I once asked bridge legend Zia Mahmood about distractions from the game for an interview. His response mentioned a game in Russia, toothache and the lack of a nearby dentist as a distraction that stood out to him most over years of professional, serious bridge playing.

I’ve found toothache similarly distracting during bridge and board games in the past. I had both sympathy and admiration at the same time.

Then, several years later while sitting at a desk about to play a bridge game online, my own distraction showed up like a knight in aluminum foil: digestion.

We’d chosen a larger-than-usual meal for the day. Something that encompassed several different food groups at the same time – that would be meat, vegetables, sides, sauce and a salad. My body was clearly not ready for it, and had barely started the digestive process by the time I thought it should have been over.

Now, people in professional sports have attributed pretty damn weird things to either winning or losing.

Some sportspeople have said that sex before the game takes the edge off and ensures for better performance on the field. (Other sportspeople seem to believe the other end of the spectrum, and choose abstinence several days to weeks before a competition is set to happen.)

But zero sportspeople have ever said that eating a particularly large, rich meal a few minutes before the game has been the secret to their success.

Not in soccer, not in golf, not in bridge, pool or sumo wrestling has digestion been attributed to a win. Hell, not even in war. (Churchill didn’t say, “Oh, well, it must have been that full English breakfast that led to our wartime successes!”)

No, no and no.

Digestion could very well be one of the most distracting elements in mindsports.

I couldn’t focus on bidding, I couldn’t focus on tricks. I could only focus on the question of why I’d placed particularly that food order, and then decided to indulge to that point, and then play a game that required any focus.

Choose snacks responsibly, and don’t dive straight into a big meal right before a bridge game.