Everyone passes gas, but for some people, flatulence is a bigger problem that can cause pain and discomfort. Until now, it has been difficult to know what is normal and how much gas is produced in the intestines. Researchers have relied on participants' recollections, which are unreliable. In addition, people completely miss gas released during sleep.
Almost 60 times
To get closer to the truth, researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a type of smart underpants with a small sensor that measures emissions of hydrogen gas produced by microbes in the gut. In a study, published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X, it was found that healthy people pass gas an average of 32 times per day — significantly more than the 14 times previously considered normal. But frequency varied - between 4 and 59 times per day.
The study included only 19 participants and the researchers now want to collect larger amounts of data to create a form of Fisatlas, the “Human Flatus Atlas”, where volunteers wear their underwear for three days and simultaneously photograph and describe what they eat. By combining sensor data with analyses of stool samples, the researchers hope to crack the code for how diet and probiotics affect gut health at an individual level.
Three types
The researchers describe it as a blood glucose meter, but for hydrogen gas.
"If we are going to know what is abnormal, we need to know what is normal," says Brantley Hall, one of the researchers behind the study, in a press release.
They have so far identified three types:
Zen Digesters: People who eat a high-fiber diet (25–38 grams daily) and still pass very little gas.
Hydrogen super producers: People who, simply put, pass gas frequently.
Normal people: People who fall somewhere between the two above.
