You know that you’ve reached a level of intimacy with someone when you can fart in front of them and they no longer get majorly pissed off about it, but instead just make a face and give you a playful punch. But I don’t think any of us realised that by farting in front of our partners and making them smell them might actually be beneficial.

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Researchers from the University of Exeter have determined that smelling your partner’s farts do indeed have health benefits though, thanks to the hydrogen sulphide contained within them. Apparently inhaling this can reduce the risk of various life threatening illnesses like cancer, heart attacks and strokes, as well as preventing arthritis and dementia in old age and helping to preserve mitochondria, which drives energy production in blood vessel cells and regulates inflammation.

Professor Matt Whiteman, from the University of Exeter’s medical school, said the following:

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When cells become stressed by disease, they draw in enzymes to generate minute quantities of hydrogen sulfide.

This keeps the mitochondria ticking over and allows cells to live. If this doesn’t happen, the cells die and lose the ability to regulate survival and control inflammation.

We have exploited this natural process by making a compound, called AP39, which slowly delivers very small amounts of this gas specifically to the mitochondria.

Our results indicate that if stressed cells are treated with AP39, mitochondria are protected and cells stay alive.

Of course, most of us aren’t going to be able to get our hands on AP39, so the next best thing is to inhale all the hydrogen sulphide that you can i.e. anyone’s farts to who you happen to be in close proximity. Normally that’s more often than not going to be your partner so next time you feel the need to fart, just let it out and let them know it’s for their own good. The perfect plan.

For more farts, check out the most disgusting female fart in history. That’s OK though because it’s beneficial.