Often after a full meal I naturally feel drowsy. On weekends, I sometimes go back to bed after lunch. Some of my smoking friends like to take a puff right after a meal. Others like to drink a cup of tea, believing that it will help them digest their food. Many of these habits are doing you more harm than good.

Here are 5 things to avoid doing right after a full meal:

Sleepless

We've repeatedly warned you against going to bed right after eating. There are valid arguments against going to bed shortly after eating, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Your body works hard to digest that last meal while you're sleeping, which can cause issues ranging from indigestion and weight gain to a possibly heightened risk for a stroke.

No Smoking

According to specialists, smoking a cigarette right after a meal is exceedingly risky and harms the entire body because it is equivalent to smoking 10 cigarettes at once, as they say. Smoking also has a special impact on intestinal inflammation. The entire body is affected by how well the digestive system is functioning, and nicotine binds to oxygen in the blood, making it easier to absorb. The danger of lung cancer and bowel cancer is significantly increased, according to scientists, by smoking a cigarette right after a meal.

No bathroom

When you bathe, your surface temperature increases according to the temperature of the water you use. When the water makes contact with your skin, your brain processes this change in body temperature as an immediate need to direct blood to your skin and bring your temperature back to normal. If you use cold water, your blood vessels dilate. As large volumes of blood in your skin dilate to dissipate the excess heat. This in turn causes more blood to flow in your skin, when the blood should flow to the stomach to aid digestion.

No fruit

Even though eating fruits after any meal, including lunch and dinner, is thought to be hazardous, fruits are nevertheless seen as healthful. When fruits are consumed with other foods and eaten near a meal, especially straight after a larger meal, they are kept in the stomach for an excessively long time and will eventually rot and ferment in the digestive tract. It may be the mix of the food, the fermentation with fruit, that causes your upset stomach if you have indigestion, heartburn, burping, and other digestive discomforts and blame the meal.

No tea

The digestive system will be impacted by the acidity of tea leaves. If you have a meal that contains protein, the acid in the tea will cause the protein to become harder to digest. The body's ability to absorb iron is further hampered by drinking tea just after a meal. Steer clear of tea an hour before and after meals.