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If you are a person prone to smelly gas, you probably know all about the dangers of eggs and beans.
But other foods that have been shown to cause flatulence may be more surprising.
They are all foods that contain sulfur. When these foods are metabolized, the result is gas that smells like sulfur.
Others are difficult to digest and reach the small intestine, where they ferment and increase the chances of flatulence stinging other people’s nostrils.
DailyMail.com looked at some of the lesser-known causes of particularly putrid gas.
Beans are often the scapegoat for bad gas, but DailyMail.com has detailed other, more surprising offenders.
Beef contains sulfur which, when broken down by intestinal bacteria, turns into hydrogen sulfide, leading to unpleasant flatulence.
Beef and pork
Frequent steaks and pork chops could 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, leading to unpleasant flatulence.
Fatty pieces of beef and pork can slow digestion due to complex molecules that take longer for the body to break down.
Meat can take two full days to fully digest.
Fatty foods, which take longer to digest than fruits and vegetables, spend that time rotting and fermenting in the intestine, making the exhaust more likely to smell bad.
Garlic and onion
In addition to containing sulfur compounds, garlic and onions contain fructans, which pass from the large intestine to the small intestine mostly undigested. Bacteria ferment these foods, producing smelly gases.
Garlic is packed with compounds called fructans, fermentable carbohydrates also found in onions, leeks, chives, and wheat.
The human digestive system cannot metabolize fructans.
As a result, they reach the large intestine from the small intestine largely undigested.
Once there, the bacteria that make up the intestinal microbiome ferment the food, producing smelly gases.
Garlic and onion, which belong to the Allium family of plants, also contain sulfur compounds that help give them their characteristic spicy aroma.
Poultry
Chicken, especially fried chicken, contains sulfur, which results in a sulfur-smelling gas.
Like other foods on this list, chicken contains a lot of 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 is high in fat due to the amount of oil used to prepare it. High-fat foods are digested slowly, causing fermentation in the intestine.
Certain cuts of poultry, such as chicken thighs, contain more fat than other cuts, which could also contribute to gas.
Artificial sweeteners
The body does not digest the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas and other sweets well, producing smelly gas.
The body may have difficulty digesting artificial sweeteners such as stevia and aspartame, the sweetener in soft drinks.
Dr. Patricia Raymond, a gastroenterologist in Virginia, said, “High-fructose corn syrup can also cause excess gas and diarrhea.”
Many sweeteners are not completely digested by the body and can pass from 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 cause bloating and changes in the gut microbiome.
People with irritable bowel syndrome should be especially careful about how much soda and other sweets they consume.
Fiber-rich foods
Broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts could produce a gas that can clean a room
Healthy foods high in fiber, such as broccoli, asparagus, and cabbage, take longer to digest, allowing more fermentation time in the large intestine.
The sulfur in these foods causes the putrid smell of bad flatulence.
Certain foods are worse than others.
Broccoli and cabbage, for example, can produce gases that could clean a room.
Flatulence is a natural part of life. The average person passes gas between 13 and 21 days a day, whether consciously or unconsciously.
That gas can travel up to 10 feet per second, almost 7 miles per hour.
Extreme flatulence can be embarrassing and even hinder a person’s social life.
Most cases of flatulence are the result of conditions that can be controlled, as it typically results from the undigested food we eat and the intake of air when swallowing while talking or chewing gum.