Showering after eating is bad; myth?

[pesgores]

So my mom told me dinner was about to be served and that I should go take my shower (like she always does). Since it's Spring break time, I told her "no, tonight I'm going to shower right before I go to bed" and she called me crazy and said it is harmful because of... reasons. Basicly, that's her source of reasoning: old wives' tales.

And I, being anti-secular knowledge, became curious. I decided to search online for personal experiences and opinions, but since it's the Internet, I don't know wether I could trust those who said they have always taken showers whenever they wanted (before and immediately after eating) and never felt anything related to the "known" symptoms (stomach ache, digestion complications, etc). Then, there are the others who resort to the explanation that the skin contact with water diverts the blood that would be used for the digestion process and that is harmful to your health.

Who is right? What is wrong and what makes no difference? Is there anyone who can confirm personally that it's a myth ("people I knew" statements are to be ignored, since that's how some myths propagate, we should avoid "implied" knowledge)? Or, on the other hand, people that have felt in person the dangers of showering right after eating?

 

[BvBPL]

A hot shower will cause increased blood to flow to your epidermis as a means to control the heat against your body. After eating, you want your blood to flow to your stomach and digestive tract. Taking a hot shower can reduce the bloody flow to your digestive tract, thereby causing discomfort.

 

[pesgores]

Discomfort? That's it?

 

[BvBPL]

Depends on a variety of factors. If you're young, healthy, and eating a moderate amount of good food then it is unlikely you'll experience any problems. If you're older, in poor health, and eating too much crummy food then you might experience additional digestive problems.

 

[Janig]

My skin gets bad when I shower after breakfast so I shower before breakfast. Your mum is right. Im young and my diet is wild but as BvB says everyone is unique.

 

[Narz]

I always shower before sleep. I always end it cold though because being cool is more conducive to sleep than being too hot (also it makes me feel like a man).

 

[pesgores]

The thing is, she goes hysterical if I say that I will see if anything happens because, according to her, it can kill.

 

[Narz]

I'm just glad I don't live with my mom anymore!

 

[Quintillus]

Well, good news, I've showered both after breakfast and after dinner (and I'm sure at one point after lunch and after non-Taco-Bell fourthmeal), and it hasn't killed me a single time out of the hundreds of times. Of course, that's no guarantee that it's never killed anyone in the history of the planet, but it's not guaranteed to kill.

I would suggest easing in to an after-eating showering routing given the likelihood of hysterics. Don't insist on starting it after a feast. Work your way up. Start with something small like a grape or a raisin, then gradually work your way up to snacks, small breakfasts, and, eventually, regular meals. That way, even if it doesn't bode well for you, you'll probably see warning signs before you've tried to shower after eating a fatal amount of food.

What BvBPL is (in all seriousness) likely correct. But, from a practical standpoint, assuming you don't have a particularly weak digestive tract, I suspect you won't notice a difference at all. I can't say I've ever noticed a difference.

 

[Defiant47]

Why does blood need to go to your digestive system? Your stomach churns the food for 5 hours, and then it sets it along the small intestines. The small intestines decompose the food in bits that are useful for your body (for various purposes) and your blood takes those along.

Taking a shower should be helpful for digestion. Maintaining your body temperature uses up energy. If you keep a curtain of warm water over yourself means that your body doesn't need to produce heat as much, and that energy can be diverted to something like stomach-churning.

It's the reason why it's so enjoyable to have a warm shower or stand right behind a fireplace. Your body is getting warmed up without your metabolism working so hard at it - so it's going to want more of that.

 

[Defiant47]

Now that I think about it, the only reason why showering after eating could be bad is because you're standing up and doing vigorous action in cleaning yourself. Ideally after eating, you should have a "siesta" and just take a small nap.

But who has time for those, amirite?

 

[Janig]

I figure the hot humid atmosphere of a shower is bad after eating because it will spread food particles through ones throat into open pores; I hadnt really thought of that before thanks pesgores.

 

[Zelig]

There's really nothing that you can't do after eating. In terms of vigorous exercise, you probably want to time carbs an appropriate amount of time beforehand, but it's still mostly a matter of comfort.

Maintaining your body temperature uses up energy.

To a point, there's also quite a bit of waste heat. I assume once you start to sweat, it means your body is no longer using extra energy for heating.

 

[Glassfan]

Digestion requires energy - it's why you shouldn't go swimming after eating - a cramp or feint in the water can kill. But standing in the shower is harmless.

An invigorating shower should be taken at the beginning of your day - to wake you up - unless you're really dirty or sweaty or getting lucky.

 

[Zelig]

Digestion requires energy - it's why you shouldn't go swimming after eating - a cramp or feint in the water can kill.

Complete myth.

 

[Glassfan]

It's not a myth. My information comes from Brain Stuff on the HowStuffWorks podcast. Digestion requires energy, and if you engage in vigorous exercise after eating you are making double energy demands on your body. If you're on land and get a cramp or feel faint, you can just sit down and recover. But if you are swimming in water over your head, you can drown.

Mothers are right in being prudent with their children's lives. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission points out that drowning in family pools is second only to traffic accidents as a source of death for small children.

As for the thread, showering after dinner is no danger.

 

[Zelig]

It's not a myth. My information comes from Brain Stuff on the HowStuffWorks podcast.

Do you have a linkable source?

 

[Glassfan]

No, like I said, it was a podcast with Marshall Brain on HowStuffWorks.

 

[Narz]

Ideally after eating, you should have a "siesta" and just take a small nap.

Lying down after eating a decent sized meal isn't really ideal.

But regardless, sounds like pesgores' mom needs something better to worry about.

 

[Tycho]

The thing is, she goes hysterical if I say that I will see if anything happens because, according to her, it can kill.

In that case, I needs to call an ambulance soon.