“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.”
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.
.
5 minute read
