How I Learned to Love "Fart Walks," TikTok's Wellness Latest Trend

Constitutionals. La passeggiata (literally "the stroll" in Italian). Postprandial walks.

A fart walk by any other name would smell as sweet. The #fartwalk hashtag may be rising in popularity on social media, but the practice of taking a post-meal stroll has been around for centuries and has gone by many names.

So, what is a "fart walk," exactly? As the name suggests, this is a walk you take after dinner to relieve gas and bloating. The term was popularized in early 2024 by Mairlyn Smith, a 70-year-old cookbook author who described the ritual in an Instagram post. "Going for a 'fart walk' after dinner is something that's going to help you age wonderfully," Smith explains in the video. "It's the little healthy habits we practice every day that can have the biggest impact on our long-term health."

The #fartwalk hashtag has since spawned hundreds of videos and earned millions of views on TikTok. Proponents claim the practice of taking a walk after a meal can unlock a host of benefits, including stress relief, better nutrition absorption, and even improved skin health.

Social media is notorious for propagating wellness trends backed by dubious science. So how does the fart walk stack up? To find out, I tested it out for myself and asked a handful of experts about its benefits.

Experts Featured In This Article

Richa Mittal, MD, is a physician and Diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine.

Christopher J. Damman, MD, is a gastroenterologist at the University of Washington.

Austin Perlmutter, MD, is a physician, brain health researcher, and the senior advisor for the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine.

My Daily Fart Walk Experience

Here's a controversial (and slightly ridiculous) statement for someone who writes about health and fitness for a living: I don't like walking. Sign me up for a HIIT-pilates fusion class or power yoga session any day. Walking, on the other hand, is boring. It barely gets your heart rate up. In terms of physical activities, it's literally only steps above standing still.

That's how I used to feel, anyway. But hearing about the viral practice on an episode of LifeKit, I became intrigued. As a person who eats a lot of cauliflower and drinks a lot of HEB-brand sparkling water, I've long battled post-dinner bloat (read: gassiness). It gets bad enough that I've canceled after-dinner going-out plans because I like an unsexy, fart-filled balloon.

Could a fart walk be my salvation? I decided to see for myself. I took a 10-minute walk around my neighborhood after dinner for a week. Ahead, I've shared a day-by-day breakdown of how the experiment went.

Day 1: I take a walk but do not fart. Does it still count as a fart walk?

Day 2: My flip-flops break about halfway through the walk and I have to slink home barefoot. This seems like a bad omen. Also, I did not fart.

Day 3: Dang, 10 minutes goes by slower than I thought. Still no farts.

Day 4: At last, a few farts. The science is real!

Day 5: Should I listen to a podcast on my walk? No. It's important to be present (to feel the farts).

Day 6: I've been farting this whole time and none of these passing cars have any idea.

Day 7: I take it back: 10 minutes goes by too quickly. I'm going to take an extra long fart walk today.

The verdict: Color me a fart walk fan! After introducing fart walks to my routine, I feel noticeably better in the evenings — physically, gastrointestinally, and even emotionally. I am less bloated post-walk, regardless of whether farting actually occurs. Not only that, but I also feel calm, clear-headed, and kind of empowered — like a real, human adult who goes for a stroll after dinner as a mature decision for their health and power farts all the way. Why haven't I been taking fart walks all my life?

Are Fart Walks Good For You?

To confirm the findings of my experiment, I turned to experts. The science and health professionals I interviewed unanimously agreed: As far as internet wellness trends go, this one is on point. Here are the benefits of going on regular fart walks, according to doctors.

1. Improved digestion. The rumors are true: Going on a walk after dinner really does help with your digestion — and by extension, may potentially cause farts, according to Richa Mittal, MD. "Gentle physical activity helps with gastric motility after a meal."

Gastric or gut motility is the overall process of moving food, liquids, and waste through the body. A fart walk can improve gastric motility by stimulating digestion and encouraging the release of gas.

2. Reduced acid reflux. If you struggle with acid reflux, going on a post-meal stroll can reduce symptoms, Dr. Mittal says. Acid reflux, also known as gastroesophageal reflux (GER), occurs when the stomach contents flow back up towards the throat. Walking after eating can help move food through the digestive system, reducing the time food spends in the stomach and lowering the likelihood of its contents resurfacing.

3. Blood sugar control. Walking after a meal can improve blood sugar levels and help prevent diabetes, says Christopher J. Damman, MD. "When we exercise, blood sugar goes directly into our muscles — instead of our fat cells — and gets turned into energy. With physical activity, we create a sugar sink that pulls all that sugar out of the blood much faster."

Blood sugar, also called blood glucose, is the sugar in your bloodstream. Blood sugar levels need to stay in a healthy range because consistently high levels can lead to prediabetes or diabetes, Dr. Damman says.

Blood sugar control is important for everyone but especially older adults, adds Mittal. An estimated 29 percent of adults aged 65 and older have diabetes in the US and nearly 50 percent meet the criteria for prediabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data.

4. Improved brain health. Walking is a powerful way to boost the brain, according to Austin Perlmutter, MD. "Physical activity is one of the best-studied ways to improve short-term and long-term brain health. Movement is linked to immediate boosts to cognitive function, and when regular, appears to translate into a lower risk for mental health problems and dementia."

Dr. Perlmutter cites a study published in JAMA Neurology, which linked walking around 10,000 steps a day with a 50 percent reduction in risk for developing dementia.

5. Reduced anxiety and depression. Walking can also benefit our mood and emotional health, says Dr. Perlmutter. "People who move their bodies regularly may be at lower risk for developing conditions like anxiety and depression," he says. "In addition, exercise has been shown to decrease symptoms of depression."

You can maximize the mental health benefits of walking by doing it outside — bonus points if you take your walk in nature, he adds. Walking in nature has been linked to reduced stress, better mood, and even increased empathy.

6. Improved longevity. Studies consistently show that regular physical activity is associated with increased life expectancy and reduced mortality risk, with some research suggesting that even moderate exercise can add years to one's life. "Exercise is one of the very few therapies shown to help prevent age-related shrinking of the brain," Dr. Perlmutter says.

It doesn't take much to unlock the benefits of exercise. Even "snippets" of physical activity — like a fart walk — can make an impact on your health, according to Dr. Mittal. "Being sedentary is a huge risk factor for high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and mortality," he says. "Getting little bites of movement throughout can be very helpful for improving longevity."

How and When to Take a Fart Walk

Thinking of foraying into fart walks yourself? I asked our experts to share a few tips to maximize the physical and mental health benefits:

Timing matters. To capitalize on the benefits, take your fart walk within 15 to 20 minutes of eating, Dr. Damman suggests. "In the average person, the stomach is emptied in roughly three hours," he explains. "It's essentially a race against the stomach: You want to time your walk with when the stomach contents make their way into the small intestine and are starting to get absorbed into the bloodstream."

As little as five minutes makes a difference. "Studies have shown that even short walks — five minutes — can be helpful in blunting blood sugar rise," Dr. Damman says, adding that adults should aim for 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity daily, and walking can contribute to meeting these recommendations.

Other exercises will do in a pinch. Too rainy, cold, or hot for a fart walk? Fart calf raises, fart leg lifts, and even fart squats will do in a pinch, according to Dr. Mittal. "Anything that activates the gastrocnemius muscle can be helpful after a meal."

The gastrocnemius muscle is a complex muscle on the back of the leg. "You want to do something that gets your heart rate elevated and that activates your muscles because it's that's what's pulling the sugar out of the blood," Dr. Damman adds.

María Cristina Lalonde is a freelance journalist and aspiring kickboxing champion. She has written about sexual health, fitness, and wellness for over a decade. Her articles have appeared in, among other publications, the Houston Chronicle, Everyday Health, Giddy, and U.S. News & World Report.