Sitting down to eat allows you to take time to enjoy your food and eat more slowly. Food stays in your stomach longer, helping you feel full after finishing your meal. “When you sit down for a meal, you eat more leisurely, which helps you manage your portion size and avoid extra calories.
Your body is most comfortable digesting food in an upright position, as it allows for easy digestion. Lying down immediately after eating a light meal for dinner can cause the stomach contents to reflux into the oesophagus, triggering symptoms of GERD and heartburn.
To improve digestion while sleeping, try lying on your left side. Gravity will help food move through your intestines. Laying on your right side, back, or stomach can increase your odds of reflux. Getting enough sleep and sleeping at the right times for your body clock will also help improve digestion.
Stay Upright
Remaining upright and avoiding positions in which you're leaning back for two to three hours after a large meal will minimize the risk for heartburn, Dr. Saha advises. If you've gotten into the slouching habit, practice good body mechanics when sitting and standing.
You should wait for at least 2 hours after a meal before you go to your bed. If you've developed a habit of lying down soon after you eat your food, you may eventually develop gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) in which your lower esophagus fails to close off properly after you've eaten something.
There's no concern that water thins down or weakens down (dilute) the digestive juices or interfere with digestion. In fact, drinking water during or after a meal helps how your body breaks down and processes food (digestion). Water is vital for good health.
Drink one glass of water 30 minutes before a meal to help digestion. Remember not to drink too soon before or after a meal as the water will dilute the digestive juices. Drink water an hour after the meal to allow the body to absorb the nutrients.
After you ate too much
“Pull yourself away from the table,” Kim said. “Be the first to volunteer for dish duty and clean up instead of settling down on the couch in front of the TV. Also, it might be helpful to sit up straight and engage in some simple, deep breathing techniques.”
Gastric emptying tests are tests that measure the time it takes for food to empty out of your stomach. After a meal, it normally takes 1 1/2 to two hours for food to move out of the stomach and into the small intestine. When your stomach takes longer than normal to empty, it's called gastroparesis.
Eat small meals more often.
Try to space your meals out. Eat 4-6 times a day. Your stomach may swell less and empty faster if you don't put too much in it. A small meal is about 1 to 1½ cups of food.
It's often recommended that you should stop drinking water two hours before going to bed. This way, you're not flooding your body with extra fluids that may cause an unwanted trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Jeera Water
Jeera water has been used since the Ayurvedic era due to its digestive benefits. This low-calorie drink is packed with antioxidants that help improve digestion and increase metabolism. How to prepare - Just soak a handful of cumin seeds in a bowl of water and let it rest overnight.
Some water before bed helps your body stay hydrated at night. However, too much water before bed can interrupt your sleep cycle and lead to a chronic lack of sleep. That, in turn, can increase your risk of obesity and hinder weight loss. Low drinkers of water will want to up their intake during the day instead.
The nerves are in state of tension when we drink water rapidly in standing position which disrupts the balance of fluids leading to increase in toxins and indigestion in the body. It also accumulates fluids in the joints triggering arthritis. It also affects the filtration process of water by the kidneys.
You are probably all aware of the “cardinal rule” that says adults should drink six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day.
“The correct way to drink water, is to sit down with your back straight. This way, the water reaches the brain and helps improve brain activity. It also aids in digestion and tackles bloating,” she added. Anshuka further wrote that the healthy way of drinking water is by storing it in copper vessels.
Reading: Experts also advise against reading a book while eating. It is another form of distraction. While eating, it is important to concentrate on what's on the plate because eating in the right manner allows food to get digested properly. Wrong posture: Did you know that you shouldn't stand and eat your food?
It's best to stop eating about three hours before going to bed. That allows plenty of time for your body to digest the last food you ate so it won't disrupt your sleep, but leaves a small enough window before sleep that you won't go to bed feeling hungry.
Feeling a little bit hungry before bed can be a good thing, as you don't want to feel overly full before bed. However, you don't want so hungry that you can't relax and fall asleep. So if you're struggling to sleep and find your stomach feels empty, a light snack may help you fall asleep.
In most cases, clear urine is a sign that you're well hydrated. And that's a positive thing because good hydration helps your body function at its best. But, in some cases, clear pee may mean that you're drinking too much water and you're too hydrated.