What Overeating Does To Your Body!

With all the feasting, it’s tough not to overindulge during the festive celebrations. Here’s what happens when you overdo it and how to ease the discomfort.

- Helen Foster

We’ve all done it – let temptation get the better of us and eaten far too much – and usually felt worse for wear because of it. So we wondered, what exactly does happen to your body when you overeat?

YOU FEEL FULL AND PERHAPS A BIT SICK

WHY: Before you eat, your stomach is roughly the size of a large fist. As you eat you stimulate stretch receptors within the stomach walls, which send signals to the brain that say you’re full. “This will start when you consume a litre of food, but the stomach can stretch to hold as much as four litres,” says bariatric surgeon Dr Ken Wong. That’s about 16 cups of food.

WHAT TO DO: “Getting up and walking around can help – or try taking peppermint oil capsules, which help reduce the sensation of fullness,” suggests Dr Wong.

YOU GET A BURNING IN YOUR CHEST OR THROAT

WHY: The contents of the stomach are normally kept in place by a valve that stops them travelling back upwards, but when the stomach is very full, pressure can open this valve, causing acids to spill out into the oesophagus. This causes a burning sensation, known as heartburn.