2024-08-04 16:26:43
Since then, the old adage has left many a child in despair watching their friends splash – but according to science, swimmers have nothing to worry about.
“It’s an old wives’ tale,” says Peter Wernicki, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic’s Indian River Hospital and a member of the Red Cross Scientific Advisory Board, “it’s safe to swim anytime after a meal.”
According to the myth, eating directs blood to the stomach instead of the muscles, causing paralyzing cramps. Or maybe the blood is directed to the muscles instead of the stomach…which is also supposed to cause paralyzing cramps.
There is a grain of truth in each of these arguments, Mr. Wernicki says. Inadequate blood supply can cause muscle cramps. When we eat, the body actually directs extra blood to the stomach, and when we exercise, our muscles also receive extra blood. However, the changes in blood supply after eating a sandwich are not so great that you need to see a doctor urgently.
In other words, according to the Mayo Clinic, muscle cramps due to low blood supply simply do not occur in healthy people. But if it does, it usually indicates an underlying disease, such as atherosclerosis, a condition that occurs when the walls of a person’s arteries become narrow and harden.
There was a time when scientists took this myth seriously. 20th century In the 1960s, many studies investigated whether eating before swimming affected athletes’ performance or caused any nausea.
in 1968 researchers fed 24 swimmers a hearty breakfast of toast, sugar, butter, and whole milk, then told them to wait varying amounts of time before swimming. According to the study, paskelbto žurnale „Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport“none of the athletes experienced any cramping or nausea – their swimming did not even slow down.
Today, there is a clear consensus that eating before swimming is not dangerous. in 2011 American Red Cross published a scientific review on this issue and found that pre-swim food restrictions are unnecessary and not supported by scientific evidence.
According to Mr. Wernicki, there has never been a recorded case of a person drowning because they had just eaten.
Parengta pagal „Live Science“.
2024-08-04 16:26:43