Founding father Benjamin Franklin secured the alliance with France that led to victory in the Revolutionary War, negotiated the Treaty of Paris ending said war, signed the Declaration of Independence and the U.S Constitution, discovered that lightning was electrical, invented bifocal glasses, wrote the famous Poor Richard’s Almanac, and ran newspapers.
He also had some thoughts on farting.
In 1781, Franklin wrote a satirical letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels on the subject of flatulence, and what, perhaps, science could do about it. Because, as he wrote, “It is universally well known, that in digesting our common food, there is created or produced in the bowels of human creatures, a great quantity of wind. That the permitting this air to escape and mix with the atmosphere, is usually offensive to the company, from the fetid smell that accompanies it.”
Franklin was concerned with how to make farts more pleasant smelling so that they wouldn’t disrupt civilized company. But a far simpler and healthier solution eluded even this legendary thinker: The Fart Walk.
Not only does this practice allow you to release gas in less confined space, but it has also proven health benefits like improved digestion and even weight loss. Although the smirk-worthy term “Fart Walk” only started gaining viral popularity in the past year or so (it’s generally credited to cookbook author Mairlyn Smith), the concept is far from new–in fact, there is an old Chinese proverb that goes, “if you take 100 steps after eating, you’ll live to 99.”
Here are some ways that working Fart Walks into your daily routine can change the way you approach the expulsion of gas.
It gets your digestive system moving
Getting up and moving around right after you’ve eaten starts a process called peristalsis, which is a rippled effect that helps force gas and food through your gastrointestinal tract. It essentially stirs up your bowels and alerts them that they have work to do.
It might help weight loss
In 2011, researchers from the Toyodo Hijikata Clinic in Osaka, Japan, published a study that showed walking immediately after a meal–as opposed to, say, waiting an hour–actually promoted positive weight loss benefits. As the study stated, “For people who do not experience abdominal pain, fatigue, or other discomfort when walking just after a meal, walking at a brisk speed for 30 minutes as soon as possible just after lunch and dinner leads to more weight loss than does walking for 30 minutes beginning one hour after a meal has been consumed.”
[Related: Which animals can and can’t fart?]
It makes it easier to fart and burp
Gas can develop from certain types of foods, such as fiber-rich cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussel sprouts, or from the intake of air as you eat. Either way, getting up and kickstarting peristalsis not only gets your digestion going but it also frees up this trapped gas and makes it easier to escape from the north or the south. Allowing the gas to be expelled reduces bloating and generally improves gastrointestinal health.
It has far-reaching benefits
Working a “Fart Walk” into your daily routine won’t just have your gut feeling tip-top, it may guard against dementia and generally improve your mental as well as your physical health. A 2025 study published in Age and Ageing by Audrey Collins, PhD and Dr. Maddison Mellow found that people who engaged in just five minutes of daily exercise like walking had better brain health. Another study by the American Psychological Association found that daily walks lowered the risk of depression among adults by 25 percent.
So get out there and let it rip!
