Do Not Eat Immediately After Waking Up
This is a common cause of hiatal hernias. For example, eating too soon after waking can be easy and accidentally push the stomach out of place, causing a hiatal hernia. Likewise, the stomach should not be empty when a person goes to bed, allowing it to expand with food.
Eating foods high in fiber can also help prevent this type of injury because they don’t sit in their stomach as long, which reduces pressure on the diaphragm. Eat at least two hours before waking up and returning to sleep, and make sure no alcohol enters the system while awake (even if it’s just one drink).
