We’ve all heard the age-old schoolyard rhyme, “He who smelt it, dealt it.” But researchers are asking a new question about this necessary, and often hilarious, bodily function: how much farting is enough? And is there such a thing as too much flatulence?
Passing gas is a perfectly natural part of digestion. It’s how our bodies expel gas that accumulates in the intestine as we break down food. But the subject of “stale wind” remained a taboo topic for larger scientific studies. As a result, nobody really knew how much farting was normal beyond your dad always blaming the dog.
Are you a “crop duster,” or do you rarely “let one rip”? Do men and women “cut the cheese” differently? Thanks to a groundbreaking new study, it’s now possible to understand where people land on the flatulence flowchart.
Scientists asked 19,000 people to track their ‘air biscuits’
Researchers at Australia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, decided it was time to move past the giggles and get real data. They launched a citizen science project called “Chart Your Fart” to track farting habits and reduce the stigma. Researchers encouraged more than 19,000 participants to use a smartphone app to log their daily flatulence. Blaming the chair for squeaking was not acceptable.
The goal? To move beyond clinical settings for a real-world look at human digestive health. By tracking the frequency of passed gas, participants helped researchers gather more than 470,000 logs of “toots.” The findings, recently published in JAMA Network Open, have officially given us a daily average for “seam splitters.”
What is actually ‘normal’?
So, what is the average number of times that a person “steps on a duck”? The study found that nearly 80% of people report letting it rip between two and seven times daily, with the overall average being five farts a day. Men reported slightly higher numbers, averaging 5.2 “cheek squeaks” to women’s 4.8 “whoopie cushions.”
Interestingly, researchers found that the time of day matters too. Gas production tends to slow during the middle of the day, but “putt-putts” peak between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., which makes sense when you think about it. For many people, dinner is the most caloric and fiber-rich meal of the day. That leaves our gut bacteria plenty of work to do in the evening.
What does all this ‘thunder from Down Under’ mean?
Beyond the snicker-inducing data, the Chart Your Fart app can be a serious health tool. Understanding what is normal helps people recognize what a healthy digestive system should sound like. If some people determine that their “bottom burps” are way outside the norm, they might seek a doctor’s opinion to rule out any concerns. Researchers noted that a sudden inability to pass gas, especially if paired with pain or bloating, is likely to be more of an issue than simply being extra gassy.
Ultimately, this study proves that talking about cutting the cheese doesn’t have to be embarrassing. By tracking our own habits, we can better understand our unique biology and keep our gut health in check—one “trouser trumpet” at a time. Pass it on.
