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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know News India Times (November 29, 2025 - December 5, 2025) December 5, 2025 26 Health Try A ‘Fart Walk’ To Ease The Pressure After That Big Thanksgiving Meal Q : Is there an easy way to relieve gas without medica- tion? A: The warm fuzzy feeling you get from a delicious holiday meal can be quickly eclipsed by the gassy one that follows. Fortunately, gastroenterolo- gists have an old trick for this: Take a fart walk. I recommend trying a leisurely walk until you start to feel better. But, in theory, any mild physical activity works. Controlled experiments have found that even gentle cycling is more than sufficient to relieve trapped gas. If the siren call of the couch beckons nonetheless, resist the urge to lie down. Intestinal gas passes about 33 percent more efficiently when you’re sitting upright than when you’re horizontal. THE SCIENCE ON ‘FART WALKS’ Walking to relieve bloating and gas had long been ad- vocated by doctors, but for years, we had no real experi- mental proof that it works. So in the mid-2000s, research- ers from Barcelona decided to end the speculation and test whether even mild exercise could propel gas forward … and outward. The group first looked at healthy volunteers who pedaled on an adapted bicycle going at the equivalent of around 7 mph. The scientists infused gas into the people’s small intestines - mimicking what happens with meals - and then measured how much gas was expelled both during exercise and at rest. At rest, the result was a net gain in gas. Not fun. But after exercise? Things got juicy. After short bursts of mild physical activity, the scientists found that the amount of gas evacuated was greater than the amount infused. Exercise forced the removal of the added experi- mental gas and then some - meaning, it also pushed out gas hanging around even at baseline. So after a fart walk, you’ll be better off than you started. Walking may even help with bloating: In a second experiment, the researchers focused on people who were especially prone to abdominal discomfort and bloating, like in irritable bowel syndrome. Among these people, the amount of gas retained in the gut decreased with mild ex- ercise, and symptoms like pressure, bloating and gurgling all improved as well. And yes, the methods were … thorough. To precisely measure gas, participants wore a leakproof rectal cath- eter connected to a barostat, a special tool to measure changes in volume in the gut. You see why this had to be done in a lab and not in your local public park. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL If our guts didn’t contain a set of complex gas con- trol and dissipation mechanisms, we’d live our lives in extreme discomfort, ready to burst like a hot-air balloon. The gut makes about half a gallon of gas every single day. Gas enters our bodies as we swallow food and is pro- duced through chemical reactions in our intestines and fermentation by our gut microbes (fiber and lactose are common offenders). Thankfully, our bodies are so efficient at removing gas from the insides of our guts - either by belching or farting, or through absorption into the bloodstream - that total gas content usually never amounts to more than 7-14 tablespoons at a time. That’s small fries in the scheme of things. While most healthy people are able to handle slight increases in gas with aplomb, people living with condi- tions like chronic bloating, irritable bowel syndrome - or honestly, any of us after a big Thanksgiving meal - may find ourselves unable to cope with the excess. That’s where a bit of movement can make a big difference. THE OTHER BIG REASON TO ‘FART WALK’ Your fart walk may have an added bonus. Randomized controlled trials have consistently found that taking a 15-minute walk soon after meals blunts the blood sugar spike, more so than walking before meals. Going on a walk after eating consistently over months may improve your Hemoglobin A1c, a blood marker of prediabetes and diabetes. I’m all for making walking after a meal a habit rather than a once-a-year thing. But there is a special joy in going for a walk in nature with family gathered over the holidays. So grab your favorite cousin and the family dog. Break bread and then (politely) break wind. WHAT I WANT MY PATIENTS TO KNOW Occasional post-feast bloat is normal. But if you experience bloating with most meals for months on end, don’t brush that aside. The cause may be a wiring issue between the diaphragm and abdominal wall that pushes the belly out and creates the feeling of pressure. Doctors call this abdomino-phrenic dyssynergia, and it’s treatable. In postmenopausal women with new, persistent bloating, I always make sure we’ve ruled out ovarian cancer, although this is rare. Don’t hesitate to talk to your physician about what could be causing your symp- toms and ways we can help address it. Trisha Pasricha is an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. -Special to TheWashington Post By Trisha Pasricha, MD, MPH Photo:TheWashington Post Why Big Meals Can Trigger Heart Attacks, Just Like Stress Or Heavy Exercise stract was not published in a peer-re- viewed journal. Similarly, an analysis of 17 studies in 2005 suggested that heavy physical exer- tion, eating and emotional stress were among some of the more commonly reported triggers leading up to a heart at- tack. Men were more likely than women to report exertion and eating, while women were more likely to report emotional stress. It makes sense. Eating a large meal high in saturated fats, calories and processed carbohydrates is similar to extreme physi- cal exertion for your heart. To digest that big bolus of food in your stomach, your body redirects blood flow to your diges- tive system. Blood vessels also constrict, increasing heart rate and blood pressure, and limiting blood flow to the heart, said Steve Kopecky, a cardiologist and pro- fessor of medicine and cardiovascular diseases at Mayo Clinic. That high blood pressure can rupture cholesterol plaques in the arteries, form- ing a clot. Even the high-fat meal itself - think butter-soaked potatoes, gravy and heavily marbled meats - can make the blood more likely to clot. “These are things that combine to- gether so that, a few hours later, you get a heart attack,” Kopecky said. In theory, that is. There are factors that increase your risk of a heart attack, including certain medical conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity, as well as lifestyle habits such as a poor diet, lack of exercise or a history of smoking. In such cases, a large meal could trigger a heart attack in the same way that emotional stress or physical exertion such as shoveling snow can, said Kulkarni, who is also the president of the American Heart Associa- tion’s GreaterWashington Region Board of Directors. If you have these major common symptoms of a heart attack, seek urgent medical care: --Chest pain or discomfort in the center or left side of the chest, particularly if it does not go away for several minutes or returns. --Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, jaw, neck, back or above the belly button. --Shortness of breath without physical exertion. --Weakness, lightheadedness, dizzi- ness or breaking into a cold sweat for no reason. --Nausea or vomiting. --Fast or irregular heartbeat. WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW --Enjoy an indulgent meal, but put healthy items on your plate, too. Ideally, about 50 percent of your plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables, 25 percent with protein and 25 percent with starch, Kulkarni said. So consider start- ing with a salad and then adding whole fresh foods such as turkey with a mod- est amount of stuffing, beans and sweet potatoes. --Eat slowly. It takes up to 20 minutes after your stomach is full for your brain to receive the signal, meaning you can overeat when you eat fast. Take your time, and use the meal as a social event to catch up with family and friends. --Limit alcohol. Drinking alcohol can stimulate your appetite and impede self- control, leading to overeating. --Stop eating when you feel full. Once you’ve had enough, forgo that second helping. --Go for a walk after dinner. Walking can help lower your triglycerides, a form of fat in the bloodstream, and regulate blood pressure, Kopecky said. It can also lower blood sugar. THE BOTTOM LINE Eating a large meal that is high in satu- rated fats, calories and processed carbo- hydrates can increase the risk of a heart attack for people who are predisposed because of certain underlying medical conditions. However, you can reduce your risk by indulging in moderation, adding healthy foods to your plate and skipping seconds. -TheWashington Post - Continued From Page 18