Did you know that farting during sleep is actually quite common? In fact, according to the National Sleep Foundation, around 30 percent of adults snore and fart simultaneously. While there’s no need to be embarrassed if this happens to you, it’s still a good idea to take steps to reduce the amount of farting that occurs during sleep. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the causes of farting during sleep and provide some tips for reducing it. Keep reading to learn more.
What Is Farting?
When you eat a meal and your digestive system releases gas, that’s not the end. The air in there can exit as flatulence or belching. We often refer to this phenomenon simply as “the gassy feeling”. But what we’re really experiencing are multiple hydrogen and gases, including nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide methane1and oxygen.
Flatulence occurs when too many types of molecules come out at once- usually due primarily to either Semitic acid from eating fatty foods or overgrowth, dyspepsia continued.
Despite the offensive smells associated with passing gas, there are actually three major ingredients that make up less than 1% of what we emit. The first ingredient is ammonia, which has an unpleasant odor but does not cause any harm. Skatole causes fishiness to your stools and can also contribute directly toward developing bad breath through bacterial activity on its own or after being converted by bacteria into highly aromatic compounds such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S).
Why Is A Fart Produced?
Farting is such a common occurrence that it’s often overlooked as just being natural. But there are actually four major culprits which lead to emitting these odors and their origin lies with our intestines, not what you’ve eaten recently.
The sound of air being consumed with every chew is enough to make any stomach rumble. This may seem like an embarrassing thing, but it actually helps us digest food better by creating hydrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide out of our undigested foods in the small intestine where they become “food” for gut bacteria.
Reasons Of Fart During Sleep
People will sometimes wake up to release gas. It’s because of this that some people call it “televised farts.” Most folks are aware they dream about food when their bodies digest it while sleeping. Which can lead them into believing there has been another meal request by an angelic chef.
*relation between food and sleep*
Food & Drinks
The foods you eat can make your body more likely to produce gas. Flatulence means “that produces flatulence,” and researchers call these types of food causes gassiness because they increase wind in the stomach area when consumed.
- Beans: Beans are an excellent source of protein and minerals such as iron, but they contain high amounts of raffinose, which our bodies cannot digest. This sugar isn’t harmful in small quantities, it just tastes bad.
- Grains: With a few exceptions, rice is the only grain that doesn’t cause gas. Tuck into bread and pasta with raffinose-rich foods like oatmeal for a stomach-soothing experience later on down your line.
- Lentils: These offer a gassy double whammy, containing both fiber and fructose. The tiny but mighty ingredients can make any meal more filling.
- Fried food: You may be one of those people who thinks they can eat anything and not have an issue with their digestion. But foods that are high in fat will make you feel sicker longer.
- Dairy: Lactose intolerance is a common condition that affects around 30% of adults in North America. What’s less well-known, however, are the other causes for lactase deficiency – including eating too much dairy or drinking alcohol with your meal efficiency. If you have symptoms after consuming an offending food such as gas pain and/or diarrhea, it may be time to see if any supplements will help improve digestion efficiency.
- Garlic: Eating it raw is likely to encourage even more gas.
- Onions: The bacteria in your gut break down high amounts of fructose to produce gas. Not only does this make you pass wind, but also has been linked with weight gain.
- Vegetables: Cruciferous veggies are a great source of raffinose, which is an important carbohydrate for your health. This type of vegetable has been shown to reduce inflammation and lower blood cholesterol levels when eaten on the regular.
- Fizzy drinks:
The carbonation in these drinks can increase the amount of air you swallow, which could lead to more calories being inhaled during digestion. They also contain a lot of sugar- not exactly what we want our bodies doing all day long.
- Artificial sweeteners: It’s important to know that even though these might feel more virtuous than refined sugars, they can still create an unpleasant odor in your gut. Animal studies suggest this could be because of how it affects our bacteria levels and digestion system as a whole.
- Hard candies: These are high in gas-inducing sugar alcohols, the sucking motion often increases air intake, which has to be released from your body via belching or flatulence.
Cutting out some of the above can help reduce your fart rate, but many contain vitamins and nutrients that are great for our health. So focus on portion control to avoid excess flatulence.
Lifestyle
Diet is not the only factor that affects gassing. There are many more your way of living affects the most on your digestion. Following are the lifestyle trait that supports producing gas in your gut:
- Eating quickly
- Smoking cigarettes
- Chewing gum, especially with artificial sweeteners
- Wearing loose dentures
- Taking antibiotics
Medical conditions
Besides lifestyle and diet, there are certain medical conditions that causes farting.
- Ulcerative Colitis: Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease with symptoms similar to Crohn’s, but which affects the large intestine instead of the small intestine. A person suffering from Ulcerative Colitis may experience signs including gas and diarrhea. They might also have abdominal pain or bloody stool in addition.
- Colorectal or Stomach Cancer: Cancer is when abnormal cells15 grow in parts of the body, sometimes disrupting or destroying nearby healthy ones. If this causes a blockage to occur within your digestive tract, then you may experience excessive gas as well.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): IBS involves abnormalities in how the gut and brain connect, but many people with IBS are otherwise healthy. They may experience abdominal pain or diarrhea and excessive gas. 12% of Americans have this condition.
- Crohn’s Disease: Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease where the body’s immune system attacks healthy tissue, such as muscles. However, not all people who get this condition have a known cause and there are many types of Crohn’s which vary in severity from mild cases to severe. Forms like fulminant colitis or resectional partial necropsy ileum on 11/11 due to inflammation severe enough so that it causes symptoms such as fever, high-grade abdominal pain, vomiting dark mucus loss surgery followed by death within 10 years if left untreated.
- Celiac Disease: People with Celiac disease have an autoimmune response against the gluten in wheat, rye, and barley. This can damage their small intestines to where it’s difficult for them to digest food properly. Or even absorb nutrients from certain vitamins because of inflammation caused by this condition. This leads many people to experience symptoms like gas/indigestion pain, diarrhea, irritability, and depression. Treatment requires going on a strict diet with no traceable amounts, but there is no cure, so everyone must manage their own health according to their best ability.
- Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO): People with this disorder experience more gas and other symptoms, like diarrhea. A few types of bacteria can cause an overgrowth in the small intestine, which leads to increased flatulence because of its Volvox-like nature.
Ways To Reduce Farting During Sleep
Farting cannot be avoided completely but it can be reduced by incorporating some lifestyle traits in your behavior.
- Your last meal or snack should be eaten a few hours before bed to reduce the amount of gas you produce when sleeping.
- High fiber, dairy, and sugar substitutes are all great for fart management. If you can reduce or avoid them in the beginning, it will help with your digestive issues. But don’t give up on these healthy foods completely. Slowly add back what’s missing after a few weeks if needed because of individual differences between people who experience discomfort from certain ingredients.
- Try cutting back on the amount of fiber supplement you take or switch to one that doesn’t cause so much gas.
- In addition to cutting carbonated drinks, try drinking more water.
There are several over-the-counter medications for gas and some that reduce the odor. You should talk through these options with your doctor before trying them out to get guidance on which one will be best suited as well as any potential side effects or risks associated with it. Those who have lactose intolerance when eating dairy products may want to consider taking laracidophilin supplements while also speaking about probiotics orally ingestible capsules. Just make sure you ask first.
Conclusion
If you have been wondering about farting during sleep, then this blog post will answer your questions. We’ve covered the causes and various ways to reduce it, as well as a few reasons why people produce farts while they are sleeping. So if this sounds like something that has been bothering you or someone close to you, we hope these answers were helpful. For more information on any of our topics, please contact us if you have any queries.
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