No matter how much air freshener you've sprayed, how many fragrance accessories you have at home, or how clogged your nose is right now because of winter, the smell of feces will always attack your nose with full force, leaving no doubt about its source. But why do needs, of all things in the world, smell so strong? It turns out that scientists have wondered and even studied this question, and Forefront and ChatGPT helped us understand the results.
According to experts, the main culprits responsible for the unpleasant smell of poop are byproducts produced during digestion by the billions of bacteria living in our intestines. One compound in particular, called scatatoll or 3-methyllindol, is created when certain bacteria in the digestive tract break down the amino acid L-tryptophan. In small doses, scalatoll gives flowers like jasmine their pleasant scent – but in larger doses, it creates the powerful, unpleasant smell of feces.
The human digestive system includes over 10,000 different species of bacteria that play different roles in breaking down the foods we eat. While digesting and fermenting undigested fiber, proteins, and carbohydrates in the colon, these gut bacteria release gases like hydrogen sulfide, methane, and ammonia.
Therefore, our diet influences the smell of our feces. Although there is no feces that smell pleasant, there is one that smells even worse than usual. Thus, for example, foods containing sulfur, such as eggs and cabbage, are especially prone to produce hydrogen sulfide gas, whose smell is reminiscent of stinky eggs, during digestion; Highly processed foods, which are difficult for bacteria to break down, as well as sweet foods, cause more gas. Alcohol causes destruction of the intestines and disruption of digestion, leading to stinkier stools. Even certain artificial sweeteners, such as sorbitol, increase bad odor.
Shelby Jachko, a clinical dietitian at the University of California, Los Angeles, notes that sudden changes in stool odor are usually due to changes in diet, and over time they tend to balance as the digestive system adjusts to these changes. If the abnormal smell persists, it may indicate a health problem such as inflammatory bowel disease or infection.
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