After eating, there are times when you feel drowsy and want to lie down. While it may help temporarily relieve fatigue, it can negatively affect overall health, so caution is needed. Let's learn about the effects of lying down after meals on health.

 

◇Lying down after meals can cause acid reflux and constipation

 

Lying down immediately after eating can cause acid reflux esophagitis. Between the esophagus and the stomach, there is the lower esophageal sphincter, which functions to tighten and prevent stomach acid from refluxing into the esophagus. It temporarily opens when eating or burping. If you lie down right after a meal, the pressure of the lower esophageal sphincter temporarily decreases, impairing its function. For this reason, food and stomach acid reflux into the esophagus, causing inflammation known as reflux esophagitis.

Lying down after a meal can also cause constipation. If you lie down immediately after eating, the motility of the digestive organs such as the stomach and duodenum decreases. This is because gravity delays the emptying of food from the stomach. In particular, the habit of lying down and falling asleep right after eating is dangerous because it can lead to weight gain. During sleep, the digestive organs are not actively functioning, and basic calorie expenditure does not occur. Even if the remaining food in the stomach is slowly digested, it tends to be stored as fat in the body.

 

◇ Lie down after at least two hours have passed

 

It is best not to lie down within two hours after a meal. It takes about two hours for food to move from the stomach to the small intestine, and lying down during this time can prolong the movement of food and cause excessive secretion of stomach acid, leading to reflux. It is advisable to sit or stand for at least two hours after eating. If it is unavoidable to lie down, wait at least 30 minutes and then adopt a position with the upper body inclined at more than 15 degrees. Additionally, it is recommended to leave a sufficient interval of about three hours between mealtime and sleep to avoid going to bed immediately after eating.

 

Meanwhile, drinking coffee after a meal is also harmful to health. Post-meal coffee causes the beneficial nutrients consumed to be lost. Specifically, the caffeine in coffee interferes with iron absorption. When tannins in coffee meet iron, tannin-iron complexes are formed, reducing the iron absorption rate by up to half.

 

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You're always sleepy after eating.

If you lie down right away, grandma says you'll turn into a cow, haha.

You have spoken a lot.

Even if I'm sleepy, taking a nap after two hours is good.