JAMA just published a study that blows open the long-repressed science of flatulence, revealing how much gas the average person passes, and when:
Introduction
Flatulence is defined as the act of passing flatus through the anus, with some definitions incorporating the experience of excessive gas. Flatulence research has focused largely on disease and symptomology, yet intestinal gas is part of healthy digestion. The value of flatus as an indicator of digestive health has best utility when “excessive” is clearly defined. Nutrition textbooks suggest a normal range of 5 to 20 outputs per day based on fiber intake. However, most investigators have shied away from asking how frequently the average person passes gas. The aim of our study was to capture the flatulence behavior of free living community-dwelling individuals in Australia using noninvasive methods.Methods
This cross-sectional study was approved by the Low Risk Human Research Ethics Committee of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and reported based on STROBE guidelines. Data were recorded into a purpose-designed mobile phone application (Chart Your Fart) by participants who logged their flatus passages in real time, consistent with experience sampling methods.…
The primary outcome considered was total flatus per day (fls/d), which was averaged within person and summarized through means and medians.
…
Participants recorded entries for a mean of 10 days (range, 3-97 days). The sample mean was 5.0 fls/d (SD, 3.8 fls/d), with a median of 3.8 fls/d (IQR, 2.5-6.2 fls/d); 5085 (79.3%) recorded between 2 and 7 fls/d. Males recorded higher activity than females. The youngest age group reported fewer daily releases compared with all other age groups (Table).
Across-day variation showed a gradual increase with a peak between 6 and 10 pm (Figure). This overlapped with general population total energy and fiber intake,5 with a notable dip in flatulence recordings in the middle of the day.
—
Tables are at the link. Men reported 5.2 farts per day; women, 4.8. On average.