“Going on a fart walk after dinner is something that’s going to help you age wonderfully,” said cookbook author Marilyn Smith in a TikTok video from last year. She coined the term “fart walk” and it has since shown up in headlines and on social media.
Today, many Americans are settling in for what might be the biggest dinner of the year. A feast traditionally filled with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans, macaroni and cheese, pumpkin pie and more.
Should more people be heading out into their neighborhoods to crunch leaves under their boots and do a little tooting? Smith certainly thinks so, and other experts agree. USA Today reported on the “fart walk” trend this week ahead of the holiday, citing Smith and other sources.
“In Italy, it’s called la passeggiata, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, and in China, an old proverb advises: ‘If you take 100 steps after each meal, you’ll live to 99,’” said the outlet.
Smith said she and her husband usually take fart walks after dinner regularly for around 20 minutes about an hour after they finish their meal. She explained that they have a diet high in fiber and they tend to fart when they walk, hence the giggle-inducing name.
Fart walks don’t have to be long – Smith said they can be as short as two minutes, done at a moderate pace. She said that walking helps maintain blood sugar and thus reduces the chances of developing Type 2 diabetes.
“So, sign yourself up for fart walks,” she laughed. To really reduce the risk, those interested should consider making an after-meal walk a regular habit.
Dr. Christopher Damman, a gastroenterologist at the Digestive Health Center at UW Medical Center – Montlake and an associate professor of Gastroenterology and Medicine in the UW School of Medicine, added that activity helps the bowel move. That can help mitigate bloating and acid reflux after a big meal like Thanksgiving dinner.
“Moving your body will help stimulate and open up your bowels,” he said. "Whether or not you’d rather pass the gas while you’re outdoors or inside or exercising or not, that is your prerogative.”
He said that people should head out for their post-meal fart walk within 90 minutes of finishing.
“When you do the exercise is critical,” said Damman. “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.”
Dr. Trisha Pasricha also touted the benefits on getting active on Thanksgiving Day in a recent interview with Vox.
“Any form of exercise primes the gastrointestinal (GI) system. You’re going to get things moving,” she said. She added that, while going into turkey-coma mode right after polishing off the last helping of marshmallow-smothered sweet potatoes might seem alluring, it’s best to wait to lie down.
If a walk out in the brisk November air doesn’t seem worth leaving a cozy living room with football on the TV, Pasricha said that sitting up straight can also help “expel gas more efficiently.” However, a “fart walk” to the bathroom might be a polite move if other people are also posted up on the couch.