TikTok user Mad Medicine, who happens to be a real life doctor, explains in a video why women produce smellier farts than men. The video has gone viral since and we can't say we are too mad about that seeing as men have culturally and historically been associated with a lack of hygiene that–as proven by this one doctor– is nothing but a misconception!
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Men fart in larger quantities but women's farts smell far worse!
The doctor in question elaborates on a 1998 study that was conducted with the purpose of investigating the nature of flatulence and the difference in its content between both genders. The study concluded that while the volume of men's farts is greater than that of women, females had much higher concentration of Hydrogen Sulfide.
This ingredient is precisely the smelly element found in flatulence that makes for incredibly embarrassing moments when, say, you're trapped in an elevator with someone but you really have to let one out.
Numbers gathered from the study found that, on average, men have a sulphur concentration of 0.59 for each fart while women's sulphur concentration was shown to be of 1.77. While the total volume in men's farts was 199ml, women only had a total volume of 88ml. So though men had 'larger' farts, so to speak, women's were definitely on the stinkier side.
How exactly was the study conducted?
Doctor Mad Medicine explains that:
Flatus was quantitatively collected via rectal tube from 16 healthy subjects who ingested pinto beans and lactulose to enhance flatus output. The concentrations of sulphur-containing gases in each passage were correlated with odour intensity assessed by two judges.
Two people were in charge of smelling the sampled farts and collect data from them. The 16 subjects that were studied ranged between the ages of 18 and 47 years old and none had a history of gastrointestinal diseases.
They each had to ingest 200 grams of pinto beans on the night before and the morning the study as well as 15 grams of lactulose two hours before the fart test was conducted.
