Have you ever been in a socially awkward situation where you just had to let one rip? How embarrassing was that? Sure your date, business partners or work colleagues must have looked at you as though you were an alien.

Farting is the simple and natural process of releasing gas that was formed and accumulated in your body during digestion of food.

Depending on your situation, holding it in might seem wise, however, you don’t want to do that for too long because there are dangers associated with holding a fart for too long, 7 of which will be discussed in this article.

Causes of Farting: This Is Why You Fart and Why It Stinks

The process of digestion involves mixing swallowed food with intestinal acids such as hydrochloric acid and enzymes such as Trypsin, which are further acted on by bacteria in the intestines, known as gut bacteria, to break them down into smaller and dissolvable bits your body can absorb.

The action of these gut bacteria is what results in the release of a mixture of odorless gasses comprising of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane. When these gasses accumulate, your body begins to look for ways to expel them, mostly through farting.

You may wonder, if these gasses are odorless, why do farts stink?
The smell of your fart is greatly influenced by what you eat. Foods that are high in Sulphur, such as beans and eggs, tend to cause a more pungent smell than other foods.

Also, the type of bacteria in your gut influenced the smell of your fart. People have different gut bacteria, that is why your fart will not smell the same as someone else’s even though you ate the same type of food, in the same quantity.

You may also want to read The Art of Mindful Eating

The Dangers of Holding a Fart for Too Long

Farting is like breathing, it is as natural as it is necessary. On average, a healthy person is expected to fart at least 8 times daily, and though that might seem like a lot, not farting as much can lead to uncomfortable situations that sometimes can be endangering. Situations such as:

1.Tummy Tantrums

Your stomach will grumble when excess gas is trapped there. Pain and cramping, follows too, when you hold your fart for a long time because trapped gasses create a type of pressure in the intestinal walls, causing your intestines to stretch. Imagine trying to stretch in a cramped up elevator.

Although this is not fatal or extremely dangerous, it is very uncomfortable.

2. Bloated Stomach

When gas is trapped for too long, it builds up and causes your stomach to swell. Bloating is a familiar feeling of tightness and hardness around the stomach. There are many factors that can cause bloating, but gas is one of the most common cause.

Like tummy tantrums, stomach bloating is also uncomfortable and the more you hold in your fart, the more bloated and distended your stomach becomes. However, the best way to relieve yourself is to unbloat by letting yourself fart.

3. Constipation

Holding gas in, disrupts the natural digestive process, sometimes affects bowel movement, and increases your risk of suffering chronic constipation.

To hold a fart, you’d have to constrict your rectal muscles. Both fecal matter and fart are passed through the rectum. Prolonged constriction can make it harder for your body to relax and excrete feaces when the time comes, making excretion a hard and painful experience.

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4. Hemorrhoid Scare

Not only does constricting your rectal muscles for long put you at risk of constipating, the strain also increases your chances of having a hemorrhoid or worsening your condition if you already have one.

But while farting might be embarrassing, especially in public spaces, holding it in for long does not only get uncomfortable, but also dangerous to some extent.

5. Reabsorbs Gas into Your Bloodstream

If you successfully hold your fart in for a really long time, regardless of the pain and discomfort it causes, after a while of your body trying to dispel the gas to no avail, some of the gas will be reabsorbed in your bloodstream and expelled through your lungs as a burp or belch. The danger of this is, you risk developing GIT diseases.

6. Ruptures digestive System

This is very rare, and only common in people with preexisting GIT disease that is characterized by weak intestinal walls, like Crohn’s disease, as consistently holding a fart for too long creates a strong pressure in your bowels as gas keeps moving from your instestines to your colon. This pressure creates micro-tears in some part of the digestive tract, resulting in critical conditions such as rupturing of the colon which can cause gas leak into your abdominal cavity.

7. Intensifies Pressure in Your Intestine

You’re not supposed to store excess gas for long in your intestine, so suppressing your fart increases intestinal pressure, which could trigger or worsen gastrointestinal problems like diverticulitis or hernia, especially in people who are at risk of these conditions already.

Healthy Ways You Can Manage Gas Without Holding Your Fart for Too Long

You may not want to embarrass yourself in public, but instead of holding your fart for too long and endangering yourself, here are some healthy tips to help you manage gas:

• Eat with your mouth closed: the lesser air you swallow while chewing, the lesser the build up of gas in your intestines.
• Watch what you eat: foods such as beans, nuts and carbonated drinks tend to increase gas production. You’d want to eat them minimally or swap them for more gut-friendly food as you’ll find in this downloadable Digestive Health Cheat Sheet.
• Excuse yourself from the room: the more you hold it in, the more gas builds up. So rather than sitting with it, always excuse yourself and find somewhere private to let out your fart.

Finally….

Farting maybe embarrassing, but it is healthy. Holding it in, however, is not. Instead of letting gas from digestive process build up in your intestines, which will cause you great discomfort, be mindful of what you eat, leave the room when you feel the urge to fart and consult with your doctor if you notice you can no longer release fart easily.

FAQs:

• Could holding a fart lead to serious health condition?

There is no scientific data yet that shows that holding a fart can cause serious health issues, only speculations that habitual suppression can contribute to diverticulitis.

• Can holding in a fart cause it to come out of your mouth?

Yes. When gas is trapped for too long, it is reabsorbed into the bloodstream and expelled through the lung from where it comes out of the mouth as a burp.

• Is holding in a fart a sign of a medical issue?

Holding a fart is not a sign of a medical issue, unless it is involuntary, in which case you’d have to consult a doctor because you may have an underlying GIT condition.