Understanding Overeating: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

Article by Dr Manasa S, B.A.M.S

Table of Contents

What is Overeating?

Overeating is more than just eating a bit too much; it involves consuming food past the point of fullness or even hunger. This habit, if frequent, can lead to weight gain, digestive issues, and may even contribute to eating disorders. However, it differs from binge eating disorder and is surprisingly common, with various factors influencing why it happens.

Why Do We Overeat?

When stressed, our bodies release cortisol, a hormone associated with the “fight-or-flight” response. Elevated cortisol can increase cravings for sugary, fatty, or salty foods. Additionally, factors such as eating speed, the type of food, and multitasking while eating can contribute to unintentional overeating. Occasional overeating may result in stomach discomfort and even disrupt how our bodies manage hunger.

Common Triggers for overeating:

Emotional Eating

Stress, fatigue, boredom, or low mood can lead to emotional eating, which feels good temporarily but can result in overeating since it’s not driven by actual hunger.

Cravings and Processed Foods

Favourite foods—such as pizza, ice cream, and fries—can be tough to resist. Highly processed foods with added flavors encourage eating for pleasure rather than sustenance.

Social Settings and Timing

Social events often center around food, making it easy to eat mindlessly or feel pressured to indulge. Late-day snacking or large portions at gatherings can also contribute to overeating.

Medications and Health Conditions

Certain medications may suppress signals of fullness. Specific health conditions, including atypical depression or premenstrual syndrome, can also lead to overeating tendencies.

Recognizing the Signs: Symptoms of Overeating

Overeating can leave you feeling uncomfortable and sluggish. Here’s a list of common symptoms you might experience:

– Stomach Pain: A heavy, full feeling that can cause discomfort.

– Nausea: Eating past fullness can lead to queasiness.

– Heartburn: Overeating may trigger acid reflux and heartburn.

– Acid Reflux: The backflow of stomach acid can create a burning sensation in your chest.

– Bloating: Excess food can cause the stomach to feel stretched or swollen.

– Gas: Overeating, especially foods rich in fat or sugar, may lead to excess gas.

– Fatigue and Sluggishness: Feeling low-energy or tired often follows overeating.

These symptoms often improve within a few hours with rest, water, or light exercise. However, if symptoms persist for more than a day or worsen, it’s best to consult a healthcare professional.

9 Long term effects of Overeating

Here’s how overeating can affect your body in different ways:

1. Disrupts Hunger Regulation: Overeating can disrupt hunger hormones like ghrelin and leptin, making it difficult to know when you’re truly full and increasing the likelihood of eating for pleasure rather than hunger.

2. Increases Body Fat: Eating more calories than you need regularly causes fat storage, leading to excess body fat and possibly obesity.

3. Raises Disease Risk: Chronic overeating is linked to obesity-related diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

4. Causes Nausea: Overloading your stomach can lead to feelings of nausea and indigestion as your body tries to digest excess food.

5. Makes You Sleepy: Eating a large meal may lead to reactive hypoglycemia, causing a drop in blood sugar and resulting in sluggishness and tiredness.

6. Triggers Gas and Bloating: Eating too quickly or consuming fatty, spicy, or carbonated foods can lead to gas and bloating as your digestive system struggles to process the overload.

7. Reduces Energy Levels: Overeating can leave you feeling lethargic as your body diverts energy to digest the surplus food.

8. Impairs Brain Function: Long-term overeating and obesity have been associated with a slight decline in cognitive abilities over time, including memory issues.

9. Leads to Insulin Resistance: Regularly overeating sugary and processed foods can cause cells to become less responsive to insulin, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

To prevent these effects, focus on portion control, choose nutrient-rich foods, and consider consulting a dietitian to help create a balanced eating plan.

When to Stop Eating

Typically, hormones like ghrelin and leptin signal hunger and fullness. Overeating overrides these signals, leading us to eat for pleasure rather than fuel. Fast or distracted eating can make it challenging to sense fullness, and signs of overeating—like fatigue or a full stomach—often appear about 20 minutes after finishing a meal.

Strategies to adopt after overeating

After Overeating: How to Bounce Back

It’s natural to feel a bit off after overeating, but blaming yourself doesn’t help. Here are a few ways to support digestion and get back on track:

– Take a Gentle Walk: Light exercise aids digestion and helps regulate blood sugar.

– Stay Hydrated: Drinking water assists the digestive process and helps ease fullness.

– Try Herbal Teas: Peppermint, chamomile, and ginger teas can calm your stomach and reduce bloating.

– Consider an Antacid: Over-the-counter remedies may relieve symptoms of heartburn or indigestion.

Effective Strategies for Preventing Overeating

Overeating can disrupt your body’s natural hunger cues and may contribute to unwanted weight gain. Here are practical strategies to help you maintain a balanced approach to eating:

– Practice Self-Care: Engage in activities that bring you joy beyond eating. Staying active, prioritizing adequate sleep, and limiting social media use can positively impact your mood and reduce overeating triggers.

– Manage Stress: Chronic stress can override hunger and fullness signals, leading to overeating. Finding healthy ways to cope with stress—such as mindfulness practices, hobbies, or relaxation techniques—can help.

– Exercise Regularly: Physical activity provides endorphins, which are feel-good hormones, serving as an alternative to the emotional comfort food can offer.

– Eat Slowly: Taking your time with meals gives your body a chance to signal fullness, helping you avoid unintentional overeating.

– Eat Mindfully: Pay attention to why you’re eating and identify any emotional triggers. Mindful eating can help you make more intentional choices.

– Fill Your Plate with Vegetables: High-fiber foods like vegetables slow down eating and help you feel fuller, longer.

– Limit Alcohol: Drinking alcohol can lead to consuming more food than intended. Reducing alcohol intake may help you better manage portions.

– Avoid Salty Foods: Salty foods can trigger cravings for sweets, leading to overeating. Try to keep your intake of salty snacks in check.

– Plan Holiday Celebrations Wisely: If possible, plan gatherings earlier in the day when you’re less likely to overindulge.

Incorporating these strategies into your daily routine can support balanced eating and a healthier relationship with food.

Study – Overconsumption of food can be conducive to excessive body weight and adiposity that define obesity. It is damaging to health and has been included among the high-burden chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and hypertension.

Study – The main cause of being overweight is an energy imbalance resulting from chronic excessive caloric intake along with a deficit in caloric expenditure i.e. too much food and too less of exercise. The obesogenic environments are the other indirect causes. They promote over-consumption of sugary or fatty foods. Other factors include genetic susceptibility, biological dysfunctions and psychosocial factors including depression, low socioeconomic status or substance abuse. There is a suggestion that overeating shall be treated as a form of ‘food addiction’. Advocates of ‘food addiction’ hypothesis argue that its acceptance could lead to an important shift in our perception of and responses to obesity, both clinically and in public health policy, and it could have implications for the treatment and prevention of obesity and the chronic diseases that follow.

Overeating of food: Ayurveda Understanding

Ati Ashana, which means overeating, is one of the bad eating habits described in Ayurveda treatises which is the root cause for many systemic and metabolic disorders to manifest on the long run.

Master Vagbhata has mentioned the ill effects of ati matra ashana i.e. excessive eating of food in the eighth chapter of Ashtanga Hridaya SutraSthana. He says that excessively consumed food would quickly cause aggravation of all the three doshas. Likewise, this food also causes indigestion of food. This undigested food in turn presses and obstructs the doshas.

Likewise, chronic indigestion caused by excessive eating will lead to causation of ama. Association of ama with doshas will lead to formation of sama doshas. All these events will build up toxicity in the body and will lead to manifestation of a wide array of diseases in the long run.

Santarpanottha Vyadhis i.e. diseases caused due to excessive saturation of the body due to overeating or oversaturation can also be considered in this context. Atisantarpana causes diseases like anemia, diabetes, obesity, indigestion etc.

Related Reading – ‘Atimatra Ashana – Understanding Overeating from Ayurveda Viewpoint’