True or False: Can a Small Whiff of Flatulence Reduce Disease Risk?

If you think farting, or passing gas, is embarrassing, researchers say that sniffing fart smells may be good for your health

The smell of a fart — just thinking about it is probably enough to turn many people's stomachs, and surely no one enjoys sniffing fart smells, right? But after learning about this, you may well change your mind, because research by scientists at the University of Exeter in England indicates that the smell of farts or flatulence — the smell of rotten-egg gas — may offer significant health benefits. According to a study report by Dr. Mark Wood, hydrogen sulfide gas, which is produced by bacteria during the digestion of food, may smell strongly of rotten eggs, but it is something produced within the human body, and it may be a key to solving health problems and lead to therapies for many kinds of disease. It could be said that sniffing a little "flatulence," or rotten-egg gas, each day may help protect the body's cells from the risk of all manner of diseases.

That said, this research is still in its preliminary stages and requires deeper study and greater clarity.

Having read this far, perhaps many of you now find the smell of farts a little less off-putting, don't you?