It may sound silly, but physicians say farting on the street following a meal can help to improve long-term health.
“Crop dusting” the patio, avenue or boardwalk can improve intestinal function, according to Dr. Tim Tiutan, an internal medicine physician at New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
“Walking after meals does promote intestinal motility,” he explained in an Instagram Reel, “or movement of our intestines to get rid of gas and prevent constipation.”
Tiutan said that walking can help to prevent blood sugar spikes, regulate the hormone insulin better and lower the risk of cancer.
“I totally support fart walks,” he said.
So, why do “fart walks” help?
It helps stimulate the bowels
Flatulence is caused by the digestive process and the food that we eat. While the body naturally works to move stool through its intestines, exercise can aid that process.
“The bowel does move well on its own, but it moves better when you move,” Dr. Christopher Damman, a gastroenterologist at the Digestive Health Center at University of Washington Medical Center, said in a statement.
“Moving your body will help stimulate and open up your bowels,” he noted. “Whether or not you’d rather pass the gas while you’re outdoors or inside or exercising or not, that is your prerogative.”
After a meal, diners’ blood sugar levels rise immediately, as sugars from the food enter the bloodstream. If they’ve skipped breakfast, that can also increase blood sugar after lunch and dinner.
While the body normally uses insulin to moderate blood sugar, high blood sugar — also known as hyperglycemia — can occur when the body does not produce enough insulin or respond to insulin correctly. The condition can lead to serious complications if its not treated, including eye damage, kidney problems and heart disease, according to Yale Medicine.
Damman noted that previous studies have suggested exercising immediately after meals can be “disproportionately beneficial to regulating blood sugar levels.”
“Some studies have suggested even just five minutes of getting your heart rate up — going for a stroll around the neighborhood, doing some jumping jacks — is sufficient to blunt the post-meal spike in blood sugar levels,” he said.
Although, people should not exercise to levels of discomfort.
It may help stave off diabetes
High blood sugar often affects people who have diabetes. The chronic disease reduces insulin’s effects on the body and people with type 2 diabetes may be resistant to insulin or not able to make enough to keep a normal blood sugar level, according to the Mayo Clinic.
People who are 45 or older, are overweight or obese, have a parent or sibling with type 2, are physically active fewer than three times week, and certain groups are at risk for both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Exercise of any kind can lower that risk. Although, when people do it is crucial, according to Damman. It’s important to fart walk within an hour of a meal.
“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,” he said.
It could reduce your risk of cancer
Lastly, getting enough exercise lowers peoples’ risk of multiple types of cancer. Most adults can meet recommended levels by walking 30 minutes a day at a rate of three miles per hour.
“Going for a walk at an average to brisk pace can provide people with a tremendous health benefit. It’s free, easy, and can be done anywhere,” Dr. Alpa Patel, of American Cancer Society, said.
“You get more bang for the buck if you walk after meals,” Loretta DiPietro, a professor of exercise and nutrition science at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, told NPR.
