GUINNESS FARTS ARE the worst kind of farts. It’s a universal fact, which especially lingers in the Irish air.

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But what is it that makes them so much worse than flatulence produced by other foods and beers? It’s a question that has plagued the country for decades.

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This anecdote on the Elite Fitness message boards gets across just how bad they can get:

Guinness farts are the worst. They are an olofactory atrocity, the hang time on those is just incredible. I farted in an elevator the day after about ten pints of Guinness. I was waiting in the lobby for someone and about five minutes later three mexican housekeepers staggered out of the same elevator waving their arms and gasping for oxygen.

So why does this happen? Why do the beasts appear from behind after a heap of pints?

We decided to attempt to get to the bottom of it. PUN INTENDED.

Turns out, a lot of the nasty smell is down to how the alcohol and high yeast content of Guinness interferes with the gut.

Drinking a ton of alcohol in the first place is not advisable if you want your flatulence to avoid knocking out animals and young children. Aside from irritating the stomach, alcohol can affect the lining of the gut and impair contraction of the muscles in the intestines, contributing to diarrhea.

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Dietitian Orla Walsh from the Dublin Nutrition Centre told DailyEdge.ie that vile smelling flatulence is down to the level of toxins produced as a result of the alcohol.

Alcohol negatively affects the absorption of nutrients in the gut leading to nutrient losses and increased levels of toxins in the large bowel. This will affect the smell of stools and of gas produced after alcohol.

Aside from this, the junk food and snacks traditionally eaten with your feet of pints can contribute to the strain on your digestive system.

Coupled with the increased intake of high fat high salt snacks and meals that people tend to eat with or after alcohol, can have a huge impact on the symptoms they experience and the severity.

There’s also the fact that one percent of the Irish population have coeliac disease, yet gluten is plentiful in the Barley Guinness is made from. Walsh tells us that Guinness uses almost twice as much hops as a standard beer, which can promote the release of acid from the stomach, depending on the hops and brewing method. “As a general rule, the more bitter tasting, the more acid secreted”.

In summary, excess Guinness and carbohydrates upset the flora in your gut, and they retaliate by producing foul smelling farts.

So now. The only solution to lessening your potent Guinness farts, is to drink less Guinness.

Guinness held a Twitter Q&A, but neglected to answer this very important question>

A novel new use for Guinness waste heat (no rude jokes…)>