Why does flatulence smell like rotten eggs

However, even consistently smelly farts accompanied by more minor digestive upset like bloating can indicate issues like food sensitivities and bacterial imbalances, Dr.

In these cases, a registered dietitian can help you evaluate and modify your diet to ease your symptoms. Like what you just read? Go here to subscribe. Weight Loss. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Ab Exercises for a Stronger Core. You ate a bunch of sulfur-heavy foods. AlexPro Getty Images. Related Story. Join Now. For more on digestive conditions, check out our Digestive Health Condition Center.

If you're having wicked gas, it's probably something you ate—and not necessarily a bad thing. Gas is a healthy, normal byproduct of digestion, after all. While the smell may be embarrassing in social situations, it might mean you've fed your gut nutritious, fiber-rich, plant-based foods. However, sometimes a bad odor can signal a more serious health problem requiring a thorough workup by a GI doc.

During digestion, gut bacteria produce sulfur-containing compounds like hydrogen sulfide that create a stench in your gas, Dr. Raymond notes. The foods you eat can influence the population of bacteria that live in your colon, which then affects your farts, explains Frederick Gandolfo, MD , a gastroenterologist at Precision Digestive Care in Huntington, New York.

Foods high in sulfur can make your farts reek of rotten eggs. Cruciferous veggies like broccoli , Brussels sprouts , cauliflower, and cabbage are often to blame. Other sulfur-rich foods include garlic, onions, legumes, cheddar cheese, dried fruit, nuts, beer, and wine. Even animal proteins, like eggs, meat, and fish—all high in sulfur—may be problematic. In a small lab experiment involving seven healthy people, an Australian research team found that mixing poop with cysteine, a sulfur-containing component found in protein sources, resulted in a seven-fold increase in stinky hydrogen sulfide emissions.

It may be why bodybuilders—who tend to consume a lot of protein powder —have notoriously foul farts , the lead researcher speculated. Some people blame milk, ice cream, and cheese for stinking things up, and rightly so. An estimated 30 to 50 million Americans are deficient in the enzyme needed to digest lactose aka, lactase , the natural sugar found in dairy products. In these folks, lactose passes through the small intestine without being absorbed, traveling downstream to the colon, where trillions of bacteria "have a little party," Dr.

Raymond says. The effect is smelly gas, since milk and certain cheeses have a high sulfur content. If you have a sensitivity or reaction to certain foods, your gas could have a foul odor. As a result, it is fermented by bacteria in your gut. Gluten intolerance , or in its more severe form as Celiac disease , can also cause smelly farts. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease where there is an immune response to the protein gluten.

This leads to inflammation and injury in the intestine, leading to malabsorption. Flatulence can be a result of this. Other than bad-smelling flatulence, Celiac disease can cause other symptoms:. Talk to your doctor to get tests and determine if you have any food allergies or sensitivities that may be making your farts smell. Although uncommon, certain medications can cause smelly flatulence. Antibiotics kill off harmful pathogens in the body. They also destroy some of the good bacteria in your stomach, which aids digestion.

Without this good bacteria, your gas may smell. You could also experience bloating and constipation. Treatment for this cause involves changing medication, which you should not do without talking to your doctor first. Constipation indicates that you have a buildup of stool , or poop, in your colon.

The end result is foul-smelling and sometimes painful gas. Taking over-the-counter laxatives can be a simple home remedy for constipation.

Shop for laxatives. When your body digests food, it extracts nutrients and sends them to the bloodstream. The waste products are sent to the colon. Disrupting the digestion process can cause an overgrowth of bacteria. But hydrogen sulphide production declined substantially when the team mixed the faeces with four slowly absorbed carbohydrates.

These pass through the small intestine without being fully digested, and are then fermented by bacteria in the large intestine. Two of these carbs — resistant starch, which is found in potatoes, bananas, legumes and cereals, and fructans, which are found in wheat, artichokes and asparagus — both reduced hydrogen sulphide production by about 75 per cent.

These foods are highly fermentable, meaning they are preferentially broken down ahead of protein, Yao says. The other two carbs that decreased hydrogen sulphide emissions were psyllium and sterculia , but only by 25 per cent.