How to Make Farts Smell Better: Peppermint Oil for Stinky Gas

Peppermint essential oil is derived from the Mentha Piperita plant. Its leaves are collected, dried and steam distilled to extract the volatile oils.

Medicinally it has a beneficial effect on digestive function and gastrointestinal health. It also helps relieve intestinal pains and bloating, as well as being an effective remedy for stinky gas.

When you take peppermint oil, even if you do fart it will usually smell better. That’s because a small amount of the oil passes all the way through your digestive tract.

Even at trace levels, this essential oil is so strong it can mask the compounds that cause flatulence to smell like rotten eggs (primarily hydrogen sulfide).

If you are having problems with belly bloat, stomach cramps and bad smelling gas, then taking a capsule of peppermint oil can really help. Here’s how it works, when to take it and potential side effects to be aware of.

How Peppermint Oil Aids Digestion

Being a relaxant and antispasmodic for the gastrointestinal tract, peppermint oil can help stomach gas to pass through your system more easily and reduce painful cramps and bloating.

The volatile oil menthol found in peppermint increases the flow of bile and other digestive juices to aid food breakdown and absorption. Whenever digestion is improved bloating, gassiness and other intestinal problems are also reduced. 

Natural Stress Reduction

In an area related to digestive function, all forms of peppermint help to reduce stress and tension. Scientists don’t fully understand exactly why, but you can try it and feel it for yourself.

Aside from taking the capsules, many people enjoy drinking peppermint tea. The undiluted essential oil can also be added to a hot bath or used in aromatherapy.

Peppermint oil is refreshing and imparts a sense of mental clarity and energy while lowering cortisol production and relieving fatigue. Try a couple of drops in an oil burner and see if you are able to remain stressed after breathing it in for a while.

Improves Your Intestinal Environment

Peppermint oil has strong antimicrobial activity that can help swing the balance of intestinal flora back in favor of the ‘good’ gut bacteria when you take it regularly.

These beneficial bacteria are generally less gas-producing, so taking steps to make your intestinal environment more favorable to them will reduce excessive gassiness over time.

As a bonus, even if you do get some gas, taking peppermint oil capsules will make farts smell better anyway. Peppermint smelling flatulence! That’s got to be better than farts that smells like rotten eggs.

The Benefits of Enteric-Coated Capsules

If you are using peppermint oil specifically for abdominal bloating, intestinal gas and preventing flatulence, then the enteric-coated capsules are the ones to get.

These capsules have a special coating that lets them bypass the acidic environment of the stomach. Instead, the oil gets released lower in the gastrointestinal tract. This is where it can do the most good in helping to prevent digestive problems.

Research studies have shown that enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules can reduce abdominal pain and cramps, bloating and flatulence in up to 80% of people with IBS.

How and When to Take It for Best Results

You don’t have to have IBS to benefit from taking peppermint oil. While some people take the capsules with food or just after eating, I find they work best when taken just before a meal with a large glass of water.

Particularly if they’re enteric-coated, this lets the capsules get down to where they need to be more quickly, without digesting food in the way. It’s also better to not drink heavily during a meal so before eating is the ideal timing.

Recommended Dosage

To prevent bloating, stinky gas and other digestion problems with peppermint oil, take 1 enteric-coated capsule right before a main meal with a large glass of water.

Start slowly and try it just once a day first, ideally before dinner for the first few days to see how well you tolerated them.

For many people, just one dose of the oil before their evening meal is enough for beneficial effects on their digestive function.

In cases of very bad smelling gas, or heavy bloating and intestinal cramps, up to 3 capsules a day can be used, each time before a main meal with a glass of water. Do not exceed this dosage and reduce frequency as symptoms improve.

Potential Side Effects of  Peppermint Oil

While it can be useful in the treatment of indigestion and IBS, people with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) should avoid peppermint oil and other forms of the herb as its relaxant effect may increase their symptoms.

Pregnant women, very young children, and people with heart conditions or ulcers are also advised to avoid taking it. Consult your GP if you have any concerns with using peppermint for flatulence.

There has been some research, primarily with rats, that suggests too much peppermint may affect levels of testosterone. Looking into this research, the amounts you’d need to take would be quite large. Regularly drinking say a dozen cups of peppermint tea a day for example.

That said, peppermint does have a definite physiological effect. You don’t need a lot of it to feel it. Given this, there is no need to take large amounts. It seems best to err on the side of caution by starting off slowly and only using it when it’s really needed.

It’s also recommended to take regular breaks of at least a week off from time to time when using any natural remedy like peppermint essential oil. This helps to maintain its effectiveness and reduce the risk of negative side effects.

Make Farts Smell Better

Taking peppermint oil capsules is a simple way to improve digestive function, reduce belly bloat and excessive flatulence, and even make farts smell better. It works right from the first day you take it.

Another more enjoyable way to include this herb in your diet is the subject of the next article — drinking peppermint tea.

Intestinal soothing fennel tea and acid reflux calming ginger tea are also effective alternatives for gas and bloating. Though for sheer potency and its ability to make farts smell better, peppermint oil is hard to beat.