You must wait 30 minutes before swimming after eating a meal

[Phil C. McNasty]

Did your parents tell you this when you were a kid??
That you had to wait 30 minutes before swimming after eating a meal??
Mine did.

Turns out its complete bullshit.
There's never been a single case of someone drowning from stomach cramps after eating a meal and then hopping in a swimming pool

Mayo Clinic Minute: Should you wait 30 minutes to swim after eating? - Mayo Clinic News Network

It's advice parents have been giving their children for generations. "When I was growing up, I remember my mother telling me, you know, not to go in the pool until it was 30 to 60 minutes after I had my last meal," says Dr. Michael Boniface, a Mayo Clinic emergency medicine physician. He says...

newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org

 

[The Oracle]

By that same logic, Eating before a workout would be a no no as well I suppose.

 

[instantmassaging1980]

That always sounded like something adults made up for kids. Like how if you make a disgruntled face frequently your face will be stuck that way or how if you don't brush your teeth you'll get cavities.

 

[AssTastic]

So the fear element was a load of bullshit for sure, and the article does state some important facts. Granted… I think the practice of this is more relevant to adults (especially middle age+).

Digestion is more important than the food itself (for the purpose of my diatribe)… at least moving it past the stomach. So if you were to eat and jump in the pool, the water pressure does have an effect on the body and might cause the mentioned cramping and discomfort. But this doesn’t necessarily apply to floating on the top… but rather deeper water.

As a teen or 20 something, I could eat half a pizza and swim with no issues… but now that I’m a geezer, I get the gurgles and some weird bloat if I attempt the same with a fraction of the food.

Bottom line… eat, relax, digest, enjoy the view…nap… then go for a dip! Paradise!!

 

[explorerzip]

I think it depends on what and how much you eat too. Eating a lot of rich, spicy, etc food at a buffet might not cause you to drown, but you could see that food a second time.

 

[Ahri]

I used to work in a pool before and never listened to that rule, I’m happy it turned out to be false

 

[Paprika]

Did your parents tell you this when you were a kid??
That you had to wait 30 minutes before swimming after eating a meal??
Mine did.

Turns out its complete bullshit.
There's never been a single case of someone drowning from stomach cramps after eating a meal and then hopping in a swimming pool

Mayo Clinic Minute: Should you wait 30 minutes to swim after eating? - Mayo Clinic News Network

It's advice parents have been giving their children for generations. "When I was growing up, I remember my mother telling me, you know, not to go in the pool until it was 30 to 60 minutes after I had my last meal," says Dr. Michael Boniface, a Mayo Clinic emergency medicine physician. He says...

newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org

I don't think it's complete bullshit.

Doing rigorous exercise right after eating a full meal is very bad idea, you can get reflux, hiccups, nausea and vomiting, the same applies to swimming rigorously...

 

[unassuming]

"Stop masturbating or you will go blind!"

 

[corrie fan]

"Stop masturbating or you will go blind!"

Can I just do it until I need glasses?

 

[squeezer]

By that same logic, Eating before a workout would be a no no as well I suppose.

Yup, I was always told not to go in a pool after eating but I never listened but I cannot work out after a meal. No way, I'd be heaving it up within 30 minutes.

 

[Knuckle Ball]

It's a myth: swimming right after eating is totally fine

Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters explain politics, policy, world affairs, technology, culture, science, the climate crisis, money...

www.vox.com

So where did this idea come from?
It's unclear. Snopes.com traced it back as far as 1908, when the original edition of Scouting for Boys said:

First, there is the danger of cramp. If you bathe within an hour and a half after taking a meal, that is, before your food is digested, you are very likely to get cramp. Cramp doubles you up in extreme pain so that you cannot move your arms or legs — and down you go. You may drown — and it will be your own fault.

The belief persisted through the first half of the 20th century, then became particularly prominent during the 1950s and 60s. Over the past few years, it seems to have become less widely trusted, partly due to articles debunking it — like this one.




Whoever wrote that manual back in 1918 was about that life!

 

[1kevin]

I would wait 2 hours before swimming several lengths, but 0 minutes if it's just splashing around in the shallow end.

 

[ultistar]

This is silly.
a while back, my young child around 5yo wanted to go play w friends in the swim pool. So after lunch we go and then he pukes in the pool. I had to clean up and we did NOT have to take him to hospital emergency, cuz he was fine.
So why would a Mayo Clinic emergency doc report such silly stuff.
Maybe he never had young kids going to a swim pool.

 

[stephenp]

It's a myth: swimming right after eating is totally fine

Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters explain politics, policy, world affairs, technology, culture, science, the climate crisis, money...

www.vox.com

So where did this idea come from?
It's unclear. Snopes.com traced it back as far as 1908, when the original edition of Scouting for Boys said:


The belief persisted through the first half of the 20th century, then became particularly prominent during the 1950s and 60s. Over the past few years, it seems to have become less widely trusted, partly due to articles debunking it — like this one.




Whoever wrote that manual back in 1918 was about that life!

Interesting that it goes so far back. Thanks for the research. I knew it was BS from a long time ago but not that it has been around that long

 

[stephenp]

"Stop masturbating or you will go blind!"

But I thought this was why my prescription keeps changing

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

I don't think it's complete bullshit.

Doing rigorous exercise right after eating a full meal is very bad idea, you can get reflux, hiccups, nausea and vomiting, the same applies to swimming rigorously...

Sure, but the message back when I was told this was you could drown from stomach cramps.
This is simply not true. There's never been any recorded case of this happening

 

[onomatopoeia]

While walking past Seaton House, I thought to myself: "This is where little boys end up, when they don't eat their peas.".

 

[richaceg]

Parents told us a lot of bullshit....IMO i think it's one way to gain control of you...the boogeyman etc etc...

 

[Carvher]

If you think it's bullshit, go eat a nice pasta dinner and get a buddy to drop you off in a boat 500 mts from the shore with no life jacket.

Let us all know how fun it was swimming back to shore