Don’t hold back on those beans: Hydrogen sulfide is good for you.
Credit: Cassandra Garrison/METRO
Maybe you sit next to someone at work who won’t stop going to town on lentil soup. Perhaps you have a partner who insists on eating ice cream in spite of his lactose intolerance. Or maybe you have a particularly flatulent child who doesn’t understand the boundaries of passing gas around other people.
Stop getting angry; a “thank you” is in order for your gassy compatriots because they have been providing you with plenty of free hydrogen sulfide.
A new study from the University of Exeter has found that hydrogen sulfide, which is found in rotten eggs and farts, can help prevent cancer.
Dr. Mark Wood of Biosciences, at the University of Exeter in the U.K., said, “Although hydrogen sulfide is well known as a pungent, foul-smelling gas in rotten eggs and flatulence, it is naturally produced in the body and could in fact be a healthcare hero with significant implications for future therapies for a variety of diseases.”
Scientists at Exeter University have designed a compound, AP39, that is a type of hydrogen sulfide. When the compound is delivered to key places inside stressed cells, it can allow these cells to stay alive, even under highly destructive conditions. They are working on bringing the AP39 therapy to humans. Count us out!
