WEBVTT - How Flatulance Works

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<v Speaker 1>Get smarter in sixty seconds with brain stuff from how

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<v Speaker 1>stuffworks dot com Hi Marshall Brain. What is happening when

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<v Speaker 1>we fart? We all suffer from this problem to varying degrees.

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<v Speaker 1>Where does the gas come from? Just think about your

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<v Speaker 1>digestive system for a moment. One thing that's obvious is

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<v Speaker 1>that digestion involves breaking things down. Everything in food has

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<v Speaker 1>to be broken down into small units in order to

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<v Speaker 1>enter the bloodstream. Protein must be broken down into its

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<v Speaker 1>individual amino acids, Fats must be broken down into fatty acids,

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<v Speaker 1>and carbohydrates both simple and complex must be broken into

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<v Speaker 1>individual glucose molecules. Flagulence occurs when a food does not

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<v Speaker 1>break down completely in the stomach and the small intestine.

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<v Speaker 1>As a result, the food makes it to the large

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<v Speaker 1>intestine in an undigested state. For example, if you are

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<v Speaker 1>lactose intolerant, it means that you lack an enzyme lack

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<v Speaker 1>taste in your intestine. This enzyme breaks lactose apart into

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<v Speaker 1>two sugar molecules so they can enter the bloodstream without

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<v Speaker 1>lac taste. Lactose passes undigested through the stomach and small intestine,

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<v Speaker 1>and it arrives in the large intestine. They're the lactose

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<v Speaker 1>meets up with billions of hungry bacteria, the natural intestinal

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<v Speaker 1>fauna we all have in our large intestine. These bacteria

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<v Speaker 1>are happy to digest lactose. They produce a variety of

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<v Speaker 1>gases in much the same way that yeast produces carbon

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<v Speaker 1>dioxide to leaven bread. Gases such as methane, hydrogen, and

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<v Speaker 1>hydrogen sulfide are common gases that these bacteria produce. Hydrogen

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<v Speaker 1>sulfide is the source of the odor we associate with flatulens.

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<v Speaker 1>Certain foods produce more flatulens than others because they contain

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<v Speaker 1>more undigestible carbohydrates than others. Being means, as you might expect,

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<v Speaker 1>are particularly well endowed in this regard. Do you have

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<v Speaker 1>any ideas or suggestions for this podcast? If so, please

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<v Speaker 1>send me an email at podcast at how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. For more on this and thousands of other topics,

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<v Speaker 1>go to how stuff works dot com.