What's the health trend? It is really all about confirming what is truly healthy for you. Presently, fart walks have gone viral—and rightfully so. Just imagine: walking while expelling gas may help in stabilizing blood sugar levels.
What are fart walks? A fart walk is really just a walk after eating to get the digestion moving so that one may relieve that pressure and enjoy the rest of their evening. But it is not just good for comfort; it also regulates blood sugar, lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes.
There is no rigorous way of performing it—the instructions are to just chill out and walk at your own pace. But the timing can be important: try to get that walk in within 30 minutes after eating, since that's when blood sugar typically starts to rise.
By the way, blood sugar refers to glucose in your bloodstream. Dr. Meghan Garcia-Webb, MD, says that's how your body carries energy from the food to your tissues. When you eat, feel good that your body breaks everything down into glucose, which enters the bloodstream. Now, insulin takes over to move that glucose into your cells, where the cells can use the glucose as energy.
This is where it gets interesting: the moment you get up and move after eating, your muscles act like sponges, absorbing the extra glucose and not letting the glucose spike. A little stroll with the dog post-dinner? Worth every bit of it."
Sheth adds a nice tidbit about walking after eating: it lowers triglycerides and keeps blood pressure in a healthy range, which is good for your heart. About insulin, your system grows less and less efficient at clearing it out of your blood as you grow older; from there on, insulin begins staying longer than it should, raising its levels, thus encouraging insulin resistance.
Sleep has a primary place when it comes to cortisol and insulin sensitivity, both important for blood sugar regulation. When you do not have a good sleep, your sugar levels rise, and therefore getting seven to nine hours of sleep should be your priority, she adds.
Psychology intriguingly says that ice-breaking is when you miss a deadline; distress sets in, but then you quickly finish the task so that it never weighs you down. Whatever it is that stresses you out, your body goes into fight-or-flight mode, releasing cortisol and adrenaline. Research says that the hormones raise blood sugar to provide the energy lift, whether you confront the stressor or run away from it.
"I guess obviously the insulin is the other factor here in terms of blood sugar management," she says. "And lowering insulin starts with choosing foods that don't spike it and cutting back on the ones that do. I call this a 'low insulin lifestyle,' and from what I've seen, the real key to long-term blood sugar control and metabolic health is keeping insulin levels low."