The humble after-dinner walk has a new name, thanks to a TikToker (mairlynthequeenoffiber) who spoke frankly to the camera about how taking a “fart walk” will help you “age wonderfully.” Her voiceover has been added to dozens of videos, some funny, some sincere. But most importantly: the fart walk really is a health hack, so maybe you should try it—whether you call it that or not.
A fart walk is a walk that you take after a meal. It gets its name for the obvious reason: after a meal, your intestines start moving things around, which can sometimes feel like an uncomfortable level of bloating. But exercise like walking helps to relieve that feeling, while also bringing some benefits to your metabolic health, and adding to your daily and weekly exercise quota.
Exercise does seem to help relieve bloating. That’s been anecdotally known for a long time, but to really prove that point, researchers infused gas into people’s intestines(!) and then had them lie on their backs, pedaling their legs bicycle style. This pedaling helped to relieve the bloating when compared to just resting. They concluded: “Mild physical activity enhances intestinal gas clearance and reduces symptoms in patients complaining of abdominal bloating.”
After we eat, our digestive system releases glucose (blood sugar) into our bloodstream. That’s normal and good, and the hormone insulin is then supposed to signal the cells of our body to store and use that blood sugar. Exercise helps with glucose control, and so all types of exercise—from walking to weight training—have long been recommended to prevent diabetes and manage symptoms if you already have it.
Exercise after meals might be especially helpful. A 2018 systematic review found that after-meal exercise helped people with type 2 diabetes improve their glucose control. The authors concluded with a recommendation that people with this condition try to get at least 45 minutes of moderate intensity exercise (like walking) after their largest meal of the day.
That said, the literature is not totally clear on whether exercise really needs to be after a meal to be beneficial, though. The authors of a 2017 study on exercise timing and glucose control concluded that it’s better to get little bits of exercise throughout the day rather than to exercise just once, whether that’s after a meal or otherwise.
Besides the benefits to gut health and metabolism, you may just find that you enjoy taking a walk after dinner. A 30-minute walk, at least five times a week, fulfills the minimum exercise guidelines that we should all be meeting (but don’t forget to do a little strength training on the side).
Or to look at it another way, when you take a walk in the evening, you’re engaging in an Italian tradition called la passeggiata. As Becca Lewis writes there, “it’s about taking the time to enjoy some quiet time with your own mind (if you're walking alone), and to connect with others (if you're walking with a partner or a group). It's not a brisk walk for the purpose of raising your heart rate, but about taking in the sights, and maybe stopping to enjoy a beverage.” You don’t even have to tell anyone that you think of it as your fart walk.
