Is it safe to swim after eating

I stumbled across an article recently that said there is no evidence that waiting any amount of time after eating will prevent stomach cramps. Apparently all those hours of waiting in desperation after holiday lunches were for my parents just to have a snooze/relax without having to worry about me.

Do all the parents out there do the same thing?

I thought it was due to the fact that your body is digesting food it is less efficient in energy provision to your muscles so you are more likely to get cramp which can be a real risk when swimming.

It's another one of those myths that has stuck - no evidence for it, as they say. I suppose there is the possibility that you will empty your stomach in the sea though...

I'd imagine it is more a case of the fact that you shouldn't really be doing any exercise immediately after a meal as any sort of physical activity will likely bring the contents back up. Surely that's commonsense really. Who really wants to go swimming immediately after eating?

Bit tricky not to if you're a shark.

Eat while you're swimming now thats a challange. Top Tip Don't try toast goes soggy too quick

Definitely wouldn't fancy swimming or any kind of exercise straight after eating - whether it was safe or not.

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I'd imagine it is more a case of the fact that you shouldn't really be doing any exercise immediately after a meal as any sort of physical activity will likely bring the contents back up. Surely that's commonsense really. Who really wants to go swimming immediately after eating?

I think we all have our serious adult hats on here which is kind of the point...when you are a child sitting on the beach not being allowed to go in the sea after lunch it is torture but as an adult you just want to relax.

Agreed - that was complete torture! but now I definitely wouldn't want to do any kind of exercise straight after eating.