• Question: Why do some farts Smell more than other farts?

    Asked by thomasfitz1 to Cathal, Ciara, Emma, Michael, Sive on 14 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Sive Finlay

      Sive Finlay answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      Hi Thomas,
      It depends on what you’ve been eating and the type of bacteria in your gut. The smell usually comes from sulfur-based compounds such as hydrogen sulfides or mercaptans. Sulfur is also what makes rotten eggs and volcanoes so smelly. Different foods contain varying amounts of sulfur-rich compounds – there’s quite a bit in cauliflower, eggs and some meat. As for your the bacteria, the composition of all the microbes living in your gut changes all the time. Different types of bacteria break down foods in different ways and produce different waste gases – some of which are smellier than others!
      So blame it on your diet and your microbes 🙂
      Sive

    • Photo: Michael Nolan

      Michael Nolan answered on 18 Nov 2013:

      That will depend on your food/drink intake – i would guess lots of curries will give you stinkier farts than will something less spiced. Luckily we dont produce ammonia or hydrogen sulfide in our farts, or you would have no friends 🙂

      However, given how things get turned on their head in biology, maybe curry farts smell OK 🙂

      M

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