Mairlyn Smith, a Canadian actress and cook, recently revealed on TikTok that she and her husband go for a walk after dinner to release their pent up gases. Smith calls these post-prandial strolls “fart walks”. The hashtag is now blowing up on social media.

The purpose of a fart walk is to start the digestive process and relieve bloating, troublesome gas or the sensation of a big meal sitting in your stomach like a brick. Smith claims that a ten- to 20-minute stroll, helps you “age wonderfully”.

But does science back up the benefits of an after-meal stroll? And how might our knowledge of digestive function and illness contribute to finding ways to shed that bloated feeling with exercise?

First, consider what happens when your stomach is filled following a good meal. Its capacity varies according to age, size and eating habits, but fill it up and, like a washing machine, it starts to churn.

The autonomic nervous system controls movement and activity in your heart, lungs and guts. It is an automatic system that operates beyond your conscious control. You don’t think about making your heart beat or your bowels move for instance, do you?

There are two divisions of the autonomic system. The sympathetic division commands fight-and-flight responses, such as increasing heart rate and blood pressure. This allows you to either stand your ground or run like the........

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