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Correct posture after meals

After meal

By Lori A. LittlePublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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How to keep in good health after a meal is a topic that many people are concerned about. There are a lot of health-preserving suggestions on the Internet, some say "cannot exercise after a meal, otherwise it will cause stomach ptosis", and some say "drink a cup of tea after a meal to refresh and help digestion"... These health-preserving tips are countless, making it difficult to distinguish between true and false. .

Recently, some people have even suggested that lying down after a meal is the correct posture for health preservation after a meal. Do not stand or sit after a meal, but should lie down, because after a meal, blood is concentrated in the stomach and blood supply to the brain is insufficient. Only lying flat can alleviate the discomfort caused by ischemia.

So, is this really the case? What is the correct posture for health preservation after meals?

Can lying supine after a meal alleviate insufficient blood supply to the brain?

Truth: Lying down immediately is not good for digestion

Lying down after a meal" is not advisable. People have just eaten a meal, the stomach is full of food, and the digestive function is in a state of exercise. At this time, lying down will affect gastrointestinal peristalsis and is not conducive to food digestion and absorption.

In addition, if you fall asleep immediately after a meal, the body's metabolic rate will gradually decrease during sleep, which can easily convert the calories in the food into fat, which will make you fat.

Does exercise after a meal cause stomach ptosis?

The truth: proper exercise can promote gastrointestinal motility

From a normal physiological point of view, eating is not directly related to exercise. You can exercise after a meal." However, it should be noted that if you do vigorous exercise immediately after a full meal or full meal, the following risks may arise: First, due to After eating, the human gastrointestinal tract is overfilled, which causes the gastrointestinal tract in the abdominal cavity to become less "moving space". If vigorous activity at this time, it is easy to cause the relevant organs to twist and deform in the abdominal cavity, resulting in mesenteric blood supply obstacles, and easy to cause intestines Necrosis, this type of condition is common in children; second, after eating or being full, if you exercise vigorously, it may increase the pressure in the abdominal cavity, cause vomiting, and even cause some gastroesophageal reflux diseases.

After a full meal, you can take appropriate activities, such as walking, which can promote gastrointestinal peristalsis and reduce the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux.

However, although you can exercise properly after a meal, don't start right away.

Don't rush for a walk after a meal. After a meal, the human stomach is full of food, and immediate upright activities will increase the vibration of the stomach and increase the burden on the stomach. Especially for patients with chronic active gastritis, peptic ulcer and other diseases, if they are active immediately after a meal, their condition may be aggravated.

After a meal, drink tea to refresh and shave?

The truth: tea will inhibit the secretion of gastric and intestinal juice

Regarding the phrase "drink tea after a meal to refresh and shave oil", Mao Wei said that some people think that drinking a cup of strong tea after a meal can help eliminate oil, reduce greasiness, help digestion and lose weight, but in fact drink tea immediately after a meal. , Not only can not digest and scrape oil, but also inhibit the secretion of gastric and intestinal juices, affect the body's digestion and absorption of food, and easily lead to constipation.

Mao Wei explained that tea is rich in tannins, which can affect protein absorption and hinder the body’s effective intake of nutrients; theophylline can also inhibit the absorption of iron in the small intestine, especially for some patients with severe iron deficiency anemia. Don't drink too much tea or drink strong tea.

In addition, many people are particularly concerned about the question of whether they can drink water immediately after a meal. In this regard, Yang Ruyi said frankly that drinking water immediately after a meal will reduce

The content of enzymes in the human body is low, and drinking water will accelerate the speed of food leaving the stomach, making hunger reappear, which is not conducive to weight loss.

It is best to keep a half-hour interval between the time to drink water after a meal and the time to eat. At the same time, attention should be paid to drinking water in moderation to avoid burdening the stomach and intestines.

Drink yogurt immediately after a meal to help digestion?

The truth: after two hours is the best time to drink

Drinking water and tea after a meal cannot help digestion. Is it feasible to drink yogurt?

Drinking yogurt after a meal also fails to help digestion. Do not drink yogurt immediately after a meal, it is more appropriate to drink it two hours after a meal. "Yang Ruyi said that only when the pH of the human gastric juice is high, can the lactic acid bacteria contained in the yogurt fully grow, which is beneficial to health. About two hours after a meal, the gastric juice in the human body has been diluted and the pH value will rise to 3. To 5, drinking yogurt is best at this time.

Although yogurt is not suitable for drinking immediately after meals, it is a very nutritious food. Yogurt is rich in protein, amino acids and trace elements, and contains a lot of B vitamins." Yang Ruyi added.

For people who lose weight, the amount of yogurt needs to be controlled.

Data show that 100 grams of yogurt has 72 calories, even non-fat yogurt. For overweight people, it is advisable to supplement with yogurt after eating breakfast or lunch, while the amount of staple food needs to be appropriately reduced.

Yogurt itself contains a certain amount of calories. Drinking yogurt after a meal is equivalent to taking in these extra calories. If this happens every day, fat may come in quietly.

There are these taboos for health after meals

Avoid drinking tea immediately after meals. Drinking tea at this time will hinder the body’s absorption of protein and iron; avoid drinking cold drinks immediately. Drinking cold drinks at this time will cause abdominal pain and diarrhea; avoid smoking immediately, because the toxic substances in the smoke will be more than usual. It is easier to enter the human body; avoid bathing or swimming immediately, at this time bathing or swimming will weaken digestion; avoid going to bed immediately, as soon as falling asleep may cause food to not be fully digested.

So, what can we do to really help digestion?

After the autumn is cool, there is a big temperature difference between day and night. People should pay special attention to keeping the stomach warm, add clothes in time, and cover the quilt when sleeping at night to prevent the abdomen from catching cold and causing stomach pain. In terms of diet and maintenance, it is advisable to keep warm, soft, light, vegetarian and fresh, and to ensure regular and quantitative, eat small and frequent meals, so that there is often food in the stomach and gastric acid to neutralize; also pay attention to taboos, do not eat too cold, Food that is too hot, too hard, or too spicy should avoid overeating. Pay attention to the method of taking the medicine. It is best to take it after a meal to prevent the gastric mucosa from irritating the gastric mucosa and worsening the condition. At the same time, we must pay attention to mental hygiene, keep the spirit happy and emotionally stable, and avoid the generation of unhealthy emotions such as tension, anxiety, and anger. In addition, in terms of exercise, gastrointestinal patients should take into account their own physical conditions, moderately strengthen exercise, improve the body's disease resistance, reduce disease recurrence, and promote physical and mental health.

Everyone should develop the habit of eating regularly and quantitatively. Don't eat too many foods with high starch content. When eating, chew slowly and relax. Take a rest after a meal before starting to work, but don't lie down immediately. Small and frequent meals can prevent stomach bloating or hyperacidity. Excessive stomach acid may cause gastric juice to flow back to the esophagus, irritating the esophageal mucosa.

In addition, many people like to eat fruit and soup after a meal, but the order is reversed. It is best to eat these things before a meal.

If you eat fruit after a meal, the fruit will be blocked in the stomach by the food you eat first, causing symptoms such as flatulence and constipation, and adversely affecting your digestive function. If the time of eating fruit is put before a meal, it will be beneficial to the immune system, but eating fruit after a meal will not have this health effect.

Many people are accustomed to eating a full meal and then drinking soup, and drinking soup before meals can add a "lubricant" to the mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestines and other foods that must pass through, so as to reduce the irritation of hard food to the digestive tract mucosa.

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Lori A. Little

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