A gut expert says making one simple change when you lie down or go to sleep can help remove excess air from your stomach.
Giulia Enders, whose book Gut sold over two million copies, says this is because the intestinal tract is “not a straight thing”. Meaning if you have an air bubble in your stomach, you need to adjust your body position to help free it.
Speaking on Netflix’s Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut, she explained: “The intestinal tract is not a straight thing. It is a bit crooked here, crooked there.
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“On top of it, there is an air bubble, so when you really have a lot of air in your stomach, and you want to get it out, lay on your left side, because then the air bubble can go out quite nicely.”
Sleeping on your left side is said to be better because the body lacks asymmetry in terms of organ location. It is also said to aid waste transportation through the body, reports Healthline .
Experts believe sleeping on your side offers benefits compared to back sleeping.
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A 2023 study found that sleeping on your left-hand side reduced the chances of nocturnal reflux. This was particularly prominent in people with gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Alex Bell, from MedicalNewsToday says the stomach is based on the left-hand side of the body. This means side sleeping could aid digestion due to the impact of gravity, however, he says there is no one preferred side.
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Meanwhile, in 2015, scientists found that rats sleeping on their back or side saw improvements on how waste was cleared from their brain. Although it made no distinction from either side, it found sleeping on a side as opposed to your back could even be something that developed as part of evolution.
Sleeping on your side is also said to have benefits for people who snore. This is because it helps the airways stay open once you drift off, meaning you can breathe more easily..
Medics believe this is a boost to people who suffer from minor or mild sleep apnoea. The Harvard Medical School also claimed sleeping on your left could help reduce the signs of heartburn overnight, with stomach acid clearing faster than in people sleeping on their right.