How Long Can You Hold In Your Farts Before You Blow Up

whether it's in an elevator a business meeting or on a date we've all been in that uncomfortable position of holding in a fart fortunately for better or for worse we've been able to let that little stinky surprise out but what would happen if your ass lost its ability to pass gas as it turns out the consequences could be lethal and to understand why we first need to understand why we fart in the first place flatus farting and breaking wind are all equally hilarious terms that refer to the act of passing the intestinal gas is created by your body during the digestion process out through your butt these gases are created by the bacteria and your intestines which break down food through the process of fermentation some of these gases can be absorbed by your body and used in different ways like boosting your immune system others however can't be processed and that's where the farts originate comprised of elements like nitrogen hydrogen oxygen carbon dioxide methane and many more farts are like a beautiful little cocktail of smelly gases while hydrogen methane and oxygen can be absorbed by your gut if necessary gases like nitrogen can't so one way or the other they're gonna have to find a way out these gases will continue to build pressure in your rectum until your anal sphincter is overpowered like Hodor in Game of Thrones and you've gotta let one rip although it's fairly taboo to do so in a public or social setting farting is overwhelmingly common it's tough to say exactly how common it is since most people are reluctant to have their farts scientifically measured but in general people seem to fart between 10 and 20 times a day if it seems like a lot to you it's probably because a lot of these farts occur without you even realizing it according to one of the few fart based studies that's been done the average person emits between four hundred and seventy-six milliliters and fourteen hundred and ninety milliliters of farts per day both men and women that's right no matter how much they may insist otherwise or how much you don't want them to admit it gentlemen women do fart contrary to popular belief doesn't make you fart more but it does make you fart louder fiber-filled foods like the infamous baked beans also known as the musical fruit make you retain gas longer so you have fewer but bigger farts foods with lactose and gluten can make you fart more though and vegetables like broccoli and asparagus have hard to digest carbs that can make you toot more often as well not all farts are born equal though at least not in terms of smelliness a panel of two judges smelled and ranked the farts of 16 healthy adults fun contest and determined that farts that contain sulfur were the smelliest of all not sure who those judges pissed off and they got stuck with that job but hey someone had to do it but enough about the composition of farts you're here to find out what happens if you don't fart will you blow up like a balloon will you float in the air will you explode and possibly die well kinda yeah not all of those things but some of them maybe see holding in a fart generally has no real negative health effects it has a number of uncomfortable symptoms to be sure including bloating pain and a rumbly tumbly burping and more plus the longer you hold in a fart the more embarrassing it's destined to become as you clench your buttcheeks the volume of gas in your rectum continues to increase building pressure and inevitably leading to a louder and smellier toot your rectum will distend to accommodate the gas build-up and eventually when you're least expecting it you'll lose focus stop clenching for a millisecond and that big old flatus will force its way out and announce itself to the world the embarrassment of a massive fart isn't the only potential consequence of holding one in though turns out that the fart breath is a factually rooted insult that's right holding in a fart for too long can literally cause you to breathe farts out of your mouth there are two ways in which this happens and the first is way less gross than the second the most common way we breathe farts is through the gas in your gut being absorbed into your bloodstream from which it passes into your lungs from whence it is exhaled not ideal but not that bad right the second is straight-up nasty basically if you eat a carb heavy meal it's possible that it could start generating the affer mentioned indigestible gases into your small intestine which is earlier in the digestion chain the norm as a result the gas may choose to go up instead of down in which case you'll be burping fermented gas also known as a fart you'll be burping farts the height of human existence while fart breath may be horrifying from a social standpoint it's hardly the most devastating medical consequence one can imagine however in a small percentage of cases holding farts in can be lethal in rare instances where there is a major blockage in your colon farts literally have no way to escape your bowels in these cases your colon will literally start to blow up like a balloon expanding and expanding until like a balloon it pops this might sound terrifying and it is but take solace in the fact that this only really happens to severely ill patients and even then it's rare so to answer your question yes holding in a fart can kill you but it's incredibly unlikely so what do you do if you feel a fart coming honestly just embrace it baby find a private hopefully not so quiet place and let it rip take solace in the fact that farting is good for your digestive health and embrace the fact that farting on your own terms is always better than accidentally squeaking one out in the middle of a meeting or you know a date that's all for now but if you liked this video make sure you like subscribe and head on over to the Brainiac YouTube channel for more fun fecal facts see you later brainiacs you [Music]

Channel: Brainiac

Views: 829,355

Rating: 4.8300314 out of 5

Keywords: Fart, Flatus, Flatulence, Passing Wind, Gas, Rectum, Anus, Gut, Intestine, Bacteria, Fermenting, Fart Breath, Burps, how to hold your fart, farting, animated story, animated stories, animation, brainiac

Id: KrkOzwJs2cw

Length: 6min 2sec (362 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 28 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/ThetaSeller]

I watch a bunch of USMLE related crap on Youtube and the algorithm thought this was relevant. Who am I to argue with the Google gods