Eating dinner, showering, and sleeping may seem like the ideal nightly routine, but it may not be the best for your digestive system. Many people claim that showering after eating can have fatal consequences on digestion. Is this true?
We may have experienced it in our flesh, but a hot shower after eating could cause problems like cramps or indigestion. It all has to do with the temperature of the water and how it affects blood flow in the body.
digestion cut
When we eat, the body temperature rises slightly as the blood moves to the digestive organs. This helps the body to digest food properly, giving us comfort and peace of mind. But if we take a warm bath or shower immediately after a meal, the hot water further raises the body’s temperature and diverts blood away from the digestive organs .
Instead, that all-important blood goes to the skin. Taking a warm shower after eating would theoretically divert blood away from the stomach, thereby compromising the digestive process and possibly causing symptoms such as cramps when the stomach doesn’t receive the blood flow it needs. If we have just finished a heavy meal, this can also lead to indigestion.
It’s best to stick to smaller portions and stay upright after eating to prevent indigestion naturally.
Is it better to shower with cold water?
Hot water can upset your digestion. But is it bad to take a cold shower after eating? Cold showers, on the other hand, would reduce body temperature and would not divert blood away from the digestive organs. Cold showers can actually kick-start your metabolism and can even help you burn more fat from the food you just ate.
However, it is advisable to take a shower at room temperature if we must bathe after eating. A cold shower shocks the system and narrows the veins leading to the skin, while a hot shower opens up the veins leading to the skin. A neutral temperature would have less effect on diverting blood flow.
That said, it would be best to allow the body to go through the first steps of digestion before taking a shower, regardless of the temperature; it is recommended to wait at least 20 to 30 minutes before going to the shower. However, the ideal is that we shower before eating . But if we need to shower after eating, then we’ll wait about an hour for the stomach to get all the extra blood flow it needs for digestion.
