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how not to bust a gut over the holidays

your stomach can stretch to hold up to 12 cups of food before it signals to your brain the stuffing needs to stop or there will be consequences.

by robin roberts
published dec 20, 2022
read time 6 minute read
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read time 6 minute read
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your stomach can hold 12 cups of food
over-indulging makes your heart pump faster, which increases the risk of gout, gall bladder attacks and heart attacks. getty
“eat, drink and be merry” is pretty much a mandate for most of us at this time of year. but overindulgence of the eating and the drinking can turn the merry into misery, and the bill for all that gluttony comes due in the form of bloating, heartburn, gas, cramps and acid reflux. in other words, indigestion. but with a little planning and preparation, you can lessen the painful after-effects of pigging out this christmas.

taking time to chew makes things easier on your stomach

after you shovel all that turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy into your gaping maw, your teeth mash it up into bits small enough to swallow. it then all slides down your esophagus and into your stomach, where it splashes into acids that further break it down. from there, muscle contractions push the food through your sphincter and into the small and large intestine and back out into the world and its final splashdown.
if, however, you rush that first mashing step, or swallow too fast, your gut will rebel.
“the stomach is a holding tank that you put food into while it mixes with acid and grinds it up,” says dr. david armstrong, holder of the douglas family chair in nutrition research, in the division of gastroenterology at the mcmaster university medical centre. “soup or liquids don’t need much grinding so they’ll go into the rest of the small bowel to be mixed with digestive enzymes. if you have twice as much soup, it’s going to take at least twice as long to empty out. with brussels sprouts, big bits of turkey and fatty foods that are more difficult to digest, the stomach not only has to hold onto it, it has to grind it up, which takes longer.”

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just because your stomach can hold about 12 cups of food …

dr. edward saltzman at tufts university estimates your stomach can stretch to hold up to 12 cups of food before it signals to your brain the stuffing needs to stop or there will be consequences. according to the cleveland clinic, the average meal stays in your stomach for anywhere from 40 minutes to four hours, depending on the amount of protein or fat in the food, and another 40 to 120 minutes in the small bowel. if you’re diabetic, constipated or taking certain medications, it could take longer. alcohol too, particularly red wine and beer, can delay the whole process, north carolina’s atrium health gastroenterologist dr. baha moshiree told the new york times..
nutrition experts have long advised eating slowly, not only so you’ll savour your food but so you’ll eat less.
“if you eat slowly then you taste, which also sends additional messages to your brain that you’re eating,” says armstrong, adding that the digestive enzymes in your saliva will also have more time to break down the food and “blenderize” it before it hits your stomach. “the more you eat and taste, the more information your brain’s getting that you’re partway through a meal, so it will add that to the information it gets from your stomach. whereas if you throw everything in really quickly without tasting it, your stomach has to augment the signal from the taste.”
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armstrong says the holidays are especially challenging with so much rich, fatty, sugary foods in abundance combined with social pressure to try everything, which can leave you full to the point of discomfort.
“that’s where chewing slowly and mindfully, mouthful by mouthful, allows you to enjoy the food more while a bit less goes into your stomach so that you’re not quite as full, and therefore less likely to feel uncomfortable,” he says.
and drink water — but not a lot, says armstrong, because it will add to the sloshing in your stomach. without water, the small intestine siphons fluid from other parts of your body and into your gut, which can cause dehydration. waiting an hour or more after the meal for dessert will also give your stomach time to settle before you pile more into it.
foods like broccoli, beans and onions, which are rich in soluble fibre, can cause bloating, so go easy on them.

you can’t actually “bust your gut” by overeating

contrary to the theory that you can literally “bust a gut” by overeating, armstrong says that’s highly unlikely.
“our bodies have progressive mechanisms that will stop us from getting into trouble,” he says. “it’s pretty difficult to do something that’s going to hurt you. if you try to bite something really hard, your teeth will sense it and stop you crunching down, unless you do it accidentally. same is true, to an extent, with the stomach.”
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still, overindulging makes your body work harder. the extra digestive workload requires your heart to pump more blood to the stomach and intestines, causing your heart to pump faster, which increases the risk of gout, gall bladder attacks and heart attacks.

how to soothe that full tummy

so you took a dive into that festive feast with abandon and now, no matter how much you loosen your belt, you’re in pain. avoid the temptation to lie down, which can lead to heartburn. armstrong suggests a gentle stroll, instead, to get your bowels moving, which can ease the discomfort. “not major exercise, which will likely provoke more discomfort and heartburn, but gentle moving around helps the bowel move stuff along.”
peppermint oil or tea has also been shown to ease bloating and discomfort by relaxing the muscles in the stomach, which is helpful not only for overeating but for other more serious gut conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome. studies have shown that peppermint, however, can trigger heartburn if you’re grappling with reflux, just as other culprits like coffee, tomatoes and chocolate can.
ginger can help with nausea, says armstrong, while over-the-counter antacids like gaviscon and rolaids block acid and can help with heartburn in the short term. he cautions, however, that alka-seltzer contains aspirin, which could cause more upset in sensitive stomachs. the histamine-2 blocker pepcid reduces acid secretions, so taking it before a big meal might save you from reflux and heartburn later.
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but it’s better if you can stop before you get to this uncomfortable point, says annie tsang, a registered dietitian and founder of the nutrition well in burnaby, b.c. tsang says mindful eating and moderation are key to gut health — over the holiday and any day.
“overall health and eating is not just about the holidays, or over a week of celebrating and indulging, it’s over the year,” she says. “it’s really about gut health, which affects health in general. many people don’t have a healthy gut microbiome because of the environment and the food we eat. processed foods in general tend to be high in fat and sodium, [not what] that good bacteria, the probiotics, really enjoy. good bacteria feed on whole grains and fibre foods.”
ultimately, she says, enjoy the festive food of the holidays in moderation, and continue your healthy eating and exercise regime in the days after.
and come january, when most of us resolve to start or ramp up healthy habits, she advises moderation there too. “set small, measurable, motivating goals, and never set too many goals at one time. focus on one or two, then move on to the next one.”
robin roberts is a vancouver-based writer.
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