The surprising foods that cause stinky flatulence

If you are someone who is sensitive to smelly fumes, you probably know all about the dangers of eggs and beans.

But several other foods proven to cause flatulence may be more surprising.

These are all foods that contain sulfur. When these foods are metabolized, sulfur-smelling gas is the result.

Others are difficult to digest, causing them to pass into the small intestine, where they ferment and increase the likelihood of one’s flatulence stinging the nostrils of others.

DailyMail.com has cleared up some of the lesser known causes of particularly tainted gas.

Beef and pork

Frequent steaks and chops may be behind the offending gas.

Beef contains the amino acid methionine, which contains sulfur. When the body breaks down this amino acid, intestinal bacteria convert it into hydrogen sulfide, which causes bad flatulence.

Fatty cuts of beef and pork can actually slow digestion due to the complex molecules that take longer to break down in the body.

It can take two full days for meat to be completely digested.

Fatty foods, which take longer to digest than fruits and vegetables, spend that time festering and fermenting in the intestines, making the gas more likely to smell.

Garlic and onions

Garlic is packed with compounds called fructans, fermentable carbohydrates also found in onions, leeks, scallions and wheat.

The human digestive system cannot metabolize fructans.

As a result, they travel from the small intestine to the large intestine largely undigested.

Once there, the bacteria that make up the gut microbiome ferment the food, resulting in foul-smelling gas.

Garlic and onions, both of which belong to the Allium plant family, also contain sulfur compounds that give them their distinctive pungent aroma.

Poultry

Like other foods on this list, chicken is high in sulfur, mainly due to the amino acids methionine and cysteine.

When we eat chicken, the digestive system breaks down proteins into amino acids, which are absorbed into the bloodstream.

As these amino acids are metabolized in the body, sulfur compounds are the byproducts.

Fried chicken contains a lot of fat due to the amount of oil used to prepare it. High-fat foods are digested slowly, leading to fermentation in the intestines.

Certain poultry cuts, such as chicken thighs, contain more fat than other poultry cuts, which can also contribute to gas.

Artificial sweeteners

The body can have difficulty digesting artificial sweeteners such as stevia and aspartame, the sweetener in soft drinks.

Dr. Patricia Raymond, a Virginia gastroenterologist, said, “High fructose corn syrup can also cause excessive gas and diarrhea.”

Many sweeteners are not completely digested by the body and can pass through the small intestine to the large intestine, where the fermentation process begins.

The result is gases such as hydrogen, methane and hydrogen sulfide.

The carbonation and sweeteners in popular soft drinks like Diet Coke can also lead to bloating and changes in the gut microbiome.

People with irritable bowel syndrome should be especially careful about the amount of soda and other sweets they consume.

High fiber foods

Healthy foods high in fiber, including broccoli, asparagus and cabbage, take longer to digest, allowing more time for fermentation in the colon.

The sulfur in these foods causes the putrid smell of bad flatulence.

Certain foods are worse offenders than others.

For example, broccoli and cabbage can produce gas that can purify a room.

Flatulence is a natural part of life. The average person passes gas every day for 13 to 21 days, consciously or unconsciously.

That gas can reach a speed of up to 3 meters per second, almost 11 kilometers per hour.

Extreme flatulence can be embarrassing and even hinder one’s social life.

Most cases of flatulence are the result of conditions that can be controlled, as it normally results from the undigested food we eat and the air swallowed from gulping while talking or chewing gum.