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What Is The Best Sleeping Position For Digestion? A Helpful Guide
Do you need a bit of help with your digestion? You’ve come to the right place.
Looking after your gut health is something most people seem to overlook, but its no less important than looking after your head, heart, or lungs. Poor digestion has some common symptoms that we’re all familiar with, ie. constipation, diarrhea, upset stomach, heartburn, or nausea.
There are many things you can do to improve your digestion and gut health, one of which is improving your sleep. Today, we’ll discuss the best sleeping position for digestion, so you can lay the right way. The sooner you can do that, the better you’ll begin to feel when you wake up.
How Your Sleep Affects Your Digestion
When you sleep, your body uses that time to heal from the previous day. The position that you take when you go to sleep has a massive effect on the way that your body goes about doing that. Unfortunately, not a lot of people think about what’s happening after they go to sleep.
A vicious cycle is created here. If you sleep in the wrong position, you’re more likely to create these digestion problems. Going to bed with digestion problems makes it all the more difficult to get to sleep.
So, which is it? Stomach, back, or side?
What Is the Best Sleeping Position for Digestion?
Everyone’s got a positional preference when it comes to sleep, but you can take measures to ensure that you’re not sleeping on your stomach all night. Yes, sleeping on your stomach is likely the worst way to sleep. Not only does it disrupt your digestion process, but it’s also horrendous for your back and spine.
Digestion If you want a straight spine, you sleep on your back, right? While there are benefits to sleeping on your back (like neck, spine, and head support), it’s actually your left side that you should be sleeping on for better gut health. Here’s why:
- Digestion Your small intestine transfers waste into your large intestine via the ileocecal valve. This valve is located in your lower right abdomen, so by laying on your left side, you’re letting gravity do the work rather than making it work harder.
- Sleeping on your left side is also proven to reduce heartburn. This WebMD article states it as the best way to reduce nighttime heartburn symptoms.
Digestion The only issue with laying on your left side is that it could create left shoulder pain. If you’re finding this, try to train yourself to alternate sides as you sleep. To ensure you’re maintaining side sleep, try to make yourself as comfortable as possible by doing the following:
- Use a medium-firm mattress and one firm pillow under your head.
- Put a firm pillow between your legs. Keep your ears in line with the shoulders, keep your hands and arms beneath your head and neck, and lift your knees slightly toward your stomach.
Sleep Good, Feel Good
Now that you know which is the best sleeping position for digestion, you can start learning new sleep habits. When it becomes ingrained, you’ll be surprised at how such a small change can make such a huge difference in your quality of sleep.
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