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Whether it happens on your postprandial fart walk, right in the middle of yoga class or while you’re sleeping, everyone — even the poshest among us — farts. According to Dr. Satish Rao,professor of Medicine at Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia, the average person farts seven to 24 times a day. “It’s a normal physiological phenomenon,” he said, explaining flatulence as the byproduct of fermentation in the colon. That fermentation creates gas, which is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane, hydrogen and more. One surprisingly smelly fact is that more than 99% of farts are odourless, but a foul smell comes from trace sulphur compounds. Unfortunately, our noses are extremely good at detecting sulphur, even in microscopic amounts.Once that gas is formed, Rao said there are only two options for it to escape. “Some gas will move from the lining of the colon to the bloodstream, then get exhaled by the breath,” he said. “But the other pathway out is the fart. The gas will find its way out eventually, and if you produce a lot of gas too quickly, it won’t be absorbed, but will automatically push its way out through the anus.” In general, a few farts a day are nothing to worry about, said Dr. Cait Welsh, postdoctoral researcher from Monash University and the Hudson Institute of Medical Research. “Most of the time, the release of gas is a healthy sign that digestion and gut microbiota are happy and functioning well.” While you produce gas all day long, you’re more likely to let ’em rip during sleep, when your anal sphincter relaxes and gas escapes more easily. Which People Are The Gassiest?It might be hard to think of King Charles or the Pope as real toot machines, but Rao is positive that anyone who eats food, especially carbohydrates, is going to fart at least some time during each day. And some of us are certainly more, um, productive than others, said Dr. Folasade P. May, associate professor of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles. “People who chew a lot of gum, drink carbonated drinks or eat too quickly may swallow more air, for example, which can cause flatulence,” she said. “Other people have gut bacteria that produce more gas. Diet, how fast you digest, and medications can also change how much gas you make and pass.” If you’re thinking that President Donald Trump is making you fart more, you might be right. (Fun fact: An old Australian slang word for a fart is a “trump.”) Stress or anxiety, about the current political climate or matters closer to home, can have an impact on how much someone farts, May said. “Especially in people with irritable bowel syndrome or other functional gut disorders, stress can change how fast we eat and digest, making flatulence seem worse,” May explained.Stress can increase your flatulence, according to gastro doctors.Foods That Can Up Your Fart CountDr. Ed Giles, a pediatric gastroenterologist and associate professor of pediatrics at Monash University, noted that the most well-known foods to cause gas are the so-called FODMAP foods, an acronym for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols. The key term for these carbohydrates, Giles said, is “fermentable.” That means the foods have an ability to produce gas. “They feed the bacteria in the gut and the bacteria produce the gas, including methane, which smells,” he said. May outlined some of the worst FODMAP culprits: beans, lentils, onions, garlic, crucifers like broccoli and cabbage, and some whole grains and fruits. “If you’re lactose intolerant, consuming dairy can also increase gas production,” she said. When To Be ConcernedGas is concerning when it’s painful, disruptive or different from your normal pattern. If you’re regularly releasing gas more than 23 or 24 times a day and it’s causing problems, it’s worth investigating. However, some people may experience more flatulence than that and it’s still considered normal; it all depends on your diet and your personal health factors.“The most important thing is that if excessive flatulence is persistent or accompanied by pain, weight loss, diarrhea or blood in the stool, it’s worth consulting a clinician for evaluation,” May said. “If gas is persistent or accompanied by these other warning signs, a clinician can help sort out causes.” Some of the conditions a health care professional will want to rule out include celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, lactose or other food intolerances, pancreatic enzyme insufficiency and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Connective tissue disorders like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and other diseases like multiple sclerosis also come with increased flatulence.You might be asked to keep a food journal and, yes, even count the number of farts you produce each day. Luckily, there are now several apps to help you do this, including Gaslog, FlareCare, Gutly and Vitalis. These apps aren’t medical diagnostic tools, but might help you spot patterns in how your diet and lifestyle contribute to gas symptoms. And just keep in mind that everyone — every single one of us — has experienced an ill-timed fart, and lived to tell the tale. So unless your gas comes with pain or surprises, you’re probably just doing what everyone else is doing, too.Related…Here’s The Maximum Time Doctors Say It Should Take To PoopDrinking Lots Of Water? It Could Secretly Be Causing This Painful Digestion IssueTried And Tested: Is It Worth Paying To See A Nutritionist?

Health Secretary Wes Streeting previously described Conservative changes to student loan repayment rules as a “mis‑selling scandal”, which he said misled millions of graduates across the UK.In the Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the freezing of student loan repayment thresholds, citing the need to fund the NHS as a key reason.Commentators have slammed Ms Reeves for an “unfair” system on young people.Speaking in the House of Commons in November 2016, the former National Union of Students president criticised the Conservative Government’s decision to freeze the salary thresholds that determine when graduates begin repaying their loans.Mr Streeting told MPs: “Millions of people across the UK have been mis‑sold loans and will end up paying thousands of pounds more than expected as a result.” He said the Government had become “the perpetrator of the mis‑selling scandal” rather than “an unscrupulous high‑street bank or a payday lender”, adding that graduates had been “sold student loans on the basis of false assumptions and broken promises.” TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say The dispute relates to policy changes introduced after tuition fees rose sharply in 2012.Under the revised system, graduates were told they would only begin repaying once they earned £21,000 a year, and that the threshold would rise annually in line with average earnings.However, the Conservative Government froze the repayment threshold at £21,000 during 2016 and 2017.Mr Streeting said at the time: “We told students that the repayment threshold would go up in line with earnings from April 2017; that is what we were told by Ministers at the time. “That is what students, teachers, parents, family members and advisers were also led to believe.”Following campaigning pressure, including from consumer finance campaigner Martin Lewis, the threshold was increased in 2018, although it has been frozen several times since.The Labour Government has now announced plans to freeze the threshold again. Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in the most recent Budget that it will remain fixed between 2027 and 2030.Mr Streeting warned in 2016 that “future governments can come along and retrospectively change the system to suit the Treasury”.Defending the new freeze, Ms Reeves described the decision as “fair and reasonable”, arguing that additional revenue was needed to fund public services.“To be able to bring down NHS waiting lists… does require putting money in,” she said.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSKeir Starmer told to ramp up attacks on Reform rather than ‘collaborative’ rival as PM left on brinkLabour’s petrol and diesel ban ‘out of step with reality’ as electric car market shows strainEducation leaders issue major plea to Keir Starmer over ‘authoritarian’ social media banToby Whelton, of the Intergenerational Foundation, said: “Wes Streeting’s comments expose the hypocrisy at the heart of the Government’s student loan policy and the gaslighting of a generation of graduates.”He said Mr Streeting’s warning about governments changing loan rules to increase revenue had “proved prescient”, calling the situation a “bitter irony”.Oliver Gardner, from the Rethink Repayment campaign, said: “This highlights exactly why so many young people feel angry and fed up about student loans.”He said Mr Streeting had been right to argue that retrospective changes would be “unfair” and “destroy trust”, adding that graduates were seeing “the same thing happen again at a time when a cost of living crisis is leaving many young people already struggling.”Analysis suggests some graduates could face significantly higher lifetime repayments.The i paper reported that the combined effect of retrospective policy changes means some graduates may repay up to £14,000 more than originally expected.Mr Lewis said last week that the planned threshold freeze was not “moral”.Mr Streeting warned in 2016 that graduates would “end up paying more each month and thousands of pounds more over the 30‑year lifetime of their loans” if thresholds were frozen. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter

Watch the moment a GB News star furiously slapped down a Labour MP after she insisted Sir Keir Starmer’s integrity was still intact – despite boiling backlash over the Lord Mandelson scandal.Joining GB News this morning, the MP for Hyndburn discussed the impact of the blazing fiasco dividing up her party between staunch defendants of the PM and those calling for a new leader.On the People’s Channel, Ms Smith insisted Sir Keir should not resign, breaking from the ranks of many of her fellow MPs who have demanded the resignation of either their party boss or his Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney.But earlier this week, a Welsh Labour MP told the BBC: “Starmer has to go – do the decent thing. Angela Rayner is probably leading a revolt but she is not the solution.” TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say So far, John McDonnell, Clive Lewis, Rachael Maskell, Nadia Whittome and Neil Duncan-Jordan are leading the charge, explicitly calling for Sir Keir to step down.The former Deputy Prime Minister is rumoured to be ramping up a leadership bid while many accuse Sir Keir and his top team of circling the drain in Downing Street.The MP added: “I think other stories that are circulating are incredibly unhelpful. We’ve got to be really, really clear in terms of care and his leadership and what led him to take this decision.”But fundamentally, what’s important here is that Keir has apologised. I don’t think there’ll be many people more angry than him with how Manderson has conducted himself.”She further said journalists were “desperate” to find those looking to oppose Sir Keir, saying: “That’s just not what I’ve heard.”On GB News, the Hyndburn MP hit out at Lord Mandelson’s “fundamental betrayal of the party and country” adding his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was “abhorrent beyond words”. But when the MP tried to shift the focus onto other matters of the day because she no longer wanted to discussed the scandal swallowing up her party, Anne Diamond unleashed a furious rant before Ms Smith.The GB News presenter interjected: “But it’s your leader. Excuse me.LABOUR LATEST:Keir Starmer told to ramp up attacks on Reform rather than ‘collaborative’ rival as PM left on brinkLabour’s petrol and diesel ban ‘out of step with reality’ as electric car market shows strainAngela Rayner told Keir Starmer ‘not to appoint Lord Mandelson’, allies claim”It is your leader and the Prime Minister who created this crisis by appointing Peter Mandelson, when everybody else seemed to know he was a dodgy character and shouldn’t have been appointed.”You can’t blame journalists. You can’t blame the press. You can’t blame people wanting to talk about this now because we want to know why Lord Mandelson was appointed.Ms Smith pointed out: “But I think what’s really interesting is that you weren’t pushing this degree of the story when he was appointed.”The information that was available was far more limited at that time. And the Tories, the Conservatives, the Opposition are exactly the same in their sort of propositions now.”Where were they shouting so loudly about the clarity of this case when the appointment was made? The truth is, everybody makes an error of judgement.”She continued: “What I know at this point and what I know of Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, is that he took on this job of turning our country around when everything we looked at was in dire, dire straits, whether it was the NHS, the state of our roads.”That is not what I hear time and time again when I’m speaking to my constituency. I’ve had people write to me in support of Keir in recent days who also feel that what the country really needs is stability.”We got into this habit of new Prime Minister after new Prime Minister because we had utter chaos.”Ms Smith then pivoted to share sympathy for MPs who became politicians because they care for their communities.She told Stephen and Anne: “We want to make a difference to our country, and we believe that we can make things better.”Then we get tarnished by this same brush, by these types of stories, because our political system and the challenges of the current context far too often drive the wrong type of people to seek that leadership.”But do I think Keir Starmer is aligned with the likes of Boris Johnson or Liz Truss or Nigel Farage? No, I do not.”And I do not think many people doubt his integrity, the type of leadership he offers and why he came into this job.”Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter

London and the South-East now shoulder 45 per cent of Britain’s total income tax burden, contributing £240.7billion of receipts nationally, it has been revealed.One of the most notable findings shows the London borough of Wandsworth alone paid £4.26billion in income tax during the 2022-2023 tax year.This single borough contributed more than the combined total of Leeds and Birmingham – two of Britain’s largest cities – which together paid £4.23billion.Accountancy firm HY Hacker Young ’s research highlights major regional differences in how income tax contributions are distributed across the UK. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say London on its own now accounts for 26.5 per cent of all income tax collected across the UK, according to the research findings.All of the top 20 areas ranked by highest tax paid per person are located in either London or the South-East.Income tax receipts generated in London have increased significantly over the past decade, rising 80.7 per cent from £35.3billion to £63.8billion.Across the rest of the UK, income tax receipts increased by 48.4 per cent over the same period.Several tax policy changes have contributed to the widening gap between London, the South-East and other regions.In April 2023, the Government lowered the additional rate tax threshold from £150,000 to £125,140, moving more taxpayers into the 45 per cent band.At the same time, personal allowances and higher rate thresholds have remained frozen for several years.This process, often referred to as fiscal drag, increases the number of taxpayers paying higher rates of tax as wages rise over time.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSRachel Reeves’s record 7.9% public sector wages rises led to flat productivity growthState pensioners born in these years can cut their TV licence bill to £0Households issued £300 to spend on food shop in latest cost of living support packageThe South-East has remained one of the largest contributors to Treasury income tax revenues throughout the past 10 years.Neela Chauhan, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said: “London and the South-East now account for almost half of the UK’s entire income tax take.”She added: “Obviously, that reflects the sheer concentration of high earners in the South-East but it also reflects years of tax policy geared towards shifting more of the tax burden onto higher earners.”The regional differences extend beyond central London and the capital’s highest earning areas.Hackney contributed £1.54billion in income tax, according to the research.This total exceeded the City of Glasgow’s total income tax contribution of £1.35billion.Ms Chauhan said: “Freezing allowances and reducing the additional rate threshold has pulled ever more taxpayers into higher bands, driving a sharp rise in revenues from London in particular up more than 80 per cent over the past decade.”While this underlines how dependent the Exchequer has become on London and the South-East, it also raises concerns about the long term competitiveness of the UK tax system and the risk that persistently higher tax burdens could push some high earners to relocate abroad or reduce their economic activity.”Anecdotal evidence suggests that this is happening and that the shift of taxes onto the higher earners has got to the point that it is detrimental for the UK economy.” Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter

Keir Starmer was “too slow” to address the Lord Mandelson scandal and Labour “must clean up or pay a heavy price”, Gordon Brown has warned. The former Prime Minister’s rare intervention comes as the peer was placed under investigation for his links to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Among the accusations are that Lord Mandelson leaked market-sensitive No10 documents to Epstein during the 2008 financial crisis, while serving as Buisness Secretary in Mr Brown’s cabinet. On Friday night, police raided Lord Mandelson’s homes in Camden and Wiltshire as part of an inquiry into alleged misconduct in public office. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Mr Brown admitted he regretted appointing Lord Mandelson in 2008, describing the alleged leaking of commercially sensitive material as “a betrayal of everything we stand for as a country” and “a financial crime”. He said: “I have to take personal responsibility for appointing Mandelson to his ministerial role in 2008. I greatly regret this appointment.”While insisting Sir Keir is “a man of integrity” who “wants to do the right things”, Mr Brown suggested he had acted too slowly in the matter.“Perhaps he’s been too slow to do the right thing. But he must do the right things now,” he said, urging the Prime Minister to act decisively. Mr Brown did provide some comfort for the embattled Sir Keir, defending his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.“Keir Starmer was misled, and he was betrayed. “There is a systematic failure to do proper vetting,” he wrote in The Guardian, demanding sweeping reforms. The former Prime Minister called for an anti-corruption tsar and a ban on most second jobs for MPs, warning: “There has been a system failure and we’ve got to rectify it.”LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:Britain sends fighter jets to RAF bases in Cyprus amid fears of US attack on IranFormer Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman dies aged 72 following cancer battleKeir Starmer told to ramp up attacks on Reform rather than ‘collaborative’ rival as PM left on brinkThe Metropolitan Police formally launched its criminal investigation into allegations about Lord Mandelson on February 3.On Friday, officers were spotted outside his £7.6million Regent’s Park property. A second search took place at another property connected to Lord Mandelson in Wiltshire.On Saturday morning, Scotland Yard confirmed its investigation into Lord Mandelson will be “complex” and require “a significant amount of further evidence gathering and analysis” following the raids.Deputy Assistant Commissioner Hayley Sewart, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “I can confirm that officers from the Met’s Central Specialist Crime team have carried out searches at two addresses, one in the Wiltshire area, and another in the Camden area. “The searches were related to an ongoing investigation into misconduct in public office offences, involving a 72-year-old man.“He has not been arrested, and enquiries are ongoing. This will be a complex investigation requiring a significant amount of further evidence gathering and analysis. “It will take some time to do this work comprehensively, and we will not be providing a running commentary.”Sir Keir, who accused his one-time ally of being a “liar” and accusing him of “betrayal” earlier this week, is under increasing pressure after appointing Lord Mandelson as the UK’s Ambassador to the US.He was forced to sack the peer from the role in September last year following fresh revelations about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein.Speaking in Hastings on Thursday, the Prime Minister said: “The victims of Epstein have lived with trauma that most of us could barely comprehend, and they have to relive it again and again. “They have seen accountability delayed and too often denied to them.“I want to say this. I am sorry–sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed, sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him, and sorry that even now you’re forced to watch this story unfold in public once again.”Lord Mandelson has previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Jeffrey Epstein.He stated: “I was never culpable or complicit in his crime. Like everyone else, I learned the actual truth about him after his death.”The peer said he had “relied on assurances of his innocence that turned out later to be horrendously false”. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter