What To Do When You Overeat And Feel Sick

Many times, we eat and eat because we just feel like eating. But we eat without realizing that such excess food that we consume might do more bad to our health rather than helping us. Overeating has become a rampant issue troubling most societies these days. Overeating leads to various severe problems in the long run such as obesity and obesity-related lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. While these problems arise due to the prolonged habit of overeating, does overeating create immediate issues too? Yes, it does! Sometimes we feel sick when we overeat. But what to do when we overeat and feel sick?

What is Overeating?

It is the process of consuming food in excess which then releases corresponding energy which the organisms including human beings need to expend through activities or expel through excretion. The excessive energy released due to over-consumption of food leads to improper consumption of energy and thus leading to an increase in weight seldom leading to obesity. Overeating, when repeated occasionally, at times, is also referred to as an eating disorder.

What Happens When We Overeat?

Overeating can cause a lot of changes to our body. Primarily, it forces our stomach to swell. Thus when we eat more than we require, our stomach expands like a balloon to accommodate such excess food in our body. That is precisely the reason why overeating hurts our stomach (due to inflation of the stomach) and we experience stomach pain after eating too much.

What to Do When You Overeat and Feel Sick?

Some of the easy tips which can be followed in order to relieve the stomach and reduce the pain after overeating would include:

• Slowing Down The Pace of Consumption of Food  - Our body gives indications for any kind of discomfort it faces. Thus, when the stomach is almost full, it signals our brain to slow down the pace of consumption of food. Such signals should be followed consciously and this is how we can avoid overeating.
• Engage into Light Movements - Overeating ideally requires movement to burn the calories so that the excess food eaten can also be broken down into energy and such energy is consumed by the body rather than getting deposited into it. Therefore, it is advisable to engage into light movements such as a gentle walk after overeating such that the movement can help to stimulate the body to push the food down our gastrointestinal tract. At the same time, we also must be careful not to engage into heavy movements and activities such as running since that would force the blood to flow towards our legs and thus slowing down the digestion process further.
• Avoid Napping or Even Lying Down After Overeating - Engaging into activities involving lying down straight on our back would force the excess food to move up our digestive tract, thus worsening the problem of heartburn and acidity.
• Avoid Carbonated Drinks - Many of us believe that a glass of soda or carbonated drink helps us digest our food quickly. However, this is nothing more than a myth which needs to be broken. It is important to understand that carbonated drinks are nothing more than a glass of gases and such a glass of soda would only leave us more bloated by adding more gases into our stomach.

Additionally, some common household items which can make us feel better after overeating include sipping a cup of tea, especially Chicory or Chamomile since they are naturally caffeine free and thus helps in digestion without affecting the body and mind. We can also try some peppermint candy or oil which helps in reducing the effects of gas, indigestion, and/or nausea.

While we tend to overeat during special occasions, it is important to know and understand what to do when we overeat and feel sick to make us feel better and enjoy such special occasions better. What we should not forget is that we should not forget to consume more water when we overeat as it not only aids in the digestion process, it also makes us feel full so that we consume less food.