A person becomes extremely vulnerable when they are on an empty stomach. Food is the basic necessity for us humans, we require it to extract our nutrients and energy from. This is why we become hungry. An empty stomach is when you’ve had your last meal at least 2 hours ago. There are these 9 things that you should avoid doing on an empty stomach.
1. Never Take Anti-Inflammatory Tablets
Popular anti-inflammatory medicines like paracetamol and aspirin should be avoided while you’re on an empty stomach. Not only does it make the medicine less effective but it also causes side-effects. Gastric bleeding is one such problem.
Doctors prescribe other medicines as well that shouldn’t be taken while you’ve not eaten anything. Milk, however, can be taken with the medicine. It will reduce most of the negative effects.
2. Avoid Coffee First Thing In The Morning
All sorts of coffee form acid as soon as they reach an empty stomach. It can cause heartburn or digestive problems if you drink it in the morning, without breakfast. It can make you feel low the whole day due to low serotonin production. If you must have coffee first thing in the morning, then add some milk to it.
3. Don’t Consume Alcohol
When hungry, our body absorbs everything we eat at a much faster rate. The alcohol will get absorbed extremely fast and the removal will be slow. This will give you a horrible hangover. Your heart, liver, and kidneys will also suffer.
4. Say No To Chewing Gum
It results in the production of acid in our stomach which is meant for digestion. In the absence of any food, the acid will start digesting your stomach’s inner lining. This causes gastritis. Chewing gums also make you want to eat more junk food.
You can go for gums with natural sugars like xylitol or sorbitol. Don’t consume those having aspartame, cyclamate or sugar. Also, don’t chew them for too long, even on a full stomach.
5. Don’t Skip Your Dinner
If you sleep hungry, you wake up feeling even more so. Your sleep will be ruined by the low sugar level. But you also shouldn’t eat excess food before going to bed either. Consume food having magnesium and calcium for a good night’s sleep.
6. Never Exercise On An Empty Stomach
People think that exercising while their stomach is empty burns more calories. But many studies have proven this to be wrong. Instead, it will cause your muscles to shrink. You can try aerobics and have some snacks before beginning training.
7. Don’t Go Grocery Shopping While Hungry
You automatically buy more food than needed when you are hungry. Not only that, even the non-food items are purchased more by hungry people. To save money, shop only when you’re full.
8. You Should Not Be Consuming Citrus Fruits/ Juice
Due to high acid content and hard fiber, these fruits can trouble your gut. You can eat them by mixing their juice with water in a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio.
9. Don’t Argue While Your Stomach Is Empty
Hunger pangs can destabilize your mind. Hence, you may get angrier than usual and lose rationality.
On the positive side, an empty stomach can increase your problem-solving abilities. Ghrelin stimulates our brain and it also regulates our hunger.
Our attentiveness is also enhanced during hunger. So, you can make better decisions while you’re hungry. But don’t try this trick on bigger problems!
