What happens when you hold in a fart? According to research, it could be exhaled through your breath.

Clare Collins is a professor in nutrition and dietetics at the University of Newcastle, in Australia.

Her research examines nutrition and dietary intake and how this relates to changes in diet quality, food patterns, weight and health across all ages and stages of life, particularly using technology, according to WLWT.

According to her essay written on The Conversation, Collins explains that gas can be absorbed into the bloodstream. And with nowhere else to go, it could eventually escape through the mouth.

“Trying to hold it in leads to a buildup of pressure and major discomfort.

“A build up of intestinal gas can trigger abdominal distension, with some gas reabsorbed into the circulation and exhaled in your breath. Holding on too long means the buildup of intestinal gas will eventually escape via an uncontrollable fart.

“The research is not clear on whether the rise in pressure in your rectum increases your chance of developing a condition called diverticulitis, where small pouches develop in the gut lining and become inflamed – or whether it doesn’t matter at all.”

So what should you do if the urge to pass gas arises?

“The next time you feel a large volume of intestinal gas getting ready to do what it does, try to move to a more convenient location,” Collins writes. “Whether you make it there or not, the best thing for your digestive health is to just let it go.”