The next time someone lets one rip around you, make sure you thank them.

Researchers at the University of Exeter in England have found that smelling someone's bad gas, even your own, might help prevent heart damage, strokes, diabetes, dementia, cancer and cure baldness. Okay, I lied about the baldness part, but everything else is supposed to be true.

Hydrogen Sulfide, one of the chemicals in flatulence, the one that makes it smell bad can peel the paint of your walls and be toxic in large doses. But in smaller amounts it can actually be good for you. It helps preserve mitochondria, which are parts of your cells that help keep them alive and functioning properly. If they fail, all sorts of things go wrong with your body. But hydrogen sulfide prevents that from happening.

Researchers are currently testing a new compound called AP39; this compound supposedly will help your body deliver just the right amount of hydrogen sulfide to your cells. The bad news, it looks like it will be a while before you can buy it.

So until then, I guess you'll just have to load up on Chalupa's.

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