutions like more awareness and preventative measures. If I only knew then what I know now, I'd probably not be so gassy today, or isolated.

Are burps Reversed farts?

I skipped over fart philosophy 101 in college. So I don't have much of an answer other than to thank you for the laugh (yes you did make it funny) and also I'm sorry you're having to deal with that. I think you bring up important issues of getting older and it helps others including me have empathy.

Thank you! @WovenGalaxy and @Blknblu

Your responses made me laugh, though just in case you were serious, ...

Blknblu, I'm not sure if burps are the same as farts, LOL. I think gas is expelled, but the stench might differ. The stink might involve different chemicals in a burp than in a fart. Both could probably affect taste buds if potent enough, as I think the airborne factor carries those stinky molecules right back to the orificies from which they came.

WovenGalaxy, thank you so much for your understanding! I never took fart philosophy either, but I do recall a community psychologist's lecture about some political maneuver that involved beans, farts, and the homeless at a particular free-meal, mixed-venue event; the farts from the gassy homeless persons who ate the beans were used to persuade some politicians at the event. Had I taken a different course in human biology or gerontology, however, farts would have probably represented a more natural, less weaponized function. That's about all I know from my undergraduate experience. Though, I must say, that some students and professors have occasionally let one rip in that particular environment!

Lilly, my reply was for a smile.
Couldn't resist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blknblu Lilly, my reply was for a smile. Couldn't resist.

LOL

I figured so, but just in case you were serious, I thought I would try a funny reply back. It did get me thinking about the gas molecule differences, lol.

I wish that I knew. I do enjoy reading embarrassing horror stories about passing gas.

I hope not, its my hobby!

Me again Lily. Have you made that appointment with your doctor yet? Sorry I am like a dog with a bone. You do need that colonoscopy for more reasons now. Cut the cheese all you want but please make that phone call.

Thank you! @possum220

I have the GP appt. mid-Nov., earliest they can get me in. It's a prelim to transfer my records and express my concerns to the GP, not to mention, get referrals.

It will be a while before they do a double-endoscopy. They will need to knock me out completely with anesthesia or propofol (however those are spelled). There is no way I will be awake when hoses are placed through my orifices; if I'm awake, I WILL hurt someone!

BTW: I like eating cheese; I don't like to cut it.

@Lilly2 I am so pleased that you have the appointment booked. Nobody wants to be awake for a colonoscopy. I would help you to hurt some-one if you were awake.
Signed - fellow cheese lover.

You don't need to worry about contributing to pollution.


Believe it or not, there are physiologists who have captured flatulence from humans and analyzed the gases. The principal contents of human flatulence are nitrogen (from swallowed air), carbon dioxide, and hydrogen. Both of the latter are from breakdown of food carbohydrates by the bacteria in our GI tracts. The odorous contents are hydrogen sulfide and organic sulfur compounds called mercaptans, from the breakdown of sulfur-containing proteins. They are present only in low levels (far less than 1% of the gases in flatulence), but they are what we notice, because they smell, and the other components are odorless.


None of these are significant contributors to air pollution. The concentration of the stinky sulfur compounds is too small to be an issue except in the immediate vicinity of someone who is passing gas - it's far, far less than that produced by the natural decay of organic matter in the environment. The carbon dioxide content of flatulence is far less than that of our exhaled air, so not a significant contributor to one's "carbon profile".

The flatulence of cattle and other ruminants is thought to contribute to global warming from its methane content. Ruminants produce methane because the bacteria in their more-complex digestive systems break down cellulose, forming methane as a byproduct. It's why cows can eat grass and hay. Human digestive systems can't do that, so we don't produce significant amounts of methane.

If I had to guess, I'd bet the taboo on human farting came from our hunter-gatherer days, as it could spook the tribe's dinner whilst your hunting group was sneaking up on it with spears.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoppyhamster2 You don't need to worry about contributing to pollution. The flatulence of cattle and other ruminants is thought to contribute to global warming from its methane content. Ruminants produce methane because the bacteria in their more-complex digestive systems break down cellulose, forming methane as a byproduct. It's why cows can eat grass and hay. Human digestive systems can't do that, so we don't produce significant amounts of methane. If I had to guess, I'd bet the taboo on human farting came from our hunter-gatherer days, as it could spook the tribe's dinner whilst your hunting group was sneaking up on it with spears.

Thank you so much for explaining that!

Although, I now have images of cows shooting methane gas out of their rear orifices.

It's interesting how the hunter-gatherers may have used their flatulence as a protective defense.

In other news (found at the link below), sniffing farts "could help ward off disease":

Sniffing your partners’ farts could help ward off disease

I wonder how many anthropologists, historians, and evolutionary gurus look into the human fart. Hee hee.

I had no idea.

I agree it was funny.

I'm laughing at this entire thread now. My, what have I started?

This thread is hilarious ))