Hydrogen sulfide is toxic in large doses but in tiny amounts it helps protect cells and fight illness, according to researchers at Exeter University.
The smell of flatulence has secret health benefits that could help stave off cancer, strokes, heart attacks and dementia, scientists have revealed.
Hydrogen sulfide is one of a number of potent smelly gases produced by bacteria as it breaks down food in the gut.
It is toxic in large doses but in tiny amounts it helps protect cells and fight illness, according to researchers at Exeter University.
When cells become stressed by disease they try to draw in enzymes to generate their own minute quantities of hydrogen sulfide.
The chemical helps to preserve mitochondria, which drive energy production in blood vessel cells and regulate inflammation, and without it the cell can switch off and die.
Researchers have come up with a new compound named…