7 Things To Never Do On An Empty Stomach

The way we start our morning can help us stay energized and vibrant throughout the day. However, sometimes we develop habits that can lead to unwanted physical and emotional effects instead of helping us. This is especially true on an empty stomach.

While many of these habits have become part of our routine or even seem “harmless”, in practice they can affect our well-being over time.

So, today in our article we want to talk about 7 things you should avoid doing on an empty stomach for the sake of your health.

Read on and discover them!

1. Consuming Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

You should not take medicines on an empty stomach such as:

• aspirin
• paracetamol
• nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

This can lead to serious digestive problems.

Their compositions can cause an imbalance in the stomach lining and lead to gastric bleeding in severe cases .

Recommendations

• To minimize the negative effects of NSAIDs, you should drink milk when consuming them.
• If you don’t have milk available, take them with plenty of water.

2. Drinking coffee

Some people have the habit of ‘charging’ with a cup of coffee at the start of the day. They ignore the possible side effects that can occur.

While there’s no denying that it’s an uplifting drink that’s packed with nutrients and benefits, drinking coffee on an empty stomach can be a harmful habit.

Even when coffee is decaffeinated, it increases acid production in the stomach and can cause heartburn and reflux.

Recommendations

• If drinking coffee at the start of the day is something you can’t give up, drink it with coffee cream or milk. The fat contained in those ingredients minimizes the negative effects coffee has.
• If tea is a possible option, it is better to exchange your coffee for tea or a natural smoothie.

3. Drinking Alcoholic Beverages

Drinking alcoholic beverages on an empty stomach can potentially harm your liver, heart, and kidneys.

Our body absorbs alcohol twice as fast on an empty stomach and that is just as fast as alcohol through an IV.

To add to this, the elimination of toxins is actually slower, causing higher levels of alcohol poisoning and stronger hangovers.

Recommendations

• If for any reason you drink alcohol on an empty stomach, make sure you eat a snack that contains at least fat as soon as you can.
• Avoid combining alcohol with coffee or carbonated drinks, as this can enhance the effect.

4. Chewing gum

When we chew gum, our body produces a substance called hydrochloric acid that could lead to unwanted side effects if our stomach is empty.

This bad habit irritates the stomach lining and can cause serious problems in the long term, such as gastric mucosal inflammation.

Recommendations

• If you are used to chewing gum, choose gum that contains natural sweeteners.
• Avoid chewing gum with sweeteners such as sugar, cyclamate or aspartame.
• Avoid chewing gum for more than 10 minutes, even if you’ve already eaten.

5. Intense training

There are many myths about exercising in the morning. There are those who believe that exercising on an empty stomach helps burn more calories.

However, it is very unlikely that an empty stomach will affect the number of calories you burn. On the contrary, it could even reduce muscle mass.

We have to keep in mind that our body needs nutrients to start the day every morning. By forcing our body to exercise in the morning, it tries to sustain itself by using its energy reserves.

Recommendations

• Replace high-intensity workouts with low-impact workouts.
• At the very least, try to eat a piece of fruit before exercising.
• If you have digestive problems, eat well before exercising to avoid complications.

6. Drinking citrus juices on an empty stomach

Citrus juices contain many vitamins, minerals and other important essential nutrients that are beneficial to our bodies.

Despite their benefits, you should not drink them on an empty stomach, as they can irritate the gastric mucosa, especially in cases of gastric mucosal inflammation or digestive complications.

Recommendations

• If you want to drink citrus juice on an empty stomach, mix it with equal parts water to avoid its harmful effects on your stomach.
• Try drinking these types of juices during breakfast or mid-morning.

7. Discuss

Researchers in the United States have shown that feeling hungry increases our irritability and therefore makes us more prone to fights.

The brain needs energy sources to function and ‘control’ itself, which is precisely why it is not a good idea to walk on an empty tank for a long time.

Recommendations

• If you don’t want to be full of bad energy in the morning, share a cup of tea or a healthy drink with your partner or family members when you get up.
• Try to eat breakfast within the first hour of waking.
• Doing so will undoubtedly improve your mood instantly.

Do you recognize yourself in any of the habits in our article? Now that you are aware of their negative effects, make sure you take the necessary steps to correct them before you find yourself with a problem.