Weather 
The battle of the sexes just got stinkier.
On average, humans fart up to 23 times a day, but not all of those toots are created equal. Research shows that women’s gas smells worse than men’s, and there’s a scientific reason why.
But next time you catch a whiff of your wife’s wind, take comfort — that stink could be a sign that she’s less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.
Back in 1998, Dr. Michael Levitt, a gastroenterologist and prolific researcher known as the “King of Farts,” set out to figure out which gases give flatulence its signature funk.
He recruited 16 healthy adults with no history of gastrointestinal issues and had each of them strap on a “flatus collection system,” which was essentially a rectal tube connected to a bag.
After the participants chowed down on pinto beans and took a laxative, the researchers collected their subsequent farts.
Next, Levitt and his colleagues ran a gas chromatographic–mass spectroscopic analysis to break down exactly what was inside those bags.
They also put the samples to a sniff test.
Two judges were brought in to rate each fart on a scale of 0 to 8, with 8 being “very offensive.” They were unaware that they were smelling human flatulence.
The researchers found that the main gasses responsible for the odor of human farts are sulfur-containing compounds, most notably hydrogen sulfide — the chemical behind that classic “rotten egg” smell.
And while men tended to pass larger volumes of gas, the study found that female flatulence contained a “significantly higher concentration” of hydrogen sulfide than that of their male peers.
The judges agreed, rating women’s farts as having a “greater odor intensity” than men’s.
It’s no wonder women tend to get more embarrassed about their farts.
A 2005 study found that heterosexual men were the least bothered if others could hear or smell their toots, while heterosexual women were the most self-conscious.
But here’s the twist: Women might actually want to embrace their smellier farts because they could be doing their bodies a favor.
While hydrogen sulfide is highly toxic in large amounts, small doses — like those found abundantly in women’s gas — may help protect aging brain cells against Alzheimer’s disease.
In the body, hydrogen sulfide plays a role in many functions, including helping brain cells communicate by chemically tweaking proteins in a process called sulfhydration.
Studies show that sulfhydration levels decline with age, a trend that is even more pronounced in patients with Alzheimer’s.
In a 2021 study, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine ran experiments on mice genetically engineered to mimic human Alzheimer’s disease. They injected the rodents with a hydrogen sulfide–carrying compound called NaGYY and monitored changes in their memory and motor function over 12 weeks.
Behavioral tests showed that hydrogen sulfide improved cognitive and motor function by 50% compared with untreated mice.
The treated mice were also better at remembering the locations of platform exits and appeared more physically active than their untreated counterparts.
Notably, the results suggested that some behavioral effects of Alzheimer’s could be reversed by introducing hydrogen sulfide — though it’s still unclear whether the same would hold true in humans.
So ladies, next time you break wind, breathe deep. That stinky scent might just be a secret brain booster.
