FROM films to… farting?
Hollywood starlet Demi Moore, 61, has launched a taboo-busting campaign to end the silence around tooting.
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How often have you been in agony from stifling a trump, or been left red faced when one sneaks out in public?
Our efforts to conceal the fact that we fart aren’t doing us – and our health – any favours, according to Demi.
On the coattails of her latest film The Substance, she took to her Instagram on an unlikely mission.
“Farting … we all do it! So let’s talk about it,” she wrote in a recent post.
The actress joined forces with with Wonderbelly antacids to champion their fresh-off-the-press picture book titled ‘An Adult’s Guide To Farts’.
As a gut health advocate, Demi revealed she’d become an investor in the company and cooked up the idea of the book conversations she’d had with Wonderbelly co-founder Lucas Kraft.
She praised the brand for doing “important work raising awareness around eating disorders and de-stigmatising bodily functions”, including farts.
In honour of the book’s launch, Demi shared a clip of herself dramatically reading excerpts from it.
Clad in lacy black dress, Demi gathered an audience of friends and family at her feet and asked “What’s the big stick about?”
Written by Wonderbelly co-founder Lucas and illustrated by Jessica Paige Dawson, the book details everything you may need to know about flatulence, including its history, why we do it and the best ways to hide it.
“This goes out to all my hot girls with stomach issues,” Demi wrote in her post talking about the book.
The star told People: “Digestive health is an important yet often taboo topic.
“As babies, we’re celebrated for bodily functions like pooping and farting, but as adults, we often hide these normal processes.
Conversations I had with Lucas, a founder of Wonderbelly, inspired the ‘An Adult’s Guide to Farts’ book, highlighting that accepting these functions is better for our physical well-being.”
Foods most likely to make you fart
Farting, also known as flatulence or wind, is normal.
It’s usually nothing to worry about – everyone toots, some more than others.
Foods that can cause wind include:
- Dairy products – such as milk, if lactose intolerance is present
- Dried fruit – raisins and prunes
- Fruit – apple, apricot, peach and pear
- Foods high in insoluble fibre – particularly seeds and husks
- Legumes – beans, peas, chickpeas, soybeans and nuts
- Vegetables – carrot, eggplant, onion, Brussels sprouts and cabbage
Alex Glover, senior nutritionist at Holland & Barrett, also revealed some unexpected culprits that could be causing your tooting.
They include:
- Beef and pork
- Protein shakes
- Bear and wine
- Peas and broccoli
Read more on why these foods cause gas here.
It can help to eat smaller meals, chew your food slowly with your mouth closed and sip on peppermint tea.
Exercise can also help with excessive farts.
See a GP about your farting if:
- Farting is affecting your life and self help and pharmacy treatments have not worked
- You have a stomach ache or bloating that will not go away or comes back
- You keep getting constipation or diarrhoea
- You have lost weight without trying
- You’ve had blood in your poo for three weeks
Sources: Better Health, NHS
She added: “While the book is funny and light-hearted, it has a message about self-acceptance. a read about farts that aims to make readers smile, feel more informed and be less embarrassed about their bodies.”
Wonderbelly founder Noah Kraft added: “This book for us is a way to further a mission that we have of de-stigmatisation and helping people get closer to accepting normal bodily functions.
“We have this big mission around de-stigmatizing issues like eating disorders all the way to farting.
“There are things that we should be a little bit more comfortable talking about.”
Dr Philip Mayhead – consultant gastroenterologist at Benenden Hospital that’s part of Benenden Health – previously revealed what farts actually are.
Flatulence is gas that has made its way through our gastrointestinal system and is released through the rectum, Dr Mayhead explained.
He said: “The causes do vary, but it is often related to digestion, or swallowing air while eating or drinking.”
The gastroenterologist revealed which are the five most common types of farts.
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