Let’s face it; eating is one of the best things in life. Sometimes, it becomes our escape when we are having a bad day, or things are just too stressful for us. But what if your favorite part of the day becomes an unhealthy habit? This article will tackle some overeating side effects and how to manage chronic overeating on your own. However, the IDC team suggests getting a check-up to know your physical health condition.
What Causes Overeating
It’s easy to lose track of your consumed food if you enjoy your meals with your loved ones. For instance, family gatherings are usually packed with a variety of foods. And as you catch up with your relatives, you unconsciously keep on getting a fraction of snacks. You don’t realize that you are already full because you are busy making conversations.
Listed below are the top reasons for chronic overeating and the culprits for your unwanted weight gain.
Friends
As much as we hate to admit it, our friends greatly impact our basic life decisions. Yes, that includes our eating habits. While we treat our friends as family, they could sabotage our diet. In some cases, it’s hard to say no when our friends invite us out for lunch or dinner. As the hours go by, you become more and more comfortable eating snacks until you feel bloated.
Size of the plate
Have you ever looked at the plates in your home and realize if they are too big or too small for you? If not, then you should. The size of your plate highly contributes to the amount of food that you eat. In simple terms, the bigger the plate, the higher the chance of you overeating.
Tiredness
Sometimes we divert our negative feelings and emotions to eating too much food. The thing is that tiredness is often misinterpreted as hunger. Hence, leading an individual to check the fridge over and over again even though they just finished eating.
Boredom
A lot of us feel the need to munch into snacks when there is nothing else to do. If you notice, there are days in your life where you just want to fill your stomach even though you’re not hungry. Or those days when you are just peacefully lying in your bed and suddenly want something sweet to eat.
Alcohol effects
Drinking too much can also boost your appetite. But what’s not good is that alcohol tricks you into thinking that you are not yet full and that you need to eat more.
Eating too fast
One of the joys in eating is that chance to chew on food, taste its flavors, and savor the aroma. However, some people are so used to eating too fast. Doing so can affect how your digestive system works. It also put you at risk of overeating as your body does not have the time to recognize that you’re already full.
Cheat day
Some people refer to cheat days as an excuse to break out of their diet. Sadly, they tend to lose sight of their goal and end up eating more than their limits.
Food deprivation
Being food-deprived can also be associated with cheat days. You spend your whole week trying to eat healthy and balanced meals. Yet on the weekends, you eat every kind of food you crave, thinking that you deserve it.
Delaying your diet
This is one of the most common excuses of people nowadays. “I’ll start my diet tomorrow.” But when the day came, they find another way to dismiss it just so they can overeat again.
Overeating Side Effects
Now that we know the possible reasons why we overeat, let us now determine its long-term side effects. It’s important to remember that overeating does not only lead to unexpected weight gain; it has effects on the functions of the digestive system. Moreover, its long-term effects have a significant impact on our general health.
This leads to extra body fat
To make the calories in our bodies balanced, our calorie consumption and activities to burn it must match. When a person eats food beyond their limits, the extra calorie turns into fat. This is the main cause of obesity. When people eat more than what their body demands, they accumulate fats that increase their weight.
Messes with hunger
When someone hasn’t eaten for a moment, the ghrelin levels in the body increases. On the contrary, leptin levels increase after eating. This two put your hunger stimulation into balance. But if you are overeating, the levels will get disrupted, and your feeling of hunger will get affected.
Risk of diseases
Overeating once in a while does not have long-term effects on our general health. On the other hand, chronic overeating could put us at risk of diseases. For instance, chronic overeaters are commonly diagnosed with obesity. That does not end there; obesity is also linked to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and many health problems.
Compromised brain functions
Overeating frequently has side effects on the brain as well. Studies show that people who overeat and are diagnosed with obesity show signs of a mental downturn. Overeating is also proven to have a critical impact on memory and mental health.
Indigestion and nausea
Our stomach can only hold a certain amount of food, and that strategically depends on our size. Eating food more than what our stomach can manage will lead to indigestion. In some cases, it is also accompanied by nausea. This is our body’s way of saying that it cannot hold too much and that you need to release some, which triggers vomiting.
Getting bloated and excessive gas
Consuming big meals can hinder the functions of our digestive system, thus, leading to bloating and gas release. Excessive gas typically comes from overeating fatty and spicy foods. Soda and all carbonated drinks also trigger it. To prevent bloating and extreme gas, it’s best to eat slowly with the right amount of food.
Sleepiness
Last but not least, sleepiness. A lot of us have probably experienced this at least once in our lives. Overeating and feeling lethargic afterward is very common. This is because our blood sugars drop when we eat too much, and low blood sugar results in sleepiness or tiredness.
References:
Top 10 Reasons For Overeating.
(https://www.realbuzz.com/articles-interests/nutrition/article/top-10-reasons-for-overeating/)
7 Harmful Effects of Overeating.