Gut health and GutTok is all the rage, and if you’re already maxed out on probiotics and stocked up on kombucha, it might be time to start fart walking.
Tooting, passing gas, or letting one rip on your walk after meals could improve digestion and intestinal function.
Before you decide to break wind on your stroll, it’s worth asking what is fart walking, how to fart walk, and what the benefits really are.
What is fart walking?
Fart walking is not necessarily deliberately passing wind in public spaces, thankfully.
Rather, fart walking is going on a walk after your meal to promote intestinal function and to keep things moving in your digestive system.
Whether you decide to pass wind or not is up to you. But it is likely that going on a walk after your meal will encourage some flatulence.
It was a term first coined by Mairlyn Smith, a 70-year old cookbook author, who encourages high fibre diets and walking after dinner to pass gas as holy-grail gut health practices.
@mairlynthequeenoffibre The #fartwalk lady is me. I’m mostly on instagram as Mairlyn Smith so I didn’t know i was that cool over here 😂 #fartwalk #fartwalker #farts #hearthealthy #guthealthy #diabetesawareness #agingwell #aging
♬ original sound - mairlynthequeenoffibre
Smith is not the first expert to prescribe fart walking. In Italian and Chinese cultures, it is a custom to go on a walk after meals.
But what are the benefits of fart walking?
The process of walking after a meal can promote movement in the gut and keep everything moving smoothly through the digestive tract.
“The bowel does move well on its own, but it moves better when you move,” said Dr Christopher Damman, a gastroenterologist at the Digestive Health Center at the University of Washington Medical Center.
In an Instagram reel, Dr Tim Tiutan, an internal medicine physician at New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, explained that walking after meals promotes “intestinal mobility” to excrete gas and prevent constipation.
But can it prevent or aid diabetes?
Diabetes is a condition caused when the body’s blood sugar levels are too high; either because the body is not producing enough insulin, or because the body is not using insulin correctly.
The condition can have serious implications such as nerve damage, kidney failure, and heart disease if not managed properly.
It seems a stretch to therefore suggest that a couple of toots after meals could be the cure.
However, Dr Damman says that going on a walk or exercising after a meal is extremely beneficial to regulating these blood sugar spikes.
He says, “Some studies have suggested even just five minutes of getting your heart rate up – going for a stroll around the neighbourhood, doing some jumping jacks – is sufficient to blunt the post-meal spike in blood sugar levels.”
Dr Tiutan adds that walking in general does the body good by preventing blood sugar spikes, regulating insulin, and lowering the risk of cancer.
But, going on a walk after a meal is particularly beneficial, as blood sugar levels rise immediately after eating food. If you are a breakfast dodger, sugar levels are more likely to spike after lunch and dinner.
Some have even suggested that fart walking can reduce your risk of cancer. Walking in general, at a brisk pace, can provide tremendous benefits, said Dr Alpa Patel of the American Cancer Society.
How do you fart walk?
You don’t need to be taught to release gas, surely.
However, to get the maximum benefit from walking after meals, fart-walking enthusiasts should aim to fart within an hour of eating.
“If you wait too long, you’ll miss the spike because it starts going up within minutes after you eat when the stomach starts to empty into the small intestine where all of the nutrients, including glucose, get absorbed into the blood,” said Damman.
There’s no real guideline on how long a fart walk should be, but a 15-minute walk after a meal ought to get things moving.
You should also pay attention to what you eat in general. Preventing blood spikes starts with what is on your plate.
Eating foods rich in fiber and low in UPF will prevent blood spikes. Foods high in fiber and phytonutrients are also more likely to produce a lot of gas…think beans, brussels sprouts, cruciferous veg. This makes fart walks even more crucial.
Are there any downsides to fart walks?
It is not unheard of to experience discomfort when walking or exercising after a big meal.
A calm, moderate pace will suffice when it comes to fart walking. Smaller meals could also help to ensure that any feelings of nausea are put to bed.
Still too much? Fart yoga is another option, as is fart squatting, fart marching, or fart lunging. Regardless, calm and moderate exercise will help to get the gastrointestinal tract in gear.
Where do farts actually come from?
On the topic of farts, what actually are they and where does flatulence come from?
Foods high in fibre containing indigestible carbohydrates, such as cruciferous vegetables which contain inulin, stay in the gut. Their bacteria induces fermentation, which produces gas as a by-product. And, there you have a fart.
Fizzy drinks and gulping down air when you eat too quickly are also contributors to gas in the intestinal tract.
That said, excessive gas is usually a cause for concern and those suffering should seek out medical advice.
It’s your prerogative whether you fart on Clapham Common or toot in Regents’ Park. But the health benefits might be worth any possible embarrassment.
