Is Holding in a Fart Bad for You?

Even the crassest among us have to admit that there are times when passing gas is simply not appropriate. For example, it's definitely not a selling point during a job interview. Are there consequences of holding in your fart in these instances?

Maybe. It is not very likely to cause any actual damage, but it is likely to be uncomfortable.

If you can't get rid of the gas in your gut, it can be painful, but there might be other causes of abdominal pain that are much more likely to be a problem. Bloating and distension are real complaints, but they might not have very much to do with flatulence even though it feels as if you need to fart.

If you're making methane faster than you're passing gas, it's certainly going to put pressure on the GI tract. The thing is, just because you feel bloated doesn't mean your abdomen is actually distended or that the amount of pressure in your intestines is at dangerous levels.

At least one study found that the perception of discomfort is higher when you choose not to let a fart go versus when there's a physical reason why you can't. The way the gut triggers the brain to let us know that we need to fart is part of the reason this happens. The increased pressure causes the feeling of bloating and the urge to let it fly. If you're ignoring the feeling, it means you're hyper-aware that you need to pass gas. It's the awareness that makes it so uncomfortable.

How Farts Form

The gastrointestinal (GI) system starts at your lips and ends at your anus. There are several names for the GI system: GI tract, alimentary canal, and gut (usually refers to the parts that come after the esophagus) are the most common.

You eat or drink nutritious and food, chewing what needs to be chewed with your teeth, then swallow it into the esophagus where it drains into the stomach and gets more broken down with acids. The stomach churns the food and acid mix.

At the bottom of the stomach, the slurry of food and stomach juice is poured into the small intestine. The small intestine is about an inch wide and it has muscles running through it that contract and push its contents along in a wave-like motion.

The small intestine is filled with bacteria. Most of the nutrients from our food are absorbed through the walls of the small intestine. Different sections of the small intestine absorb different things, and each has its own name.

The final part of the journey happens in the large intestine (aka the rectum). This is where the last bits of nutrients from the bacteria-laden contents of the small intestine are absorbed, as well as water. This is how fecal matter is formed into a consistency that makes it disposable.

Through the whole process of moving fecal matter (food plus bacteria) through the intestines, methane gets in the way. It doesn't stop the movement, but if the walls of the intestine are kept away from the contents because there are bubbles of gas in the way, the contents aren't moved along. The wave action of the walls of the intestine pushes the gas along first.

Holding in a fart just keeps those bubbles of gas in the gut. Nothing of substance can really move along until the gas is gone. The fact that nothing is moving, even though the signals coming from the gut are telling the brain that movement really needs to happen, is the reason why the whole experience feels so uncomfortable.

How to Keep From Farting

It's all about the gut—what you put in determines what you'll get out. The right foods can help you avoid the need to announce your presence. Your gut is a cornucopia of bacteria and although it sounds gross, it's important for health. Gut bacteria is essential for proper digestion and helps the immune system. There are multiple theories on other benefits of gut bacteria and the microbiome, as well.

Methanobrevibacter is the bacteria voted most likely to give you gas. It's even in the name: methane. At least one study found that eating probiotics can help reduce three different bacteria strains from the gastrointestinal tract, methanobrevibacter one of them. More importantly, the study found that reducing methanobrevibacter really did reduce farts.