Nobody likes to think about passing gas, but it’s an unfortunate aspect of life that we all need to deal with.

Statistics say that the average human being passes gas 14 times a day, and sometimes you don’t even notice that you’re about to fart! While it isn’t pleasant, passing gas is necessary to release the air in your digestive system before it builds up.

Though it’s an important process, passing gas can be embarrassing in public, which is why so many people hold their gas in. However, experts have just issued a warning that will make you think twice before you ever hold a fart in again.

Experts say that if you hold in a fart, there is a good chance that it could end up coming out of your mouth!

Clare Collins, a professor in nutrition and dietetics at the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom, said that people should pass gas whenever they feel the need to. The professor explained that the build up of pressure and major discomfort you feel when you need to pass gas is a sign that you need to find a way to let it out as soon as possible.

Gastroenterologist Dr. Satish S.C. Rao agreed that it is important to let the gas out before it turns into a “fart-burp.”

“If you’ve eaten a carbohydrate-rich meal, this will be fermented in the small intestine [the section immediately connected to the stomach, which leads to the large intestine],” Rao said. “You’ll belch this gas out. When you do this, this fermented gas is going to smell like fermented gas.”

That’s why you need to break wind whenever you feel the need to because it’s actually better for your health!