After a meal there are a lot of things we do that are harmful for our body. So if you hear your mom shouting out at you not to have a bath immediately after a meal, do listen to her piece of advice. It will do you a lot of good.
Here are a few things that you should completely avoid after having a meal:
- Sleeping-You should allow food to digest before you can think of heading to bed. Sleeping on a full stomach will not only lead to indigestion but lead to several gastro-intestinal infections.
- Bathing-When you bathe, the blood flow and circulation is increased near the hands and feet. So if you bathe immediately after you eat, your blood will be diverted to the hand and feet instead of near the stomach to assist the digestion process. So avoid taking a bath immediately after a meal unless you want to suffer from digestion problems.
- Drinking Tea-Most people are of the misconception that a cup of black tea helps in digesting food after a heavy meal. That’s where they are wrong. As a matter of fact this habit is largely practiced in the Middle East and several Asian countries.Tea contains acids that slow down the digestion process and also reduce the absorption of nutrients present in the food you have consumed. So unless you want your body to absorb less iron and other vitamins and minerals, steer clear from tea for at least one hour after a meal.
- Swim-After eating, your body is busy digesting the food in the stomach. So if you swim on a full stomach, while the blood is busy in the digestion process, it can cause you cramps.
- Exercise-After eating, the blood flow is concentrated in the digestion process. So when you exercise immediately after eating, the body is forced to shift blood flow to the rest of your body. This in turn affects your metabolism, causing the food to be digested slowly, affecting absorption of essential nutrients for the body.
- Smoking-While smoking at any time is always considered harmful, smoking after a meal is even more dangerous. Blood circulation is at its peak when you’ve have just eaten, especially in areas related to digestion. Smoking immediately after a meal, leads to toxins being absorbed by the body that can cause harm to the body organs.
- Eat fruits-Food digests at different speeds. Fruits are something that digests the fastest. So if you have your fruits after a heavy meal, they get stuck in your stomach along with the meal you just had and don’t reach your intestines to be broken down and absorbed. So eat your fruits before your meal or at least 2 hours after.
- Loosening your belt-After stuffing ourselves after a meal, we tend to loosen our belts to feel more comfortable. As crazy as it may sound, loosening your belt may cause your intestines to get tangled or blocked and affect the digestion of the food.
So if you want your food to digest better, sit down and relax and let your body do its work without disruption from you.