Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Health, TikTok, Viral, Food And Drink
Tom Earnshaw
One of TikTok's most popular doctors has explained why it's almost impossible to stop yourself from letting one rip on a plane. Yes, we're talking about farting.
First of all, everyone does it. So let's get the faux awkwardness out the way right here. And while it is something we all partake in, it doesn't obviously detract from the fact that it can lead to a very smelly situation at 30,000 feet or higher.
But there's a very real health reason why you can't help yourself while up the skies. And it's to do with science. There's also plenty of ways you can limit how badly you might need to have one, so listen closely.
Responding to one viral video captioned 'the most diabolical behaviour on the plane', Dr Karan Raj explained to his TikTok followers why farting is incredibly hard for people to avoid while jetting from airport to airport.
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"If you're releasing a large number of thunder dumplings when you're flying, there could be a way to help," Dr Raj explains.
"At cruising altitude, the cabin air pressure decreases.
"Thanks to physics, the gas in your intestines can increase by up to 30 percent and that gas has nowhere to go except out... as a sky fart.
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"But there is a way to limit how much of a human whoopee cushion you become."
The top tip from Dr Raj is to avoid carbonated drinks.
"Soda, sparkling water, and beer. These are liquid gas grenades in a can," he says.
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"Number two: avoid high FODMAP [fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols] foods pre-flight. Beans, broccoli, onion, artificial sweeteners. They all ferment in your gut producing gas. Save the chilli feast for after you land."
On top of that, it's all about not swallowing air. Yes, really.
"That means eating slowly and no wolfing down your food, which means more air swallowed," he explains. "And avoid chewing gum because they make you gulp air without you even realising."
Fourth on Dr Raj's tips was to 'move around', explaining that 'gentle walking helps to move gas through your intestines quietly'.
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The fifth tip from the doctor was about staying hydrated as dehydration slows down your gut 'making gas linger like an unwanted house guest', with his sixth being to wear loose clothes that don't restrict your abdominal area, saying the whole focus should be on 'managing your farts gracefully'.
"Remember, everyone farts on planes," Dr Raj says.
"Your captain? Farting. That glamorous flight attendant? Farting. The baby screaming in 14B? Also farting. Unapologetically."