Farting More After Eating Beans: Why Does it Happen?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the phenomenon of increased flatulence after consuming beans, exploring the underlying biological processes, potential applications of gas produced, and humorous inquiries about the energy content of flatulence. The scope includes biological explanations, speculative applications, and light-hearted experimentation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Humorous speculation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants explain that oligosaccharides in beans are not absorbed in the small intestine and are fermented by bacteria in the large intestine, producing gases that lead to flatulence.
  • One participant humorously questions how many farts would be needed to power a motorbike for one mile and whether a smelly fart contains more energy than a non-smelly one.
  • Another participant suggests that collecting farts could be a way to harness gases for energy, proposing that this could help mitigate environmental issues.
  • Some participants assert that there is no correlation between the smell of a fart and its energy content.
  • It is noted that methane is the primary combustible gas in farts, while hydrogen is not, and that methane can be used in internal combustion engines.
  • One participant shares anecdotal evidence from an experiment comparing different brands of beans for fart production, suggesting that Aldi beans may produce more gas than Heinz beans.
  • A participant expresses skepticism about the seriousness of the discussion, indicating a belief that it may be more of a joke than a scientific inquiry.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of serious inquiries and humorous speculation, with no consensus on the feasibility of using flatulence as an energy source. There are disagreements regarding the relationship between the smell of farts and their energy content.

Contextual Notes

Some claims rely on assumptions about the properties of gases produced during digestion and combustion, and the discussion includes speculative elements that are not rigorously tested or defined.

lee121
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Why do I fart more when I eat Beans?
 
Biology news on Phys.org
http://flatulencecures.com/baked-beans-fart

The way baked beans make you fart starts with oligosaccharides such as raffinose and stachyose. These carbohydrates are made of molecules that are too large to be absorbed in our small intestine during digestion. Instead they pass through to the large intestine intact.

While the digestive processes of the small intestine cannot usually breakdown oligosaccharides, the bacteria in our colon thrive on them. A meal high in raffinose, stachyose and other oligosaccharides like beans, will invariably lead to an increase in certain bacteria in the lower intestine.This process of breaking down the soluble fiber also produces large amounts of hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas. All of which increases flatulence, often significantly to say the least.
 
So how many farts would it take to power a motorbike for one mile? and would there be more energy in a smelly fart rather than just wind?
 
What do you think?
 
Not sure that's why I am asking the question
 
How do you think you could find out the answer? Perhaps as a starting point you could look at the gases involved.
 
Propelling a motorbike using Hydrogen would probably be a little dangerous, but used in a confined space and strictly monitored, might produce good results.

What gases are produced when Hydrogen is burned?
 
lee121 said:
What gases are produced when Hydrogen is burned?

2H2(g) + O2(g) → 2H2O(g)

In other words you get water.
 
Woww really? I think I am onto something here.

If you did a smelly fart in a bottle and opened it 1 year later. would it still be smelly?
 
  • #10
Tell you what, Beans are truly a magical food, they could save the planet
 
  • #11
Do you seriously believe that farts could be collected enough to fuel transport or are you just joking here?
 
  • #12
Why not? Humans farting are destroying the ozone layer, if we could harness the gases and compress them into canisters, then not are we saving the world but also producing a gas that could power transport and also save the world.

I was just wondering how many farts would take to power a motor bike for a mile?
 
  • #13
That's why I asked, does a smelly fart contain more energy than a windy one? Hence; eating more beans to create more smelly farts.
 
  • #14
There is absolutely NO correlation between smell and power.
 
  • #15
Methane (similar to natural gas from the ground), and not hydrogen, is the main combustable gas in a fart, it produces water and CO2 when burned.
Internal combustion engines can be configured to run on mainly methane, however since natural gas is abundant there is no need to obtain an additional supply from biological waste of any kind.
Hydrogen sulphide (also present in natural gas), is the main smelly gas, it too is combustable and produces water and SO2, (also somewhat smelly)
 
Last edited:
  • #16
Good news, Did a trial on the best beans to produce the best farts and it seems Aldi beans have the edge over Heinz beans. Methane gas is expensive to source, farts are many and free so will continue with me experiment.

Anyway have compress farts into a chamber and will try it out tomorrow with a model Grifter 4 x 4 model car, will keep you updated on the results
 
  • #17
I've stopped believing this is anything but a joke.
 
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