“Don’t swim for 30 minutes. Don’t swim for 1 hour.” Many children hear this warning from their parents and other adults. “You cannot swim after you eat. You will get cramps and drown.”

“What?!? Cramps, why? Drowning, no way,” is what I thought when given this warning. While the adults tried to instill fear of drowning in our hearts after eating at the beach, pool or lake. “Eat, swim cramp and drown” was apparently the wisdom of the ages.

But this logic never seemed correct to me. while digesting does require blood to helped with the body’s natural digestive processes, it is enough to cause cramps? Is there sufficient blood drawn away from the muscles to cause cramps and drowning? Dr. Roshini Rajapaksa, a gastroenterologist at the New York University School of Medicine, said this risk for most recreational swimmers the chances are small, but fewer than 1% occurred after the victim ate a meal.

But we wonder if these passed away due to the meal itself or for other reasons. Even if it feels uncomfortable to swim after a full meal, or if you feel seasick due to swallowing salt water, does eating really lead to cramps and then drowning?

We think not.

Copyright © 2012 by Open Water Source