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Decoding Farts: What That Sound And Smell Really Means

It might be more than what you ate.

Farting is just as natural as sneezing, but it's also about 100 times more embarrassing when it happens in public.

Fortunately, most farts slip out silent and odourless, but every once in a while we're surprised by a loud or stinky one. While the sound of a fart depends on a combination of the shape of the sphincter at the time the gas is released and the amount of swallowed air, the odour is a direct reflection of the foods we eat.

The sulphuric scent of a fart is common after consuming sulfur-rich foods like broccoli, cauliflower, dairy, beans and red meat, which doesn't contain sulfur but rather thiols; another smelly compound.

Though a smelly fart is nothing to worry about, a really rank fart is much harder to ignore. Also caused by hydrogen sulfide-producing foods, frequent super stinky farts may be a sign of lactose intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease or gastroenteritis.

Watch the video above by DNews to discover more reasons why your farts are oh-so-smelly.

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