Dr Karl

As geometry, you've got about 10 metres of gut ranging from your mouth, the esophagus, the stomach, the small intestine, the large intestine, and then out into the world.

And with burping, it's mainly due to gas that you swallow.

And so my little daughter Lola, she suffers from a rare disease called aburpia where she can't burp and so she can't have fizzy drinks because it causes gut discomfort.

So if you've swallowed some gas or swallowed some air, typically while eating an apple, the gas is in the upper part of your gut and so it'll just come out as a burp.

But then with the fart gases...

They're coming from the bacteria at the other end in your large intestine.

These bacteria are absolutely essential for your well-being.

If you did not have those bacteria, you would have two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, and you'd be two-thirds of your body weight, even though you're eating a lot more, because they give you extra nutrition, and your brain would not be fully developed because they make free fatty acids, and they do all these good things,

And they also generate gases.

And because they're physically closer to the other end, that's why they come out the other end.

Is that kind of answering your question, Lucas?

Yeah, that's good.

Average person burps 14 times a day, total volume one and a half litres.

That's okay.

Be honest.

So have you had other members of your family or friends just check out the smell, and they say, oh, my God, Tara, you're right.

It smells like roses on a spring morning.

Have they said that?

No.

No, it's going the other way, is it?