Should You Wait To Go Swimming After Eating?

Picture it : you ’re 10 age old , you ’ve just perfectly bang up the hotel breakfast snack counter , and now you ’re ready for a day of skylark about in the pond . But await – your parents say you have to waitress before you may go swim ( boooo ) . Why ? None of their answers seem very believable and it turn out there ’s a good reason for that .

It ’s because the theme simply is n’t plunk for up by science . There might be the odd anecdotical narrative take the cryptical dying of a child who just so happens to be the same age as you , but scientific lit on the issue is pretty lacking and that which does live does n’t support the idea thatswimmingdirectly after eating poses any magnanimous danger .

So where on Earth did the myth hail from ?

" The old tactile sensation was that , after you wipe out , some of the blood may be hive off to your gut so that you’re able to digest , diverting the blood stream off from your arms and legs , " exigency medicament Dr. Dr Michael Boniface toldMayo Clinic Minute . " And you may get tired or wear down , and be more probable to overwhelm . "

Although how previous this “ sometime spirit ” is is n’t exactly clear , some of the earliest grounds of it can be come up in the 1908 handbookScouting for Boys .

“ First , there is the risk of muscle spasm . If you bathe within an hour and a half after take a meal , that is , before your food is digested , you are very probable to get cramp . Cramp double you up in uttermost pain so that you’re able to not move your sleeve or legs – and down you go , ” it read . “ You may drown – and it will be your own faulting . ”

Savage words for a book aimed at tyke , but also incorrect .

In2011 , the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council investigated the survive scientific lit on swimming after eating and found , in both amateur and competitive swim , “ no relative incidence of fateful or non - fatal drowning . ”

“ There is currently no evidence to support any link between eating before swimming and drowning . The persistence of this myth is not actively harmful , but it is all the same a myth , ” the council concluded .

That does n’t mean you might not get tummy troubles if you chow down on a fleshy repast before hittingthe kitty – a wave machine plus a full stomach does n’t strike us as a pleasant combination – but it ’s extremely unbelievable to result in your death by drown .

Now go off and make up for all that time lost wait .

All “ explainer ” article are confirmed byfact checkersto be right at time of publishing . Text , images , and links may be blue-pencil , removed , or added to at a later date to keep information current .