In a study published in Nature Microbiology, researchers from Monash University and Hudson Institute of Medical Research led an international team that analyzed how microbes control hydrogen levels in the gut.

Hydrogen gas is naturally produced in the gut when bacteria ferment undigested carbohydrates from our diets. Some of this gas is exhaled, much is recycled by other gut bacteria, and the rest exits the body as flatulence.

First author Dr. Caitlin Welsh, who was co-hosted by Monash University and Hudson Institute of Medical Research, said the results revealed hydrogen had an even bigger role in gut function than previously thought.