Why a Family ‘Fart Walk’ Should Be on Your Agenda This Thanksgiving
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Love it or hate it, Thanksgiving is a lot in every sense. Most obviously, there’s the size of the meal, with endless side dishes stuffing your bowels like the turkey itself. Then there’s the emotional intensity of the holiday: It’s an experience that sequesters you for hours, maybe with people you usually prefer to enjoy in very limited doses. And even if you adore everyone at your table—which of course I do, if my future in-laws are reading this!—the sensory overload of it all can turn a dining room into a pressure cooker. So, why not get some release with a post-meal fart walk?
For the uninitiated, the “fart walk” exploded (sorry) onto the internet earlier this year when TikTok creator Mairlyn Smith coined the concept in a viral video. In it, she described how she takes a brief stroll with her husband after dinner each night that prompts them both to let ’er rip. She later told SELF that the movement (and the gas-passing that accompanies it) helps them relieve post-dinner feelings of bloating, among other benefits.
As SELF previously reported, a fart walk can boost gut motility, or movement of your intestines. That helps jumpstart digestion and shuttle gas through your system, so you can more easily pass it and get some relief from pain, bloating, and distention (or, in layman’s terms, a puffed-out belly), Felice Schnoll-Sussman, MD, a board-certified gastroenterologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian, tells SELF.
On Thanksgiving, you might especially want that digestive support. Taking down large portions can make post-meal bloating more intense, Dr. Schnoll-Sussman says, adding that specific foods on the table could pile onto the trouble. In particular, fiber-rich items like green beans, Brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes can prompt extra gas production, while high-fat dishes (say, mac-and-cheese or buttery mashed potatoes) can “slow down your stomach’s ability to empty,” she says, contributing to that overly full feeling.
In that state of being, you might be tempted to collapse onto the couch or even go take a nap. But that’s actually the last thing you want to do, according to Dr. Schnoll-Sussman. “Lying down with a full belly can lead to acid reflux, number one, but also, it doesn’t motivate the gas to get moving,” she explains. That just means you may be stuck with pent-up farts for even longer—not ideal.
So, instead, after you’ve wrapped up eating this Thanksgiving, consider rallying your troops for a group trek around the neighborhood, fart-walk style. (And if your relatives are too prim and proper for bathroom talk? Well, only you have to know what it’s called!) Dr. Schnoll-Sussman suggests waiting about 40 minutes after you’ve taken your last bite before your jaunt, so that the food has begun to leave your stomach and there’s little risk of getting nauseous. For the same reason, you also want to keep the walk itself pretty chill. A gentle stroll for 10 to 15 minutes is all you really need to get things chugging along, she says.
If you want to jazz it up and give your GI tract an extra nudge, Dr. Schnoll-Sussman recommends lifting your knees toward your chest a bit or exaggerating the twist of your body with each step as you swing forward the opposite arm. All of the above puts a little pressure on your intestines, which may help push gas along even more effectively, she explains. You might be thinking, But what if my family hears or smells it? And yes, that’s possible—but I’d also argue it’s less likely outside than if you were to let one rip in the confined quarters of a dining or living room.
Name aside, you don’t actually have to fart on a fart walk to benefit from it. Even if zero toots escape, moving your body can, again, encourage those gut contractions that pass food through your bowels and toward your colon. And the sooner it arrives there, the more comfortable you may start to feel, Dr. Schnoll-Sussman explains.
There’s also the hit of endorphins that comes with getting physical. The release of these feel-good hormones can actually lower your sensitivity to pain—which means that even if you’re still dealing with a ballooned-out belly or some trapped gas post-walk, it might not hurt so much, Dr. Schnoll-Sussman says. Not to mention, the power of exercise to dampen negative emotions and stress could be exactly what you all need when that one uncle is threatening to kill the vibe with hyper-personal questions or off-color political takes. (You can also take a toot-trek solo, getting a break from all the chatter if you so desire.)
All to say, a group fart walk can pop the lid off a high-pressure situation this Thanksgiving, especially if you’re dealing with relatives who are full of hot air. A little post-meal movement can help everyone blow off some steam—in more ways than one.
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Originally Appeared on Self
