Foul-smelling flatulence could indicate digestive disorders
Occasional flatulence indicates a healthy and well-functioning digestive system, but continuous or foul-smelling flatulence could indicate a digestive health disorder.
“Generally, odourless flatulence is a normal part of the digestive process,” said gastroenterologist and hepatologist Rucha Shah, as quoted in an Eating Well broadcast on Sunday (23/8).
According to digestive health experts, excessive, continuous, or foul-smelling gas could indicate a digestive disorder.
Dietitian Sarah Glinski said that conditions that hinder the body’s ability to break down food or absorb certain nutrients can trigger excess gas production.
“Because undigested food components are often fermented by bacteria in the large intestine,” she said.
This fermentation process can cause foul-smelling or excessive gas, bloating, and abdominal discomfort.
Bacteria will ferment undigested carbohydrates when they reach the large intestine. This microbial fermentation process can cause bloating and foul-smelling flatulence.
Gastroenterologist Latha Alaparthi added that certain hard-to-digest food ingredients such as sugar alcohols and some artificial sweeteners can also trigger fermentation in the gut and cause gas production in some people.
Digestive function can also be disrupted due to an imbalance of the gut microbiome or dysbiosis, a condition in which the number of good microbes decreases so that potentially harmful microbes multiply excessively.
“This imbalance can trigger the breakdown of undigested protein in the large intestine, which produces compounds such as ammonia and hydrogen sulphide,” said Glinski, adding that this condition can cause excess gas and foul-smelling flatulence if left untreated.
Nutritionist Ashley Oswald said that dysbiosis can cause increased gas production, more pungent flatulence odour, bloating, and changes in bowel habits due to altered fermentation patterns.
According to her, dysbiosis can occur due to antibiotic use, a low-fibre diet, chronic stress, intestinal infections, poor sleep quality, use of certain medications, chronic health conditions, and inflammatory bowel disorders.
According to Oswald, excess gas production accompanied by chronic bloating, especially within about 30 minutes to three hours after eating, could indicate SIBO.
In SIBO, she explained, bacteria that are usually more abundant in the large intestine move to the small intestine and ferment carbohydrates before the body can absorb them.
Microbial fermentation in the small intestine produces hydrogen, methane, and other gases. If the gas produced is mostly hydrogen sulphide, then flatulence can smell like rotten eggs, according to Glinski.
Shah said that intestinal methanogen overgrowth (IMO), another form of dysbiosis characterised by excessive growth of methane-producing microbes in the digestive tract, can also cause excess gas production.
Unlike SIBO, IMO is caused by archaea and can occur throughout the digestive tract, according to Oswald and Shah.
If you frequently have foul-smelling flatulence and experience symptoms of digestive problems such as persistent bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, or constipation, Oswald said you should consult a doctor so that the underlying cause can be detected and addressed.