How to restore the gastrointestinal tract after overeating

Overeating can be accompanied by several unpleasant consequences, and most often they occur simultaneously.

1. Feeling of fullness in the stomach, pressing pain, in rare cases - cutting;
2. Belching;
3. Heartburn;
4. Bloating, increased gas production;
5. General weakness, often accompanied by nausea and drowsiness.

The situation is aggravated if you overeat not just one product, but too many types of dishes that do not combine with each other, as well as with the parallel use of alcohol, even in small doses.

For a healthy body, the consequences will not be very serious, however, if there are problems in your body, it will be difficult to cope with the symptoms of overeating naturally. Unpleasant sensations can last for several hours, and sometimes even make themselves felt the next day: the consequences of overeating can be similar to a hangover.

Emergency help for overeating

If you've eaten too much and feel unwell, it's best to take emergency action within 30 minutes of eating too much. This way you will significantly reduce the recovery time and relieve the body.

After a heavy meal, the body will need help.

Take an enzyme supplement. Remember that this group of medications should not be used without a doctor’s recommendation and can be used once as an emergency measure, so if possible, contact your doctor and clarify the need to take the drug and the optimal dosage.

When you abuse products that do not combine well with each other, a very delicate problem often arises - increased gas formation and, as a result, bloating. This is exactly the case when you cannot restrain yourself. To make it easier to pass gas, you can take a knee-elbow position and relax your abdominal muscles.

Try to go to the toilet and empty your bowels. This won't relieve all the symptoms of overeating, but it will definitely make you feel a little better physically.

In the first hours after eating too much food, do not drink too much plain water. Give preference to drinks that increase the secretion of gastric juice and improve digestion.

• Natural black coffee without additives;
• Tea with ginger;
• Tea with lemon;
• A glass of warm water with 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar;
• A decoction of calamus or yarrow root;

Why does overeating cause stomach pain?

Pain in the stomach and a feeling of discomfort are a small part of the symptoms that are caused by stretching of the digestive organ. Inside the body, after eating a large amount of food, various processes are activated. Poor nutrition leads to dyspeptic disorder due to difficulties in processing food. The stomach and intestines hurt, in addition, heartburn appears.

Sometimes the pain is intense and worsens at night. These attacks are caused by the process of digesting large amounts of food, which in turn provokes the accumulation of gas and painful bloating. An additional volume of gas is formed in the gastrointestinal tract when air enters along with swallowing food.

The more the stomach produces digestive juice, the higher the risk of pain.

What not to do when overeating

Since many people experience overeating quite often, there are many stereotypes around this problem, some of which are not just meaningless, but even harmful. These myths are based on ignorance, so you should absolutely not follow them.

1. Drink a digestif - alcohol “for digestion.” Perhaps this advice can be considered the most harmful. Treating anything with alcohol is already a crime against health, since alcohol in any quantity is an absolute poison for the body. While your internal organs are trying to cope with the huge amount of food eaten, you add another problem to them - alcohol intoxication. And among other things, alcoholic drinks are very high in calories.
2. Move actively. If you consume a lot of high-calorie foods during a holiday feast, the first thing your loved ones will probably advise you to do is “shake yourself up.” There is only a drop of truth in this wish: indeed, to improve intestinal motility, a leisurely walk in the fresh air is recommended. At the same time, intense exercise, for example, energetic dancing, is completely contraindicated. This can negatively affect your heart function, causing nausea and dizziness.
3. Go to sleep. It is quite possible that overeating will provoke unbearable drowsiness or simply a desire to lie down. This is not worth doing, since the food will take much longer to digest, the body will not rest properly, and the next morning you will wake up with unpleasant sensations in the body and a headache. After eating a large meal, refrain from sleep for at least 3-4 hours, spending this time in moderate activity.

How to relieve discomfort if you overeat

Gluttony most often occurs during the New Year and Christmas holidays. The stomach, digestion, and often good mood suffer. Make sure you prepare ahead of time so you don't have to go without Christmas treats so you can enjoy the holidays well.

Remedies for digestive problems and effective helpers for protecting the intestines are presented:

1. Artichoke and turmeric. Both drugs increase the production of bile juice. Artichoke is a vegetable that has a positive effect on the intestines, promotes the digestion of fat in the body, and counteracts unpleasant pressure.
2. Exotic fruits. Those who tend to feel overly full should enjoy fresh pineapple or papaya. Enzyme-rich fruits stimulate digestion.
3. Combined preparations of milk thistle and artichoke. They help rid the bile of too much fat consumed in food.
4. Enzymes. Medicines that relieve the pain of overeating reduce the amount of gas. The well-known, most effective drug is Mezim Forte. The composition includes the main component - pancreatin.
5. Supplements Additional products: Festal, Digestal.

The day after overeating

The main mistake is to fast the day after overeating. If you ate too much the day before, your stomach is stretched, and the process of digesting yesterday's food is still ongoing. Your task is to alleviate your condition and help your body, and not punish it with new stress.

Drink as much water, herbal or green tea as possible. It is not forbidden to drink a cup of strong coffee, but not on an empty stomach.

It is best to make breakfast quite light but satisfying. The best option is unsweetened porridge and egg white omelet. Try not to eat meat, mushrooms, fatty sauces, flour, sweets, fried foods, or animal fats in the first half of the day, so as not to burden the body even more. Give preference to fresh vegetables and fruits, bran yogurt, and vegetable soups. However, you shouldn’t overeat even healthy food: eat small portions every 2-3 hours.

If you don't feel like eating at all, which often happens the day after overeating, don't leave your stomach empty, otherwise you will feel sick. Try to eat something very filling, but small in volume, for example, a handful of nuts, dried fruits or a few slices of dark chocolate.

Herbal tea will help with overeating.

Right now you can move actively, walk, play sports, and end the day with a light dinner. After all the measures taken, you will forget about yesterday’s overeating and will more easily get into your usual rhythm.

Vomiting from overeating in a child

In children, vomiting from overeating is quite common. This can happen when force-feeding a baby, when parents try to “shove” as much food into him as possible. A similar situation can arise on holidays, when there are many different delicious dishes on the table. The child tries to try all of them, at least a little. This leads to overeating and the problems associated with it.

Symptoms of overeating in children

Typical symptoms of overeating in children are abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, lethargy and irritability. It is important to objectively assess the child’s condition. To do this, it is worth comparing what he ate during the day with his usual diet. If the portion of food is greatly exceeded, then the cause of the malaise may be overeating.

A child is vomiting from overeating, what to do?

If a child has symptoms of overeating: vomiting, nausea and others, then you need to try to alleviate his condition. For this:

• you can offer your child a little carbonated mineral water, this will enhance intestinal motility and speed up the evacuation of excess food;
• It is better to remove excess clothes from the baby, which can squeeze his tummy and cause inconvenience, after which the child needs to be put to bed;
• to relieve heaviness in the stomach and speed up the digestion process, it is allowed to take a quarter of a tablet of Festal or Mezim (for children over 3 years old, you can increase the dose to half a tablet);
• You can stroke the baby's tummy with light movements, moving clockwise.

If a child has severe nausea from overeating, you can give him Enterosgel, chamomile decoction or another similar remedy. It will prevent the absorption of food particles into the blood and prevent the development of intoxication. If the baby does not vomit, there is no need to provoke it, since in this case you can injure his pharynx or oral mucosa. Usually after 10-12 hours the child’s condition improves and he develops an appetite. In this case, you can give him a baked apple, a few crackers or herbal tea. For the next meal, the baby is given potato soup or oatmeal. In the future, a normal diet is gradually restored.

Quick digestive aid

To quickly get rid of heaviness in the stomach after overeating at home, the following remedies will help:

• If the symptoms are not too pronounced, use herbal tea (mint, chamomile).
• Walking will speed up digestion and improve intestinal motility. But it shouldn't be too fast.
• Homeopathy - “Lycopodium”, “Nux vomica” help against overeating.
• Medicines - carminatives such as Espumisan are used to eliminate bloating and flatulence. Enzymes “Mezim” or “Gastal” will help get rid of heaviness. For fermentation, sorbents are also used to remove harmful substances.
• If the consequences of overeating bother you after 12 hours or more, you can help with food. Orange juice, banana pulp, cumin infusion, ginger tea - these foods stimulate digestion and eliminate food residues. Rice porridge cooked in water will help improve your well-being.
• Peppermint essential oil can be used in an aroma lamp. If the quality of the ether is high, it is used internally, dripping onto a sugar cube, which then needs to be dissolved.

If a person has eaten too much, he should not lie down. Adopting a horizontal position will have a bad effect on your well-being and will lead to digestion deteriorating even more.

Breathing exercises

An unusual method for combating overeating is breathing exercises. They effectively fight heaviness and improve digestion by increasing blood circulation:

1. The person stands on both feet, placing them shoulder-width apart.
2. The back should be straight and the stomach should be relaxed.
3. Slowly inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth, feeling how the stomach is filled with oxygen and then freed from it.
4. As you exhale, the stomach is slowly drawn in, but not too much.

After exercise, the digestive bolus moves better through the intestines, is processed by enzymes and leaves the area in which it causes discomfort.

Pain after overeating can be associated with gastrointestinal diseases, but most often it is a consequence of eating incompatible, harmful foods. You can get rid of it at home. You should not take painkillers, but enzymes, sorbent tablets or medications that enhance intestinal motility.

What to do to help yourself?

Unpleasant sensations after overeating will accompany a person for a long period, but as a result they go away on their own. If an unpleasant feeling haunts you, and you don’t want to wait for a return to normal, there are several ways to correct the situation and return to normal well-being.

Traditional methods

After overeating, it is possible to get rid of the feeling of heaviness and pain in the stomach with the help of alternative medicine. In order to alleviate the physical condition, herbal infusions and decoctions are used. The following recipes are considered the most effective:

• Herbal infusions. Calamus, lemon balm, St. John's wort, dill seeds, and fennel cope well with the symptoms of overeating. To prepare the infusion you need to take 1 tsp. herbs and 200 ml of boiling water, let stand for 1 minute. Cool the resulting herbal and drink. All herbs can be infused separately, or mixtures can be made by mixing them in equal parts.
• Decoctions. To prepare, take 1 tbsp. l. fruits or leaves of the plant (rose hips, chamomile, blueberries) and 250 ml of water, bring to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes. Cool the broth, strain and drink in small sips.
• Dill water. Both fresh and dried plants are suitable. For 1 teaspoon of crushed plant you will need 150 ml of warm water and 0.5 tsp. Sahara. You can drink water along with greens in small portions.
• Lemon juice. The effect of a few drops of this miraculous remedy will be noticeable within a few minutes.

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Medications

Medicine offers medications that will help cope with the feeling of discomfort after overeating. The action of the drugs is aimed at breaking down food and improving the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract as a whole. Their mechanism of action is to stimulate the production of food enzymes, which help improve the digestion of heavy foods. After the stomach functions are restored, the symptoms disappear.

The most commonly used drugs are:

• "Pancreatin". Removes heaviness in the stomach and nausea, helping the gallbladder and liver cope with the load.
• "Mezim Forte". Improves the functioning of the pancreas and intestines. Symptoms such as bloating, nausea and heaviness go away.
• "Festal". The tablets promote the production of enzymes that will help digestion and the necessary components for the absorption of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
• "Gastal." Copes with high acidity, relieves heartburn and eliminates flatulence.

To preserve medicinal properties before they enter the stomach, the tablets are coated with a protective layer. Chewing and crushing them is not recommended.

Homeopathy

Complex homeopathic preparations are often sold at pharmacies. They do not cause side effects, they can be taken even by pregnant women, but choosing a remedy on your own is not recommended. A homeopathic doctor will individually select a drug that, being in the medicine cabinet, will help at the right time. Lycopodium and Nux Vomica help to cope with the symptoms of overeating.

Walking and relaxation

There is no need to give in to the feeling of discomfort and the desire to lie down and relax. Try to go outside, take a walk in the fresh air. Such exercise will return a person to a normal state, and movement will help the body cope with the digestion of food, moving it lower through the gastrointestinal tract. Soon you will feel better and the symptoms of overeating will disappear.

Sex for pain relief

This pleasant process will not help you get rid of painful sensations, but there are poses that do not cause more discomfort:

1. Rocking chair. He sits comfortably on the bed, she sits on him, wraps her legs around his body. Now you can slowly move your body. This means sharing energy, maximizing pleasure.
2. Spoon. When positioned, the only obstacle may be not falling asleep during the action. She's lying on the edge of the bed, he's right behind her. This way, you can achieve orgasm without difficulty. It's super relaxing, but also gives a feeling of intimacy.