What's bad for the nose is good for the brain.
Everybody farts. Upwards of 23 times a day, in fact. It’s one of the most universal human experiences, cutting (the cheese) across age, culture, and personality. Yet for something so common, it somehow feels very different coming from a woman than it does from a man.
But according to research highlighted in a now-legendary study, there indeed is a difference between man farts and lady farts. This unexpected fact about the battle of the sexes carries an even more unexpected health benefit.
Yes, this is a story about farts. But stay with us.
The doctor who wanted to know what makes flatulence smell
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Back in 1998, Dr. Michael Levitt, a gastroenterologist known among colleagues as the “King of Farts,” set out to understand where that unmistakable scent of human flatulence comes from. To answer the question, he recruited 16 healthy adults with no gastrointestinal issues. Each participant wore a “flatus collection system,” described as a rectal tube connected to a bag.
After eating pinto beans and taking a laxative, the volunteers provided samples that were then analyzed using gas chromatographic mass spectroscopic techniques. Levitt and his team broke down the chemical components inside each bag and invited two judges to help evaluate the results. The judges did not know they were sniffing human gas (which in retrospect sounds diabolical). They rated each sample on an odor scale from zero to eight, with eight meaning “very offensive.”
Their assessments pointed clearly to one culprit. Sulfur-containing compounds were responsible for the strongest and most memorable odors, especially hydrogen sulfide, which produces that classic “rotten egg” smell.
So where does the gender difference come in?
Here is the twist researchers did not expect: although men tended to produce larger volumes of gas, women’s flatulence contained a “significantly higher concentration” of egg smelling hydrogen sulfide. When the judges rated the odor of each sample, they consistently marked women’s gas as having a “greater odor intensity” than men’s.
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The unexpected health connection
Hydrogen sulfide may smell intense and unpleasant, but inside the body, at low levels, it plays a key role in helping brain cells communicate. It works by chemically adjusting proteins through a process called sulfhydration. This process tends to decline as people age, and it declines even more sharply in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
That singular fact sparked a new wave of research.
In 2021, scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine conducted experiments on mice genetically engineered to mimic human Alzheimer’s. The mice received injections of a hydrogen sulfide carrying compound called NaGYY for 12 weeks. The results were remarkable. Behavioral tests revealed that treated mice saw a 50 percent improvement in cognitive and motor function compared with untreated mice.
In conclusion: women's farts are worse for the nose, but better for the brain.
A reframing of an everyday experience
The science suggests that the very compound behind a silent but deadly toot may also be a quiet guardian of brain health. Something that has historically been a source of embarrassment, especially for women, might actually reflect a built in biological benefit.
Sometimes the world offers good news in the most unexpected places.