What are the causes of bad smelly fart?

Farting is a common and physiological phenomenon. A person farts several times in a day and it is nothing unusual. But when it smells bad, we feel embarrassed. Here are the causes of bad smelly farts, in short.

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Intolerance to a particular food item is one of the most common causes. The two most common forms of food intolerance prevail in us are lactose intolerance and gluten intolerance. The latter one leads to another well-known disease called coeliac disease. Some friends might eat the same food in a restaurant but one or two of them may start farting bad smelly gas a few hours later. He or she may be intolerant to some food items leads to indigestion.

A food with higher fibres is good for health in various aspect, no doubt. But in perspective of the smell of your fart, these fibres carry bad news. Slower and longer in the process of digestion results in more fermentation of those fibres. The end result is a bad smelly fart. Some food items notably cabbage, broccoli, asparagus, garlic etc are known to produce odorous gases.

Certain medications, especially, an antibiotic can lead to the production of bad smelly fart. Antibiotic kills good bacteria in the gut and create an imbalance in the gut environment which favours other bacteria to grow and produce foul smelling gases.

In a constipated person, the emitted gas bring the odours of the faeces actually. Formed stool stay in the gut for a longer period than a normal person and when they fart they discharge a very foul smelling gas.

Infection in the gut particularly caused by a bacteria creates bad smelling fart.

Last but not the least, sometimes, an excessive passage of foul smelling fart is one of the clinical manifestations of underlying colon cancer. So if the person has other risk factors for colon cancer, he should be evaluated.