What do you usually do after finishing your meal every day? Smoke? Eat fruit? Drink tea? Take a shower? Loosen your belt? Sing? Take a walk? Or sleep? If one or more of the above are your daily routines, then you need to be more vigilant. These details in your life are slowly killing your health!
1. Don't Shower After Eating
As the saying goes "Don't take a bath when you're full." After a big meal, if you take a shower, the capillaries on the skin will expand due to the hot water stimulation, and the blood will flow to the surface of the body. The amount of blood around the stomach and intestines will decrease, which can affect digestion and absorption. According to research, the time food stays in the gastrointestinal tract is about 5 hours for fat, 2 hours for protein, and 1 hour for carbohydrates. Therefore, it's best to rest for about an hour before taking a shower. This way, you won't waste the nutritional value of the food, and your health will be better protected.
2. Be Cautious About Walking a Hundred Steps After Meals
There is a saying: "Walking a hundred steps after meals can make you live until ninety-nine," but this phrase doesn't apply to everyone. It only applies to people who usually don't exercise much, especially those who sit at desks for long periods of time, or those who are overweight or have excessive gastric acid. For these people, walking for 20 minutes after meals helps reduce fat accumulation and gastric acid secretion, benefiting their health.
However, some people should not walk after meals. This refers to those with poor physical fitness, especially those suffering from gastropexy. These people should reduce even normal walking after meals and lie down flat for 10 minutes after eating. This is because there is a lot of food in the stomach after meals, and engaging in upright activities at this time would increase the burden on the stomach, causing or worsening gastropexy. Patients with hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases should also avoid exercising after meals because gastrointestinal activity increases after meals, increasing the blood flow to the gastrointestinal area while decreasing the blood flow to the brain. People with these conditions should not lie down immediately after meals either, as getting up suddenly may cause insufficient blood supply to the brain, leading to strokes and other accidents.
3. Don't Sleep Immediately
There is a saying: "Lying down after meals makes you gain four catties instead of half a catty." Sleeping immediately after meals causes the food to remain undigested in the stomach and intestines, and over time, it can induce gastritis or colitis. After falling asleep, the body's metabolic rate decreases, and the calories consumed turn into fat, making you gain weight.
4. Don't Eat Fruit Immediately
Nowadays, people are accustomed to eating fruit after meals. Some generous restaurants even offer fruit platters to guests, believing that fruit aids digestion. However, the truth is quite the opposite. Fruits contain a large amount of monosaccharides, which are usually absorbed in the small intestine. Eating fruit immediately after meals prevents monosaccharides from entering the small intestine promptly, causing them to ferment in the stomach and lead to bloating and constipation. Therefore, it's best to eat fruit 2-3 hours after meals or 1 hour before meals.
5. Don't Work Immediately After Meals
Working immediately after meals can affect the blood supply to the digestive organs, hindering the full absorption of nutrients.
6. Don't Smoke Immediately
Some smokers say, "A cigarette after a meal is better than being a living god." In reality, "A cigarette after a meal is infinitely harmful." Studies show that smoking one cigarette after a meal has a poisoning effect greater than smoking ten cigarettes under normal circumstances because after eating, the gastrointestinal tract moves more actively, and blood circulation accelerates. The body's ability to absorb smoke enters its optimal state, allowing toxic substances in cigarettes to enter the body more easily, thus exacerbating harm to health.
7. Don't Drink Tea Immediately
Tea contains a large amount of tannic acid. Drinking strong tea after meals causes the newly consumed proteins to combine with tannic acid, forming precipitates that affect protein absorption. Substances in tea also hinder the absorption of iron elements. Long-term habit of drinking strong tea after meals can easily lead to iron-deficiency anemia. Additionally, drinking tea immediately after meals dilutes the digestive fluids secreted by the stomach, affecting the digestion of food.
8. Don't Loosen Your Belt
Loosening your belt after meals allows the gastrointestinal tract to relax and expand, easily forming a "pot belly" and negatively impacting the digestion and absorption of food, increasing the risk of developing gastropexy or intestinal obstruction.
9. Don't Sing Immediately
Many people like to go to KTV after dinner, singing a few songs while still feeling the buzz from alcohol, deepening relationships with friends and colleagues. However, this is very unhealthy. After eating, the stomach capacity increases, and blood flow increases. At this time, singing causes the diaphragm to move downward, increasing abdominal pressure. Lightly, it can cause indigestion; severely, it can lead to gastrointestinal discomfort and other symptoms. Moreover, if you drink alcohol during meals, with the stimulation of alcohol, the throat and vocal cords naturally become congested. Singing at this time further exacerbates the congestion and swelling of the throat and vocal cords, easily leading to acute pharyngitis. Therefore, it's best to wait about an hour after meals, allowing food to digest normally before going to KTV, or sing first and then eat.