Study Finds Women’s Farts Smell Worse Than Men’s

A study once set out to discover which sex produces the worst-smelling farts, and surprisingly, the results pointed to women. The 1998 research, led by gastroenterologist Dr Michael Levitt, found that women’s flatulence tended to smell more “offensive” than men’s, earning Levitt the nickname “king of farts.”

To reach this conclusion, the doctor recruited 16 healthy adults with no gut issues and fitted them with a “flatus collection system”, essentially a rectal tube connected to a bag. Knowing that people can fart up to 23 times a day, but not wanting to wait for nature to take its course, researchers had participants eat pinto beans and take a laxative to speed things along.

The collected gas was then analysed through gas chromatographic–mass spectroscopic testing to determine its chemical makeup. In a slightly more uncomfortable twist, two judges also performed a sniff test, rating each fart from 0 to 8, with 8 being “very offensive.” The judges did not know they were smelling human farts.

The results showed that while men generally produced more gas, women had a much higher concentration of hydrogen sulfide — the sulphur compound responsible for bad odours. The judges agreed: women’s farts packed the stronger smell.

#MaltaDaily