Astonishing and astounding health benefits associated with passing wind

It’s important to have a frank conversation about your health from time to time. Today’s discussion…? Flatulence. Passing wind. Farting. It doesn’t matter what you call it, it can have a sensational impact on your health.

Let’s be honest though, passing wind it entirely natural and everyone does it.

According to WebMD it’s a necessary part of how you digest food, whereby your stomach breaks down what you’ve eaten to get the right nutrients and the gas left over is just a by-product of the process.

Are you aware though of the health benefits associated with passing wind?

1. Cuts bloating
You know that feeling you get after a big meal? It could be the unreleased gas causing you discomfort. Bloating happens when the body swells and you temporarily gain weight, which in turn makes some of your clothes feel a little tighter.

While the bloat could be caused by a little bit of water retention, the feeling of fullness and discomfort you experience in your belly is caused by the gas trapped inside and waiting to escape.

You’ll feel immense relief when you let it go and you’ll also reduce the level of bloating causing your annoyance.

2. Your colon will thank you
Holding anything in for an extended period of time is definitely not good for your health. It’s okay to occasionally fight the urge to fart, but if you’re prone to other digestive issues you could be increasing your risk of medical trouble for your colon.

3. It’s could be a sign of something more serious
The average human passes gas between 10 and 20 times a day, often without even realising. While it’s a bodily function that you can’t escape you’ll be pleased to know that sometimes your gas could be a sign of a major health issue, which means you might want to get yourself to a doctor for a check up.

If your wind is particularly smelly, or seems to be occurring more regularly, or is causing you pain, it could mean you have something as simple as an intolerance to dairy or something as serious as cancer.

4. Smelling them is good for you
Unbelievable, but true. Scientists from the University of Exeter found that a compound in the small of human flatulence could be useful in diminishing the cell damage partly responsible in some diseases, like stroke, arthritis and heart disease.

5. It creates balance
You know you need a balanced diet as part of a healthy lifestyle, but were you aware your love puffs could hold the clue into what your gut needs? Different foods create different types of gas, so for example if you don’t pass wind very often this could be a sign you need more fibre in your diet while someone who eats a lot of red meat might have a very unpleasant smell that indicates cutting back is a good idea.

In addition to creating a balance in your diet, farting indicates that you have healthy gut bacteria.

6. You get relief
Anyone who has ever held it in knows how uncomfortable life can get, but you’d also be aware of just how much relief can come when you let one rip.

Of course there is some embarrassment if you get caught doing it, but allowing yourself to alleviate the discomfort makes you feel good.

Were you aware of the benefits of passing wind? Share your thoughts with us.