Steven D. Levitt, one of the co-authors of Freakonomics and professor of economics, wanted to wish Dr. Michael Levitt, his father, a happy Father’s Day. In his post, he links to a 1995 article in Discover Magazine about his father’s research in flatulence.
Among the nuggets of neat information is that flatulence is 99% non-odorous gases carbon dioxide, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and methane. The 1% that announces your work to the world is made up of waste gases produced by microorganisms that break down complex carbohydrates. What foods create the room-clearing odors, and what foods are safe to eat before an important date or meeting? Here is what the article says:
Nutritionists have long known that while there are many kinds of carbohydrates present in food, Levitt says, not all of them are digestible. Generally it is only the simplest carbohydrates, made up of the simplest sugars, that we’re able to process. Some complex carbohydrates– those made up of three or four sugar molecules–can’t be broken down by normal metabolism. When these get into the digestive tract, they are simply passed along to the colon, where the intestinal flora get hold of them.
Among the foods with the fewest complex carbohydrates and thus the fewest flatulent consequences are meat, fish, grapes, berries, potato chips, nuts, and eggs–the so-called normoflatugenic foods. Further up the gaseousness scale are pastries, potatoes, citrus fruits, apples, and breads, all of which contain some complex sugars, and thus some potential for flatulent fallout. At the top of the explosiveness list are the Fat Man and Little Boy of our diets–those foods that are practically nothing but complex sugars. Among these most eruptive edibles are beans, carrots, raisins, bananas, onions, milk, and milk products.
The remainder of the article is an interesting read, indeed. If you’re at all curious about flatulence, and who isn’t, read the article.
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