Some digestion problems such as acid reflux, constipation, and heartburn are serious issues to have. These types of pain are difficult to deal with, and these are caused by the amount of meal you eat few hours before sleeping. Aside from the amount of meal that you eat, digestion problem can also be caused by the type of food you eat, and your position when you sleep.
An uneven bed or mattress can also cause reflux. When your body is laying unevenly, your acidic gas rises up which leads into a heartburn. That’s why most experts would always recommend to make sure that you get a platform bed based. This kind of bed has an even side rail and cut slats, that can also place your mattress evenly. We should keep in mind that a great bed has a connection to a best side to sleep on for a better digestion.
Some other types of digestion problems, like diarrhea are embarrassing to have for few people. It could be very uncomfortable to have, especially when you are on a public place. Though, the digestion problems that will be discussed in this article, are the particular pain that occurs when we wake up or during the sleeping hours. There will be some tips that will be discussed on this article to avoid such a problem. So all you need to do now is to keep on scrolling down.
Best sides to sleep on for digestion
Left side – in this sleeping position, your small intestine removes you waste. Then your small intestine put it on the right part of your stomach, to your lower colon which is on the lower left part of your stomach. through this kind of process, your sleeping position enable your digestive system to have a better solidarity with the gravity. This process can also regulate your metabolism by the time you wake up. A well-regulated metabolism can also lessen your chance to wake up or have a day with diarrhea. Your metabolism plays a role on your digestive system, since these two are just connected and has some similarities when it comes to process. Aside from avoiding any digestive issues, sleeping on your left side can also avoid you to have fatigue and back pains.
Lift your head up – Lifting up your head while you’re lying on your left side is also a best side to have at night time digestion. According to some studies, by lifting your head up decreases the chances to get a heartburn while you’re sleeping, or waking up with heartburn. In addition, this position also lowers your gastric acid level because by lifting up your head while you’re on your left side, the gravity pulls down your acid level back to your stomach. This side is also very relaxing to your neck and to the middle part of your head. You will also fall asleep faster than usual when this side is executed because the comfort is tempting your eyes to shut down and close.
Pillow Sandwich – one of the most common and very comfortable sleeping positions. A pillow sandwich is a position where you place an extra pillow between your aligned legs. Most people might not be aware that this position is not just comfortable, but it is also one of the best sides to sleep on, to avoid digestion problem. Here’s an explanation why. This position keeps your spine in a well-balanced alignment and it avoids any kind of discomfort while you’re sleeping. This position can be done whether you’re sleeping on a modern design sofa or on your bed. This is another position that can avoid any pain on your back by the time you wake up.
Pillow Hugging – this sleeping position or side is just similar to pillow sandwich. However, in this position, the extra pillow is placed between your arms. A pillow hugging is a sleeping position or sleeping side where you bend on your left side a little and hug your pillow. This sleeping side has a half combination of the previous three sleeping sides mentioned above. Since your arms are hugging the pillow, your arms are also supporting your head to lift it a little, and it can also straighten your spine when you lift your other foot.
Additional things for a better digestion while sleeping
Aside from those position I mentioned above, there are also some particular things that can help you avoid those digestion problems. These things written below are the things that can help you avoid having any of those digestion problems.
Lessen the amount of your dinner – To avoid any digestion problems, you should always remember to minimize your food when it’s already evening. Our metabolism slows down when asleep, and if you have too much food to digest, your digestive system won’t be able to digest all of the food you ate. Which is one of the common causes of constipation or diarrhea. A one-half cup of rice and one slice of lean meat or any vegetables will be enough for you to have for your dinner. Aside from a digestion problem, eating too much at night might also risk you to have sleep paralysis, and trust me, you don’t want to have both, so it is much better to lessen your dinner.
Choose your dinner wisely – Choosing your food for dinner is an important matter for everyone. Make sure to choose the type of food which is easy to digest such as lean meat (it could be a fish, or a breast part of chicken). You also need to avoid eating too much rice when it’s already evening. Rice can be very difficult to digest too, when you eat a lot of it. Pork, beef and any protein that has a high amount of fat are difficult to digest and would mostly cause diarrhea when those are not digested well, and we all know nobody like to have diarrhea. So, it’s the best thing to be very careful on what you eat for dinner.
Sleep as deep as you can in an even and relaxing position – This tip actually works for most people. One of the things you need to do to avoid any digestion problems is to take a power nap in an even and relaxing position. The purpose of a power nap is to give you a continuous sleep at night and a continuous sleep regulates your digestion even when you’re already sleeping. When your digestive system is processing smoothly even when you’re sleeping, then it can also balance your metabolism.
Be an early bird – have you ever notice that when you overslept, your stomach growls? Of course it growls, which only means that you’re hungry. That’s because our body is also aware of the time, and when it growls while you’re sleeping, that means you have to wake up because it’s not healthy. holding up your hunger just because you’re still sleeping even if it’s already 9AM in the morning can also increase your acidity. That’s why the best time to wake up is 7AM or 8AM in the morning and eat your breakfast few minutes after you wake up. You can also use a sleep calculator to keep track on a specific time that you need to wake up.
Avoid Midnight snack – we always get hungry in the middle of the night, which sometimes causes us to grab some snacks from our fridge. However, it is actually a bad thing, especially when you’re the type of person who’s always prone to have some digestion problem. Eating midnight snack can definitely increase your chances to wake up with an angry stomach. So, the best thing to have when your stomach growls in the middle of the night is to drink a glass of water. A glass of water can ease the temporary hunger you feel, and a glass of water can also make you feel like you’re still full, so it is much better to have a glass of water than to have a midnight snack.
So to conclude, any digestion problem can be avoided as long as we are aware of what are the proper and the best sides to sleep on for digestion. Aside from those best sides mentioned above, the added things are not just to avoid any digestion problems but we can also get various benefits from those. We should also remember that our bed also has a connection to our sleeping sides. We always want to have a very comfortable sleeping bed, so it is best to get a natural duvet, a bed that has a great and consistent quality no matter what the season is. Sleeping in a bed that has a bad quality and uneven cat slats can definitely affect our sleeping position or sleeping side. By executing those sleeping sides discussed above, and applying the added things on your daily life can definitely improve not just your health but also your sleeping hours and digestive system.