The holidays are officially upon us. And you know what that means: food! And more food! But all that food affects our bodies.
So what happens inside our bodies when we overeat? This video explains the biology and chemistry of it all:
The good news is that exploding isn't a realistic expectation after overeating. So for those of you wanting to recreate that famously disgusting scene in Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life, sorry for the disappointment. However, you might feel as if you'll explode, as the video, explains, when your stomach stretches to its limit and pushes against your other organs.
But you don't just fill up with food. Every time you take a drink or bite, you also swallow air, especially if you're drinking carbonated beverages, such as soda and beer. And all that air collects inside you, too, adding to that feeling that you're swollen inside.
If you overdo it too much, though, you can even throw up. The stomach only has enough room for about four cups of food, but its limit is about a gallon. Once you reach that limit, you'll experience a gag reflex, forcing that food back out.
Some people, though, take it too far. Some ignore that gag reflex and just keep on eating. That can lead to a ruptured stomach, which sends all that food into the body, which causes pain and even infection. It's so bad that some people have died from ruptured stomachs caused by overeating.
Fortunately, ruptured stomachs are also extremely rare and only happen in unique individuals, those already with unusual eating habits that basically turn off their bodies' natural reflexes. Because of this, their stomachs are so stretched out that the vomit mechanism doesn't work.
"Even if you're starting to feel a bit sick or tired and overwhelmed from eating so much at Thanksgiving, you're still far, far away from the scenario where you're going to make your stomach actually explode," says Dr. Rachel Vreeman, assistant professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine.
So go ahead and indulge this Turkey Day, but listen to your body when it tells you that you're full. As always, your body knows best. But at least you now know that one extra bite of turkey probably won't kill you.
[Photo Credit: Wiki Commons]
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