What not to do after a meal

[MariaVerde]

This was forwarded to me yesterday and it's pretty clearly ranges from wrong to ridiculously wrong.

* Don't smoke-Experiment from experts proves that smoking a cigarette after meal is comparable to smoking 10 cigarettes (chances of cancer is higher). &nbs p; &nb sp;
* Don't eat fruits immediately - Immediately eating fruits after meals will cause stomach to be bloated with air. Therefore take fruit 1-2 hr after meal or 1 hr before meal.

* Don't drink tea - Because tea leaves contain a high content of acid. This substance will cause the Protein content in the food we consume to be hardened thus difficult to digest.

* Don't loosen your belt - Loosening the belt after a meal will easily cause the intestine to be twisted &blocked.

* Don't bathe - Bathing will cause the increase of blood flow to the hands, legs & body thus the amount of blood around the stomach will therefore decrease. This will weaken the digestive system in our stomach.

* Don't walk about - People always say that after a meal walk a hundred steps and you will live till 99. In actual fact this is not true. Walking will cause the digestive system to be unable to absorb the nutrition from the food we intake.
*

Don't sleep immediately –

The food we intake will not be able to digest properly. Thus will lead to gastric & infection in our intestine.

My question is, where do people come up with these theories? I can sort of see some sort of rationale for the last three - while heavy exercise, immediate sleep, or a steaming-hot bath might make digestion a little harder, we're talking about minor discomfort, not death or malabsorption, and that's not exactly what the message warns against.

As for the fruit (beyond ridiculous) and the tea (stomach acid, IIRC, is roughly analagous to 6N HCL), I'm just stumped.

mrc

[Native Medley]

sooo...I should not be having tea and a clementine right now then, especially not in beltless pants. I also just took a shower.

If I keep this up, I'm going to die!

In actual fact, I don't think it is possible to wear a belt tight enough to interrupt your intestines that much. Unless you've been doing it for years and need the belt to keep everything in.

[geminilee]

Originally Posted by MariaVerde

As for the fruit (beyond ridiculous) and the tea (stomach acid, IIRC, is roughly analagous to 6N HCL), I'm just stumped.

The fruit isn't exactly ridiculous. Fruit will in fact make your stomach bloat with air. So will vegetables. But it will do this whether you have eaten other things or not. Plus, the stomach has two very handy gas-release valves (one at either end), so even if it does it isn't a big deal. Unless you are going to be someplace you don't want to fart or burp, that is, in which case why not forgo the fruit altogether?

The acid one is just plain wrong. As is the belt one. Humans aren't very prone to intestinal torsions. Stuff is packed too tightly to move much. And anyway, it would be a while between eating and the presence of food in the intestines. I am pretty sure the cigarette one is wrong as well.

ETA: If the walking one worked at all, I am sure people would be touting it as the next diet plan: eat all you want, just walk afterwards and you won't absorb it.

[MariaVerde]

I put a mental block on the intestinal twist - I actually had one 3 1/2 years ago (caused by an until-then silent congenital malformation) and the pain was pretty intense. Even the simplest knowledge of anatomy would tell you that everyone has a thick layer of muscle and a variable (usually thick enough to hid the muscle) layer of fat between the belt and the intestines.

BTW, walking actually 'speeds up' the process a bit - after my surgery, I couldn't be released until all my systems were functional and while I was still on the IV, I was told to walk to sort of 'wake up' the unused muscles. Again, I try not to think about that week if I can avoid it...

mrc

[purpleiguana]

The thing about not sleeping because you won't digest properly is crap, but if you regularly eat dinner right before you go to bed, your metabolism will slow down and more of the nutrients will likely be deposited as fat. Or at least, that's what I always heard.

The thing about not loosening your belt made me laugh... as if your intestines are being held in place by your belt, and thank heavens it's there, because without it, your intestines will go flying around like the innards of a joke can of peanut brittle! How about, "Keeping your belt fastened is likely to cause an intestinal blockage, which can lead to intestinal tissues turning necrotic." Sheesh.

[Mycroft]

The stomach does not absorb nutrients from food, that is done in the intestines. The stomach is used to hold food whilst in is broken down by enzymes and acid (far more acidic than tea!) and that may take many hours [there was an experiment done many years ago on a hunter who had accidently shot himself, leaving a hole directly into his stomach through which researchers would drop food samples to see how fast they dissolved]. Whatever you do immediately after eating (either exercise or sleep) will not affect digestion. I know most predators will rest (ie nor exercise) after eating, but that is mainly because they have just eaten and don't need to hunt again yet - for herbivores however eating is a full-time job.

[RivkahChaya]

Hmmm. A doctor did once tell me not to drink tea with meals, because I was anemic, and tea can interfere with the absorption of iron. Not protein, though. Dr. said nothing about protein.

Also, if you regularly drink tea with meals, and your iron levels are fine, then I wouldn't worry.

The rest looks like complete nonsense.

[starfury]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

...[there was an experiment done many years ago on a hunter who had accidently shot himself, leaving a hole directly into his stomach through which researchers would drop food samples to see how fast they dissolved]...

This sounds really interesting (in a slightly disgusting fashion).. Do you have a link so I could read more about it?

[MariaVerde]

[there was an experiment done many years ago on a hunter who had accidently shot himself, leaving a hole directly into his stomach through which researchers would drop food samples to see how fast they dissolved].

IIRC, it was in mid-19th Century France. My 10th grade biology textbook had a page or two on the experiment. The doctor would tie a piece of string around various foodstuffs, drop them into the subject's stomach, and pull them out after a pre-set time period.

mrc

[MariaVerde]

Originally Posted by purpleiguana

The thing about not sleeping because you won't digest properly is crap, but if you regularly eat dinner right before you go to bed, your metabolism will slow down and more of the nutrients will likely be deposited as fat. Or at least, that's what I always heard.

I've heard the 'calories at night aren't absorbed and become fat' but I don't put a lot of credence in that either. Any change in weight is because of the imbalance between the calories consumed and expended overall - if you have an extra 200 calories from dinner, you may very well burn them the next morning.

mrc

[TrishDaDish]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

[there was an experiment done many years ago on a hunter who had accidently shot himself, leaving a hole directly into his stomach through which researchers would drop food samples to see how fast they dissolved].

I swear I have this story in one of my Ripley's Believe It or Not! books, but the guy that was shot was in the Civil War. Am currently Googling.

I stand corrected - It's Alexis St. Martin, just as Mycroft described.