Vigorous exercise helps lower blood pressure and reduces the risk of obesity, but in susceptible individuals can also cause gastrointestinal discomfort which occurs when stomach acid flows up from your belly and into your esophagus. When you eat, a ring of muscle at the bottom of your esophagus contracts and releases to let food in and contain the stomach acid. The mechanics of certain activities, such as playing basketball, can cause acid to flow back into your esophagus, creating the painful, burning sensation in your chest and abdomen known as heartburn.
How Playing Basketball Causes Heartburn
Food and stomach acid settle naturally at the bottom of your stomach. When you play basketball, the vigorous bouncing and jumping jostles your stomach and its contents. In her book, "100 Questions & Answers About Sports Nutrition and Exercise," registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, Lilah Al-Masri explains that sports which involve up and down motion, such as basketball, cause more gastrointestinal distress than activities involving stabilized motion, such as swimming or bicycling.
Timing
While a full stomach increases your risk of heartburn, you can still experience the discomfort of gastrointestinal distress on an empty stomach. Bouncing the ball while running down the court uses sharp, halting movements that agitate your body. Everyone's has a different level of gastrointestinal sensitivity which can affect whether you notice heartburn during the first 20 minutes of playing basketball or one hour after finishing the game.
Prevention
Preventing heartburn begins before you ever set foot on the basketball court. Avoid eating an hour before playing, particularly if consuming trigger foods that are spicy, acidic or fatty. Those with sensitive stomachs may require two to three hours to completely digest their food. Your stomach produces more acid when it's full to aid digestion; This increases the risk of acid flowing into your esophagus. Also, choose sports beverages containing sucrose instead of fructose, advises registered dietitian, Ilana Katz. Your body absorbs fructose more slowly than sucrose, which increases the risk of gastrointestinal upset and heartburn while playing basketball.
Other Considerations
Seek medical attention if your heartburn continues during basketball even after you change your diet and meal times. Persistent heartburn can indicate digestive complications such as gastroesophageal reflux disease, also referred to as GERD, or a muscular abnormality in your esophagus. In severe cases, your doctor may prescribe medication or suggest further medical testing.
References
- Nemours' Foundation: Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
- The New York Times; The Claim: Exercise Can Worsen Chronic Heartburn; Anahad O'Connor; July 2010
- PubMed: Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care: The Impact of Physical Exercise on the Gastrointestinal Tract: 2009
- Johns Hopkins Health Alerts: GERD
- 100 Questions & Answers About Sports Nutrition and Exercise; Lilah Al-Masri
- The Sports Factory: Overcoming Athletic GI Distress
