Myth of the Month: Eating Before Swimming
You Need to Wait An Hour After Eating to Swim
You're itching to cool off in the pool, but you've just chowed down-now what? If you feel up to it, dive right in! "Swimming on a full stomach won't make you more likely to drown," says Christine Keating, M.D., a physical rehabilitation specialist at the Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. The reasoning behind that misconception is that digestion routes blood to your stomach, thereby robbing your muscles of oxygen, which can trigger a side or leg cramp. "But during exercise, your body produces adrenaline that actually boosts your circulation, supplying your muscles with oxygen," says Keating. In fact, you shouldn't swim on an empty stomach. Before you take the plunge, Keating recommends drinking water and eating a 100- to 200-calorie snack.
