Info or intox: do you really have to wait to digest before going swimming?

Article originally published on July 29, 2020

Summer has arrived and so are the fundamental questions. Throughout my childhood, I have heard my parents tell me: don’t go swimming right away, you just ate, it will make you sick. ”

Is it true or is it a myth? Wasn’t that a diversion from my parents anymore for not having to watch me wallow when they wanted to take a digestive nap instead?

Have they been lying to me all this time? The question arises and I want an answer.

Bathing after eating can lead to drowning

Can bathing after eating make you sick, information or intoxication? Well, that’s wrong, that’s it. Well, not really. But a little more. Let me explain, don’t panic.

Indeed, after eating, the body warms up and digestion burns energy. That’s why we often want a shady nap after eating our weight in chipolatas during our summer lunches.

Suddenly, taking a bath immediately and then exercising when our body tells us that it would actually prefer to be quiet on a deckchair, can promote drowning.

The lack of energy, the strain of digestion, combined with the fact that he will be asked to move when it is not the right time, could promote cramps and poof: drowning.

Even though we are old enough today to know that our bodies are tired and need to rest, this is not always the case with children. For this reason, vigilance is even more accentuated in the event of a dip after lunch: to prevent them from not even noticing that they are exhausted and falling straight to the bottom of the pool with their navy blue sweater (do you have it?)

Bathing after eating can cause hydrocution

Okay, that’s right. Hydrocution is the shock of temperatures, the difference between the degrees outside the pool and the temperature of the water.

When swimming, and especially if it is very hot outside the fleet, it is better to get wet little by little by rubbing your neck, arms, chest, rather than throwing yourself into the water like a cannonball, even if the idea is tempting.

All this to avoid a thermal shock that could stiffen our body permanently, if you know what I mean.

“Taking a bath immediately after eating makes you sick”: a good excuse from my parents

So okay, drowning and hydrocution, I get it. But suddenly, were these things I was really risking when I was little? Were these really the reasons my parents gave me after lunch not to jump into the water?

No. My parents just said ” it will make you sick ” Where is it ” you will have a stomach ache which, according to my sources on the Internet, is completely false (yes I know, I have earned my press card, you know).

So yeah, I draw the following conclusion: My parents gave me this ready-made excuse based on an urban legend that must have gone well with them, after all.

If I weren’t in the water, they wouldn’t have had to watch me diligently to keep me from switching the weapon to the left and could have safely gone into a coma for hours.

While I had to wait, counting the minutes, to be able to soak and play Save Willy for the rest of the afternoon. But I ask myself this question: now that I am a parent too, will I make the same excuse to my daughter if I have the chance to be by the sea this summer?

Well, let’s be honest, there is a way. But I will try not to bring out the same myths about him, this story does not help anyone. Then if it’s your turn to find out in a few years that I gave her an intoxication so that she could enjoy my nap, it will be the pompom on the Garonne.

Photo credit image of one: Kindel Media / Pexels