Dinner plays a crucial role in our daily life. The last meal we consume for the day is vital for us to have a healthy body, and also plays an essential role in our social and family life. A healthy dinner can give you a healthy life and fit body. However, what you do after dinner can be equally important to your health and overall well-being.
Some individuals exhibit certain habits after taking a night meal which is inappropriate and may pose some health risks. These habits could result in health issues such as puking, indigestion, heartburn, etc.
Therefore, carrying out proper behaviors after your night meal could save you the risks associated with bad after-meal habits. This article will provide you with the proper things to do after dinner.
8 Healthy Things To Do After Dinner
Some of the healthy things to do after dinner include:
1. Take warm water
After having your dinner, you should wait at least half an hour before drinking a glass of warm water. This water helps in the breakdown of the food and encourages easy digestion. Warm water also helps the body absorb essential nutrients that benefit the body.
2. Brush your teeth
To carry out this particular habit, specialists advise that you wait for at least 30 minutes after dinner before brushing. This is because brushing after dinner helps bring the mouth’s PH level to be neutral and get rid of germs. It also helps remove plaques that could form around and in between the teeth.
Furthermore, brushing your teeth after dinner is important because it is recommended that you brush your teeth twice a day. Thus, make sure that you brush after you’ve had your last meal and before you go to bed. If you go to sleep without brushing, you will allow plaque to build up, causing damage to the tooth enamel, and irritate the gums.
3. Walk for a few minutes
It’s a bad habit to rush off to bed immediately after dinner, which could lead to indigestion or puking. Instead, you could take about 20 minutes to walk around to help hasten the digestion process. Taking a walk after dinner could also help prevent stomach upset and bloating.
4. Avoid eating fruits immediately
Fruits are essential to the body and provide essential nutrients to the body. However, taking fruits after dinner is inappropriate because of their inability to digest appropriately at night. Fruits also contain sugar which could trigger indigestion and deprive you of sleep.
In addition, consuming fruits right after dinner is not a great idea, because it may not be digested properly. The nutrients may not be absorbed properly either. It is advised that you leave a gap of at least 30 minutes between finishing dinner and eating a fruit.
5. Avoid smoking
As a smoker, you might be tempted to light a cigarette and take a puff after eating. However, smoking itself isn’t encouraging. Therefore, smoking after dinner could lead to heartburn and irritation of the bowels.
Smoking increases cancer risk, and doing it after dinner could disturb your sleep.
6. Take probiotic supplements
Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms that help in the digestion process. They could be found in cultured foods, yogurt, ice creams, etc. Taking these products after dinner could be of added advantage to the body.
7. Relax
Relaxing doesn’t mean you should run off to bed right after dinner. Instead, you could sit down to watch your favorite television programs, listen to music, or have a chat with your partner. Of course, you could do this for a few minutes after dinner before hitting your bed.
8. Avoid alcohol
Taking alcohol literally makes you tipsy and sleepy; this could make you think that alcohol might help you sleep. However, it releases cortisol in the body, which might keep you awake all night.
Final words
Practicing these heathy habits after dinner could help digestion and aid in sleep at night. It’s therefore important to stay away from patterns that could result in stomach upset and other discomfort related to wrong after-dinner acts.
