When I was a little kid, my older sister made the claim that gas being released from the
anus was flammable.
So, of course, I immediately conducted a scientific experiment to see if this claim was true and
initial testing was quite promising.
As it in fact, appeared that my colon was producing flammable gas.
This quickly led to more experimenting like were there certain foods or fuels that I could
ingest that would produce more of this flammable gas... beans, cabbage, onions, cauliflower,
foods not normally eaten a teenage boy were quickly ingested all in the name of science.
So, in today's video, we're going to talk about why this is actually important and we'll
utilize the cadavers behind me to talk about where and how this gas is produced and again,
why the source of this gas is actually important to you.
We'll also discuss potential situations where the gas can cause pain and problems, and are
there any scenarios where you producing flammable gas could be dangerous?
Obviously, this is a very important topic.
So, let's jump right into this anatomical awesomeness.
[Intro]
So, I feel like I have to put out a little disclaimer here - I think it goes without
saying that playing with fire and flammable substances can be dangerous.
Furthermore, using an open flame in the context of my childhood experiments, the external
portion of your anus does have surrounding hair follicles.
So, despite my younger self, I feel like I have to say, don't try these experiments at
home.
Now, there are multiple names for expelling gas from the anus, the majority of which tend
to be slang terms and because all of us have that teenager inside of us, I'm sure we're
dying to hear some of these slang terms.
Let's get this out of the way now so that we can focus on more serious business for
the rest of the video.
Here are our top 25.
♪♪
So, that obviously was not an all-inclusive list.
There are lists out there that include over 200 slang terms.
So, you're more than welcome to include some of your favorite terms in the comments below
but we're going to focus on some of the more medically recognized terms, things like flatus
or flatulence or sometimes I'll just use the term gas.
Now, flatus actually just means gas and flatulence is often used to refer to an excessive amount
of gas, but how does this flatus or gas get inside of our bodies or how is it produced?
Well, we're going to focus on three different potential sources where this gas or flatus
can get into the digestive tract or is produced within.
The first is just swallowed air or gas.
So, when you're eating and swallowing food or just swallowing in general, some of that
surrounding air or gas will pass down through the esophagus, and the esophagus just lies
posterior or behind your windpipe or trachea but as that air gas moves down the esophagus,
some of it will make it into the actual stomach that you can see here.
And since that gas from the air surrounding you, this is primarily going to be made up
of nitrogen and oxygen.
So a couple of things we need to consider: One, can that swallowed gas even make it through
the majority of the digestive tract?
Can it make it through 20 feet of small intestine all the way down to the large intestine which
we refer to the colon and eventually out the anus?
And what we find is not much even makes it to the beginning of the small intestine that
you can see here.
So, very little makes it into that small intestine.
The majority of which is actually belched or burped out which the technical term for
that is eructation.
Now, some of it can actually be absorbed through the inside lining of the stomach and into
the bloodstream.
This is just another dissection of inside the stomach and don't get me wrong, this is
not a large amount.
It's not like you're going to be able to breathe through your stomach.
But another thing we need to consider is that nitrogen and oxygen is not considered flammable.
Yes, oxygen does help other flammable substances to burn and it is one of the reactants in
the chemical equation of combustion but it's not directly flammable and you guys know this
from say like lighting a match just in your house, this didn't cause some explosion to
occur.
So another potential source of flatus is produced within the beginning of the small intestine
called the duodenum, sometimes pronounced "duodnum" but we've already taken a look at
this portion of the duodenum and within the duodenum, carbon dioxide can be produced from
the breakdown or the digestion of fats and proteins.
It can also be produced from some of the acid making it in from the stomach to the small
intestine and interacting with some of the bicarbonate that will be released from the
pancreas because the small intestine doesn't like an acidic environment and that bicarbonate
is trying to neutralize that acid.
But again, we have to ask ourselves - does that gas or that CO2 in this case make it
all the way through the small intestine that we've got here and eventually to the large
intestine.
And what we find is... not so much.
Again, the majority of that CO2 or that gas will get absorbed to the inside lining of
the small intestine and into the bloodstream.
Now, on to the third source where flatus is produced.
This actually occurs within the large intestine.
Again, the majority of which is referred to as the colon and this is where the magic happens.
Now, we get some help when it comes to producing gas in this region and this help comes from
the bacteria that live within your large intestine often referred to as your Gut Flora.
Now, this gut flora is very important in order for you to produce high-quality flatus and
we're going to talk about how this actually works and the specific types of gases that
are produced but first, this is a nice segway for me to say thank you to the sponsor of
today's video that supports your gut health, Athletic Greens.
Athletic Greens is a nutritional company that produces an amazing nutritional drink called
AG1.
AG1 is made with 75 whole food sourced ingredients and includes vitamins, minerals, super foods,
adaptogens, and probiotics to help support those little gas-producing critters inside
your gut.
AG1 is also super convenient.
All you have to do is take one scoop, dump it in eight ounces of water, shake it up,
and dump it down the oral cavity, and you're good to go.
I take AG1 every day and some of my favorite things about it is that it can help support
performance as well as aid in recovery between workouts and as I alluded to earlier, it can
help support gut health by helping maintain the gut flora so that you can have the proper
amounts of high-quality flatus.
AG1 is also NSF certified which means you can be assured what's on the label will actually
be found within the product.
To start your order, go to athleticgreens.com/humananatomy and Athletic Greens will give our viewers
a free one-year supply of immune supporting vitamin D as well as five free travel packs
with your first purchase.
We'll also include the link in the description below.
So, back to the large intestine.
As we mentioned earlier, the large intestine is filled with bacteria and one of the main
jobs of this bacteria is to participate in the last part of digestion.
So, when we ingest food and it moves down to the stomach and starts mix around within
the stomach, we change the name of food to Chyme and as that chyme mixes through the
stomach and then moves into this first part of the small intestine that we learned was
the duodenum earlier, this is where the majority of digestion has taken place that we can mostly
do on our own within the stomach and the duodenum and the duodenum is only about eight to 10
inches long.
So, that means the rest and the majority of the small intestine is where those digestive
materials or nutrients are going to be absorbed all the way 'til we get to the large intestine
here.
So, as that chyme moves from the small intestine into the large intestine, that chyme is essentially
left with indigestible carbohydrates or materials.
Often we refer to it as fiber and this is where the bacteria have at it.
The bacteria start to break down this indigestible material or fiber through a process called
Fermentation and some of the products of fermentation are carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane.
Those last two, hydrogen and methane being considered flammable gases or in this case,
flammable flatus.
So, can your diet influence the amount of this flammable flatus and how much does the
average human produce and expel through their anus per day?
Well, let's start with the first question.
Your diet can definitely influence the amount.
Some foods serve as quite the suitable medium for these flatus forming bacteria, especially
foods that leave us with plenty of indigestible carbohydrates that are destined to become
fermentible superior foods for your colonic bacteria.
Beans definitely live up to their reputation and there are plenty of other foods that have
the potential to increase flatus.
Now, keep in mind everyone will respond a little bit differently to these types of foods.
Things like gut health, genetics, and your specific species of bacteria residing in your
gut can influence these types of things.
For example, when I'm talking with patients and we're talking about how much fiber they
need in their diet, sometimes if they go too far with the fiber or get too much, they can
get things like bloating, too much gas and even some distensional pain there and so then
we'll pull it back the other direction.
Giving you the right amount of fibers kind of like the Goldilocks principle - not too
much, not too little, just right.
Because if you go the other direction and get too little, you can have things like constipation
and what about that answer to the other question of how much gas or flatus is produced in the
large intestine per day... and that number is about seven to 10 liters per day.
Now, that's a lot.
Could you imagine if you expelled seven to ten liters out your anus every single day?
That would be horrible for you and frankly for those around you.
Luckily, the average healthy person flatulates about 10 to 20 times per day.
Now, I can just see the comment section going crazy and people comparing their numbers,
so do what you want down there but that equates to about 0.5 to 1.5 liters expressed through
the anus per day.
So, you might think, "Okay, well, does the rest of that seven to 10 liters go?"
Well, we've actually talked about this concept previously in the video and the rest of that
will actually get absorbed through the inside lining of the large intestine and into the
bloodstream and eventually get expelled through the lungs.
And one thing that I should quickly mention because people are likely thinking about it
is that hydrogen and methane are technically odorless gases, which means they are not contributing
to the stinky smell of flatulence.
That comes from the bacteria breaking down other substances.
Certain proteins and amino acids that make it into the large intestine will get broken
down by the bacteria and certain compounds are formed.
One, for example is called an Indole, another, Skatole and even hydrogen sulfide and those
are three examples of compounds that you can thank for that stinky smell.
And finally, how dangerous can this flammable gas actually be?
Well, if you choose to participate in certain risky activities such as pyroflatulance or
my personal favorite name, "flatus ignitus", there is a risk for potential injury.
You can burn hair follicles surrounding skin.
There's been some cases where the flame is actually moved into the anus and a little
bit of the colon and it ignited some of the gas in there and there's injuries that are
really mild all the way up to people having to go to the hospital to deal with some of
these injuries, but you can actually make the argument that that's self-induced.
Why would you do that to yourself?
Well, some of us just can't let our curious minds be at ease but here's an interesting
question; are there any clinical settings or scenarios where flammable gas could be
dangerous or a problem and the answer is yes, although it is rare.
Some of you may have heard of a procedure called a colonoscopy.
A colonoscopy is when a camera or scope is inserted through the anus and used to explore
the colon for cancerous and precancerous lesions and sometimes they'll find these things called
polyps and often remove them with an electrocautery device.
If there's high amounts of hydrogen, methane, and enough oxygen, there have been cases where
this is ignited and created a small explosion within the colon and cause damage within the
colon.
Now, again, this is rare and one of the things we do to reduce this risk is proper bowel
prep.
Bowel prep is essentially a laxative that helps clear the colon of all the stool or
feces so that it can be nice and squeaky clean, if you will, prior to the procedure.
Now, some of the older laxatives did contain some carbohydrates that potentially be fermented
by the bacteria and create some of these flammable gases.
So, it's obviously recommended now to use laxatives that don't contain some of these
fermentable carbohydrates if you will.
Another thing that happens during the colonoscopy is that the colon is inflated with actual
air and there's been a move to inflate it with carbon dioxide rather than regular room
air because one, people have actually reported less pain when they've been inflated, if you
will, with carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide oxide is not part of the reactant side of
the equation in combustion.
It's one of the products.
So, that would also reduce the risk of any ignition or combustion, if you will, within
the colon.
So, this is not to scare you from getting a colonoscopy.
They are safe.
These explosions within are very rare and you just need to do proper bowel prep, go
to a reputable medical provider and then, the only flatus ignitis that you'd be experiencing
is when you participate in irresponsible activities.
Thanks for watching everyone.
Hopefully you learned some amazing things about how gas is produced inside your body.
If you're interested in Athletic Greens, go ahead and check out that link in the description
below.
If you feel the need, like, subscribe, comment below.
Let us know what you want to see in the future - any questions you have, what you thought
of the video, and we'll see you next time.