This type of people really shouldn’t take a shower immediately after a meal!

After dinner, take a hot bath and you can get into bed with your phone. However, many people say that you can’t take a bath right after dinner. Is this true?

The answer is that there are several types of people who do need to pay attention.

After a meal, blood is needed for digestion and absorption

After we swallow the food, the digestive system will start working immediately, including pushing the food forward, secreting digestive juices, absorbing nutrients into the body, etc. These activities require energy consumption and require the body to allocate more blood to the digestive system to provide oxygen.

Before eating, the blood flow to the digestive system accounts for 25% to 30% of the whole body. 10 to 15 minutes after eating, the blood flow to the digestive system begins to increase and lasts for 3 to 7 hours, with an increase of 25% to 200%. The larger the amount of food and the higher the energy, the greater the increase in blood flow and the longer it lasts.

As more blood flows to the digestive system, the blood supply to other parts of the body will naturally decrease. At this time, the autonomic nervous system will adjust and constrict blood vessels in other locations to maintain stable blood pressure.

For healthy people, this change in blood distribution is not easily noticeable.

Take a hot bath, the skin also needs blood to dissipate heat

When the weather is cold, many people will adjust the temperature of the bath water to be slightly higher than body temperature. Hot water rushes onto the skin, which is very refreshing, but it also makes the body worry about overheating, so it dilates the blood vessels in the skin, allowing more blood to flow through the skin to enhance heat dissipation.

The higher the bath water temperature, the more the skin blood flow increases. Under high temperature conditions, the skin blood flow can increase from 250 ml per minute to 6-8 liters, reaching 60% of the body's blood flow. On the contrary, when taking a cold bath, the skin blood vessels contract and the blood flow through the skin decreases.

When blood flow to the skin changes, the body will increase or decrease blood flow to other parts of the body accordingly.

Take a hot bath after dinner, two places compete for blood

Digestion and absorption after a meal and taking a hot bath both require a lot of blood flow. If they are done at the same time, theoretically, it is possible that the digestive system will not get enough blood, slowing down or interrupting the digestion and absorption process. However, no research has yet confirmed that the adverse effects are widespread, nor has there been data to prove that there are no effects.

In reality, for most young people who are in good physical condition, taking a bath after a meal will not cause discomfort.

However, people with abnormal digestive systems may experience indigestion, abdominal pain, heartburn, etc. Heart disease patients may suffer from chest pain at this time. The elderly and people with abnormal autonomic nervous systems have insufficient blood pressure regulation ability. Eating itself may cause a significant drop in blood pressure (within 15 minutes or about 45 minutes after a meal). Insufficient blood supply to the brain causes dizziness, confusion, and even fainting. If you take a hot bath at this time to direct blood to the skin, you are more likely to feel uncomfortable.

Can I take a shower after a meal?

In short, the effects of taking a bath after a meal vary greatly under different circumstances. Healthy young people do not need to worry too much about the harm of taking a bath after eating a small amount of food.

You can wait a while after a meal before taking a shower if:

Elderly people with cardiovascular disease or taking antihypertensive drugs often experience gastrointestinal discomfort and severe dizziness after meals, when squatting or standing up. They are very worried that taking a bath will cause discomfort.

As for how long it is most appropriate to wait, it depends on physical condition, food and water temperature, etc. No research has yet reached a clear conclusion, but it is generally believed that it is relatively safe after one hour.

In addition to increasing the interval between meals and bathing, avoiding very hot bath water, and avoiding eating too much, especially eating too many carbohydrates, can also reduce the risk of discomfort caused by bathing after meals.

References
[1] Trahair LG, Horowitz M, Jones KL. Postprandial hypotension: a systematic review. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2014;15(6):394-409.
[2] Kvietys PR. The Gastrointestinal Circulation. San Rafael (CA): Morgan & Claypool Life Sciences; 2010.
[3] D Harper, MBChB BMSc FRCA, B Chandler, MBChB FRCA FFICM, Splanchnic circulation, BJA Education, Volume 16, Issue 2, February 2016, Pages 66–71.
[4] Jones PK, Shaw BH, Raj SR. Orthostatic hypotension: managing a difficult problem. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2015;13(11):1263-1276.
[5] Grobéty B, Grasser EK, Yepuri G, Dulloo AG, Montani JP. Postprandial hypotension in older adults: Can it be prevented by drinking water before the meal? Clin Nutr. 2015;34(5):885-891.
[6]https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(11)61930-7/fulltext
[7]https://www.healthline.com/health/showering-after-eating
[8]https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/heart-and-blood-vessel-disorders/symptoms-of-heart-and-blood-vessel-disorders/postprandial-hypotension

Author: Dai Tianyi Editor: Odette

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