# Is farting a sign of bad digestion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699 "2011-08-22T20:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TonKa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9f8e36/32.png) [@TonKa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonKa)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/1 "2011-08-22T20:31:59Z")
Some people hardly never fart (like my wife) while others fart almost day and night (like myself) Especially after eating chicken curry 😃 Who have better intestines, me or my wife? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/2 "2011-08-22T20:35:37Z")
A sigh of bad digestion? Best typo of the week. ---
**Author:** ![TonKa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9f8e36/32.png) [@TonKa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonKa)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/3 "2011-08-22T20:42:30Z")
> [@](#): > > A sigh of bad digestion? > Best typo of the week. Oh my God, I did it again :smack:. Sorry, should be **“sign”** ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/4 "2011-08-22T20:50:23Z")
I don’t know about bad digestion- what is that, anyway?- but farting can be a sign that you’re lactose intolerant, or that you’re eating a lot of foods that cause gas, i.e. beans and cruciferous vegetables. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/5 "2011-08-22T20:53:22Z")
everybody farts, a liter a day is average. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/6 "2011-08-22T21:58:34Z")
Chomp swallow seems to produce more gas than small bites chewed thoroughly. So you and your wife may have equally good intestines, but you’re handing yours a much tougher problem to digest. Which it evidently struggles with a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/7 "2011-08-22T23:17:34Z")
> [@TonKa](#): > > Oh my God, I did it again :smack:. > Sorry, should be **“sign”** No, that is an **awesome** typo! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/8 "2011-08-22T23:36:25Z")
I’ve corrected the “sigh” to “sign.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/9 "2011-08-23T00:07:56Z")
Speaking for myself – I started farting, more often and more smell-ily, after I suffered a bout of amoebic dystentery 20 years ago. Over the years, I tries a few dietary changes, to little effect. (Coal-filtered, Mohammed-Ali-style “fart underwear” got me through the most critical social situations.) A few months ago, I started the South Beach diet (sctrict version for two weeks, looser version since.) In short, lotsa meat, lotsa veggies, not much sugar, and _no bread products._ Surprise – NO MORE FARTING! So, I guess it might have been the bread. (More specifically, the bread, milky products, and occasional fried food might have initiated the farts, while the cheese and even some of the vegetable products are what made the farts smelly.) Give it a try. Could work, ya never know! ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/10 "2011-08-23T00:16:16Z")
Since I’ve cut wheat out of my diet, I almost never fart anymore. Husband has had the same experience. Overall digestion seems much better. ---
**Author:** ![REDEYZZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@REDEYZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/REDEYZZ)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/11 "2011-08-23T00:25:26Z")
> [@](#): > > (Coal-filtered, Mohammed-Ali-style “fart underwear” got me through the most critical social situations.) I did not know these existed, even funnier… you wore them!!! Bwahahahahaha. Take some Gas-X over the counter fart medicine or sumpin, Jeeez. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/12 "2011-08-23T03:39:49Z")
I find sugar/milk products like raisn bran for breakfast (or once upon a time, a cereal with sugar added) do wonders for gas production. Switching to protein like egg mcMuffin (breakfast on the road) pretty much halted gas emissions. I’m going to go with the answer “you are what you eat”. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/13 "2011-08-23T21:12:07Z")
It’s the fiber that causes gas. Incompletely digested carbs, such as the complex carbs in beans and some other vegs, can also cause gas. But the bread, cereal, and other wheat products produce gas due to the fiber, especially if it’s whole wheat. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-farting-a-sign-of-bad-digestion/593699/14 "2011-08-23T21:37:23Z")
> [@REDEYZZ](#): > > I did not know these existed, even funnier… you wore them!!! Bwahahahahaha. > Take some Gas-X over the counter fart medicine or sumpin, Jeeez. Yeah, Mrs. Map insisted I try them out. Only used them, like, once every two or three months (typically, if about to join formal acquaitances at a Mexican or Indian restaurant, during a week when my gut seemed to be especially iffy). I invariably would exclaim _“Dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee”_ and _“I am the greatest!”_ before finishing getting dressed to go out. I’d guess they damped down the stink to about 25% of its normal level in that situation. So, well worth any self-mockery! 😉 But since I discovered what others have mentioned, that bread products are a main culprit, the coal-filtered undies haven’t been needed.