Acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common condition where stomach acid or mucus from the stomach leaks back into the throat. This can cause a burning feeling in the chest, called heartburn. There are many remedies for relieving the symptoms of GERD, such as lifestyle changes, medication, and home remedies. One of those remedies includes throwing up after eating to help acid reflux. There are numerous reasons why someone may throw up after eating. These reasons range from practical to grotesquely bizarre! Eating too much at one sitting may cause you to throw up because your body rejects the food that it cannot digest. Similarly, if you eat something that is too rich or spicy, you may also throw up because your body rejects it as an unhelpful element in its system. In this article, we will explore whether throwing up after eating helps with acid reflux and why this happens in some people.
Does Throwing Up Make Acid Reflux Better?
There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that throwing up makes acid reflux better. In fact, the opposite may be true. Vomiting can irritate the esophagus and make acid reflux worse.
Reasons For Throwing Up After Eating
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Acid Reflux
Although there is no scientific evidence that throwing up helps acid reflux, there are many anecdotal reports of people who eat a large meal and then vomit because they feel a burning sensation in their stomach. This is thought to be the same as acid reflux, but it can also happen when you eat something that you do not like.
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Not Feeling Full
Some people may throw up after eating if they had too much food at one time. For example, one study found that college-age women who were obese were more likely to throw up after eating a meal when they had consumed more than 1,000 calories at once compared to those who had fewer calories at the same time (1). In addition, some people may throw up after eating if they did not feel full from their dinner. A common reason for this is that the person ate a high-calorie meal because he or she was starving or forgot to eat lunch. In this case, the person may have eaten too much and feels uncomfortable because of it.
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Psychological Factors
Some people may throw up after eating because they were anxious or stressed out. This is called “gastro-intestinal stress” and is thought to be a form of anxiety. For example, some people may be worried about their weight or their health. This can lead them to eat more food than they are physically capable of consuming, which may then cause them to throw up.
Some people may throw up after eating if they have reflux disease. However, throwing up after eating is not common among those with reflux disease because the acid in the stomach usually stays there and does not move down into the esophagus.
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Food Sensitivities
Some people may throw up after eating if they have an allergy or food sensitivity that causes them to feel uncomfortable after eating certain foods. For example, some people who are lactose intolerant may become sick when they eat dairy products such as milk and cheese due to the presence of a protein called “casein.” In this case, these individuals do not digest casein properly and it then passes through their bodies undigested. Therefore, these individuals will feel sick when they consume dairy products such as milk and cheese. Similarly, some people who are allergic to cow’s milk proteins will also get sick when they eat other dairy products such as cheese because both contain cow’s milk proteins. In some cases, these individuals will also develop a fever when
Why Throwing Up May Help With Acid Reflux
- Food moves from the stomach to the esophagus in a process called “acid secretion.” This process is normal and helps to protect the esophagus from acid reflux.
- When food is not adequately digested, it can move back up into the esophagus. This is called acid reflux and can cause irritation of the esophageal lining and may lead to ulcers.
- When food moves down into the stomach, it helps to stimulate a hormone called “gastrin” which helps to move food through the digestive tract and stimulate peristalsis (the involuntary wave-like muscular contractions of the GI tract). If there is too much food in your stomach, this process will be slowed down or stopped, resulting in less stimulation of gastrin and less peristalsis, which then disturbs digestion and causes acid reflux. In addition, when there is too much food in your stomach, you will feel full after eating smaller meals than usual as well as increased appetite which results in overeating later on causing even more problems with acid reflux.
- Throwing up after eating may help with indigestion because throwing up can help move undigested food out of your body quickly so that it does not sit for long periods of time in your stomach causing more discomfort for you. In addition, if you throw up after eating, it will also decrease bloating due to gas production within your stomach which can also cause more acid reflux.
- Throwing up after eating may help with the passage of food down into your digestive tract because it can help to stimulate your digestive juices and thus increase the speed of digestion and peristalsis.
- Throwing up after eating may help with acid reflux because it helps to stimulate the stomach’s protective mechanisms, including gastrin which helps to move food out of the stomach as well as a hormone called “pancreatic polypeptide” that helps protect the esophagus from acid reflux by increasing muscular contractions in the esophagus.
- Throwing up after eating may help with indigestion because throwing up can help to decrease bloating due to gas production within your stomach which can also cause more acid reflux. In addition, if you throw up after eating, it will also decrease bloating due to gas production within your stomach which can also cause more acid reflux.
- Throwing up after eating may help with acid reflux because it helps to stimulate the stomach’s protective mechanisms, including gastrin which helps to move food out of the stomach as well as a hormone called “pancreatic polypeptide” that helps protect the esophagus from acid reflux by increasing muscular contractions in the esophagus.
- Throwing up after eating may help with indigestion because throwing up can help to decrease bloating due to gas production within your stomach which can also cause more acid reflux. In addition, if you throw up after eating, it will also decrease bloating due to gas production within your stomach which can also cause more acid reflux.
- After vomiting you should be able to eat normally again and then continue with your normal routine for the rest of the day, including eating breakfast and lunch later on in the day and then dinner later on in the evening.
Possible Risks Of Throwing Up To Help With Acid Refurb
- Throwing up after eating may decrease the amount of acid reflux relief you get from your medication. If you are on medications for acid reflux, throwing up after eating may decrease the amount of relief you get from them. If you are on medications for acid reflux and throw up after eating, you should let your doctor know so he/she can adjust your medication to compensate.
- Throwing up after eating may increase the risk of choking while eating or drinking because it will dislodge any food in your throat that had previously been swallowed and thus make it more difficult to swallow during your next meal(s).
- Throwing up after eating may decrease the effectiveness of antacids in treating heartburn because vomiting can cause more acid reflux than normal which in turn can lead to more heartburn and gastric irritation.
- Throwing up after eating may increase the risk of choking while eating or drinking because it will dislodge any food in your throat that had previously been swallowed and thus make it more difficult to swallow during your next meal(s). In addition, if you have a tube down your throat (like a tracheotomy) or eat a large amount at one time (like a large meal), then even though throwing up won’t hurt you, there is still a possibility that throwing up could dislodge food objects in your throat which would cause choking or difficulty swallowing during later meals because they would be too big to swallow easily due to the dislodged food objects.
- Throwing up after eating may decrease the effectiveness of antacids in treating heartburn because vomiting can cause more acid reflux than normal which in turn can lead to more heartburn and gastric irritation.
Conclusion
Throwing up after eating can be a quick and easy way to treat acid reflux when used in certain situations. This is because it removes food from your body and can help lower the amount of acid in your system. However, throwing up can be a messy, inconvenient, and even embarrassing process that may be ineffective when used alone. If you are hoping to use throwing up to treat your acid reflux, make sure that you are actually vomiting and not just feeling queasy. If you have a serious medical condition that is causing you to vomit frequently, make sure to consult with a doctor about your options for treatment.