What Happens to your Body When you Over Eat?
Deep down, we’re all devoted eaters. Food tastes too good to be left alone in a cupboard. Yet, we know that we cannot keep up our chocolate habits forever. Why?
It’s not just about defacing your figure, but the health concerns that come with overindulging.
Why You Shouldn’t Overeat
We’ve all felt the bottom of a Doritos packet knowing full well we’ll be faced with overwhelming guilt and sickness from eating too much.
It leaves us feeling sluggish and tired almost straight after. We have no energy to hit the gym, do housework or even get up from the sofa. This is because your body is working hard to digest what you’ve just consumed, thus using reserved energy and then leaving you with none.
When eating an adequate amount of food, your stomach will slightly stretch and the brain receives signals that we’re satisfied, which creates a full feeling. But if you continue to eat past that warning, your stomach will need to increase further to accommodate.
Continually gorging will permanently increase the size of your stomach if you do not burn off the excess calories, because this is what your brain considers to be its optimum size for consumption. As such, what used to be your version of binging then becomes the norm.
If you’ve ever experienced dizziness or sickness after a large feast, it’s because your insulin levels have risen to try and get rid of the surplus sugar in your bloodstream.
Heartburn is another common result of overeating. As you get fuller from the food, the acid from your stomach may have to push up to get out of the way and make room for the food. As it travels up, it reaches the oesophagus – causing a burning sensation.
The more you’ve eaten, the longer you’ll experience this because your body is working hard to digest the food before the acid can enter the stomach again.
It’s pretty astounding how the body has natural reflexes when you over feed it, but as exemplified above, the consequences aren’t always pleasant; releasing gasses is just another result.
Stop when you’re full to avoid these common penalties. Look after your body, because it’s the only one you’ll ever have.
