'Fart Walks' May Be The Secret To Healthy Ageing, Doctor Says
The benefits of walking are pretty undeniable.
A simple stroll can “improve cardiovascular health by strengthening the heart, thereby helping circulation, lower[ing] blood pressure, [and] helping in the prevention of heart disease and stroke,” Matthew Nolan, a chief instructor at Barry’s in New York City, previously told HuffPost.
It’s even been linked to lower dementia risk.
But in a recent Instagram Reel, Dr Tim Tiutan – a physician and assistant professor – signed off on the idea of adding some, er, gas to your evening wander too.
Stitching a video in which author and creator of the hashtag #fartwalks Mairyln Smith said she and her husband go for “fart walks” after dinner to help them “age beautifully,” the doctor helped us to “look into the science of fart walks.”
Yup, ‘fart walking’ really is good for us
Walking can help to improve “intestinal motility” Dr Tiutan said, meaning it can banish both gas and constipation.
But Smith explained that “the main reason we do fart walks is because by walking... we are helping reduce our chances of developing type 2 diabetes... as you age, especially after 40, you have a bigger chance of developing type 2 diabetes.”
The National Institutes of Health puts the age at which type 2 diabetes risk rises a little younger, at 35. Diabetes UK says that walking may help us to regulate insulin better.
A 2016 study involving people with type 2 diabetes found that 10 minutes of “light” walking following each meal did a better job of managing participants’ blood sugar than walking for 30 minutes at any one time.
That’s partly why a likely gassy (thanks to the “intestinal motility”) post-dinner walk may be better for you than you might think.
Exercise of any kind prevents “large spikes in blood sugar,” the doctor agreed (it can lower your blood glucose for up to 24 hours after completion).
The practice may lower your cancer risk, too
Walking “also lowers our cancer risk,” Dr Tiutan continued.
Professor Amy Berrington, Leader of the Institute for Cancer Research [ICR]’s Clinical Cancer Epidemiology Group, said: “There is strong evidence that getting enough physical activity is linked to a lower risk of many types of cancer in both men and women.”
Cancer.gov says we should aim roughly for 150-300 minutes per week of moderately paced walking.
So perhaps I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I initally was to hear Dr Tiutan say, “I totally support fart walks.”