This is why some of your farts smell MUCH worse than others – and how to make them less pongy
IT'S sprout season and many of us will be all too familiar with the smelly side effects that often accompany the festive vegetable.
But why is it some foods cause our farts to smell so much worse than others, and is there any way of making them less potent?
The obvious cause of pungent parps is the type of nosh we consume, but what should we be cutting out of our diet?
The good news is, scientists reckon they've come up with a list of stench-provoking culprits.
They conducted a series of experiments, mixing faeces (rather them than us) with different components found in various foods to unearth what makes them smell so bad once they've been processed by the body.
Researchers found that the reason some farts are eye-wateringly foul is because the gas contains cysteine, a component present in meat, dairy, eggs and other types of protein.
When you eat the foods containing cysteine, it multiplies the amount of hydrogen sulphide gas - the odour ogre - in your tummy by seven.
Bad news if you plan on chowing down on a juicy steak or the remains of the Christmas cheeseboard tonight.
Thankfully there is a way to counteract the effects of cysteine, to an extent.
According to gastroenterology, nutrition and dietetics expert Chu Yao at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, starchy foods act as a resistant to hydrogen sulphide gas.
They can reduce the production of it by up to 75 per cent, so even if you've a protein-rich diet, you should be able to limit the active sulphide gases in your stomach.
Starch-rich foods that are resistant to hydrogen sulphide gas include potatoes, bananas, cereals and artichokes.
Foods that are resistant to hydrogen sulphide gas
- Potatoes
- Bananas
- Legumes
- Cereals
- Artichokes
- Asparagus
- Fructans (found in wheat)
These foods are broken down before the proteins as they are highly fermentable, meaning "the focus is taken away from the protein, so hydrogen sulphide is not produced", according to Yao, who presented the group's findings at at a Gastroenterological Society of Australia conference in Adelaide.
She added: "This explains why bodybuilders who consume lots of protein powder are known to have smelly farts."
Earlier this year we revealed why asparagus makes your wee smell, along with six other fascinating facts about food’s effect on your body.