Imagine you’ve gone on a first date, but suddenly you feel the need to… vent. What will you do??? What happens to the organization if you decide that the time is not right for such an act?

According to livescience.com, the average person releases about 0.5 to 1.5 liters of gas per day. Most of these gases are odorless, but you rarely run the risk of these gases leaving the body because you are either at work or out with friends somewhere.

The gas it is a natural by-product of digestion and its retention may cause discomfort, bloating and even nausea. But according to Dr. Ellen Stein, a gastroenterologist at RWJ Barnabas Health in New Jersey and a spokesperson for the American Gastroenterological Association, the body has other ways to handle this gas build-up.

“There are a lot of different changes and cycles that happen with the bacteria that are in our gut and help us digest them,” he told Live Science. “The good news is that we have a process for all of this, the bad news is that these gases absolutely have to come out.”

From the moment you consume even one bite of food, your body begins to break down those foods. For example, teeth mechanically mashes food and saliva breaks it down chemically. As food travels down the digestive tract, it is further broken down in the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine. The microbes in the gut help break down food into its most basic building blocks. These building blocks can then be absorbed into the bloodstream and delivered throughout the body as energy.

But not all foods can be broken down by the body, especially if the body cannot completely break down certain substances. For example, people with lactose intolerance do not produce enough of the enzyme lactase in the small intestine, so lactose remains and ferments in the digestive system, causing symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea and excessive gas.

However, gas builds up even in normal digestion. According to the American Society for Microbiology, hydrogen sulfide (which is also what makes our gas smell weird) is produced by friendly bacteria in the gut that break down proteins. Further down the digestive tract, carbohydrates are broken down in the large intestine and the byproducts of hydrogen and methane add to the gas that builds up in the body. Even oxygen and carbon dioxide can be present in the gut, taken up when a person swallows food, Stein says.

Gases are natural ways in which the body handles this excess gas. But before this gas is released, it hits the anal sphincter. “This is the last stop: the control center … that tells you when to release a gas,” Dr. Stein explained.

The external anal sphincter is the only part of the digestive process that we have conscious control over. So if we decide it’s not the right time for the gas to pass, we tighten the sphincter and the gas gets trapped and retreats. But primarily, the body tries to release them. So the gases that are… ignored during the day are mostly released when we use the toilet or when the body relaxes like during sleep at night.

While there’s always a time and place to release gas, Stein says holding it in all the time can be bad for your gut over time. Small pockets called diverticula can form in the colon from the stress of constant bloating and can become harmful if they become infected.