E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Getty Images stock
Can you actually eat yourself to death?
"I ate so much I'm about to burst!"
Someone at your Thanksgiving table will likely say some version of this tomorrow, after you've all stuffed your faces with turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and the rest. But how much would you have to eat in order for your stomach to actually burst? Is that even possible?
"Interestingly enough, you can rupture your stomach if you eat too much," says Dr. Rachel Vreeman, co-author of "Don't Cross Your Eyes ... They'll Get Stuck That Way!" and assistant professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. "It is possible, but it's very, very rare."
A handful of reports over the years document the tales of people who literally ate themselves to death, or at least came dangerously close: Japanese doctors wrote in a 2003 case report that they believed it was a 49-year-old man's "excessive over-eating" that caused his stomach to rupture, killing him. And this 1991 case report describes a similar "spontaneous rupture" in an adult's stomach "after overindulgence in food and drink."
Normally, your stomach can hold about one or one-and-a-half liters, Vreeman says -- this is the point you may reach if you overdo it tomorrow, when you feel full to the point of nausea. Pathologists' reports seem to suggest the stomach is able to do OK handling up to about three liters, but most cases of rupture seem to occur when a person has attempted to stuff their stomach with about five liters of food or fluid. (One of the reports Vreeman came across described the sad case of a woman whose stomach contained 12 liters of stuff.)
It takes a certain amount of misguided determination to manage to override your natural gag reflex and continue to eat (and eat and eat), which is why, not surprisingly, reports of ruptured stomachs caused by overeating are most common in people with some sort of disordered eating, or limited mental capacity, Vreeman says.
"They have unusual eating habits to an extent that their bodies’ reflexes no longer respond as they normally do," Vreeman explains. "Their bodies’ reflexes have been ignored or abused for so long that they no longer vomit at the appropriate time. And then once the stomach gets to this extremely distended point, the stomach muscles are too stretched out to be strong enough to vomit the food out."
Speaking of strong stomachs, you'd best have one in order to read this next paragraph. If vomiting isn't happening, all that food and fluid still has to go somewhere. The increasing volume of stuff in the gut puts pressure on the stomach's walls, so much so that the tissue weakens and tears, sending the stomach contents into the body and causing infection and pain, Vreeman says. Surgical intervention is necessary to repair a ruptured stomach and save the patient's life.
In particular, she says, anorexics or bulimics may be at risk. In fact, Cedars-Sinai, the non-profit hospital in Los Angeles, actually lists this as a "symptom" of bulimia: "In rare cases, a person may eat so much during a binge that the stomach bursts or the esophagus tears. This can be life-threatening."
Other reported cases of spontaneous stomach rupture happen in individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome, a congenital disease that is characterized by, among other things, a kind of disordered eating: an "intense craving for food," resulting in "uncontrollable weight gain and morbid obesity." according to the National Institutes of Health. In a 2007 study examining the deaths of 152 individuals with the condition, 3 percent of those deaths were the result of gastric rupture and necrosis.
The takeaway here: This really happens, sometimes! Also: This is probably not going to happen to you.
"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," Vreeman assures.
Related:
- Are 'competitive eating' contests a terrible idea?
- The strange eating habits of Steve Jobs
- Can eating too much spicy food kill you?
Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
Leave a Comment:
Our holidays have become so twisted, they are nothing more than an excuse to overindulge. To the point of killing oneself. I don't care if it's turkey, turducken, or tofurkey, there is NO excuse for eating yourself sick! Besides, what is Thanksgiving without leftovers for sandwiches the next day? ;)
I think the article was saying that is unlikely that any person will kill themselves over Thanksgiving - doing so is rare and is more a symptom of a eating disorder or other serious disorders. I dunno - it seems wrong to use people with extreme and tragic disorders dying as a cautionary tail to shame healthy people for eating a bit more then normal on a holiday focused on eating....
The stomach is a muscle, so people who frequently gorge have already stretched their stomach to accept lots of food without feeling nauseous. Compare the stomach to the uterus: competitive eaters "train" by gorging until their stomach muscles have loosened, while a woman having multiples undergoes slow stretching of her uterus to hold all the growing babies.
Probably the most danger comes in massively overeating when this is not something you do frequently because the stomach muscles will be tighter and less able to stretch in a short time. It would be like a woman suddenly being pregnant with full-term quadruplets stretching her normal uterus.
Obese people don't necessarily stuff themselves or gorge. They can get obese by eating high calorie foods throughout the day and not exercising. Add to that the calories from drinking alcohol, milkshakes, smoothies, Starbucks creamy concoctions, "sweet tea," and sugary sodas and it's easy to gain weight rapidly without gorging on food.
Can articles like this make my head burst? Only if I read more than the headline.
Note: I do not support either corrupt political party. Vote out the incumbents, for true term limits.
LOL
Holidays are rembrance days, we remember past events that were good for us, or, lol, we are told were good for us, like July 4, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, whatever. We celebrate by eating because food is the ultimate soother and we have a lot of it. So what? Your comment indicates that you have a problem with that, so, why? How is it any skin off your nose, or any of your business? Pull your claws in Cat Claws, you do your things and others do theirs.
What about those that take part in these so-called competitive eating contests? I read that some guy put down something like 65 hotdogs in 10 minutes. Aren’t these people most at risk?
I would think if nausea is not felt then very sharp pain would be felt when the stomach gets too distended well before the bursting point.
Wouldn't more people in Mississippi be dead if that were true?
Yes. And also people in Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Lousiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
What's your point?
I think their point was that Mississippi ranks at or near the top for rates of obesity in the US. It is a problem everywhere in America though, as you pointed out.
Sure it can...just ask Terry Jones...:)
When the Romans ate themselves sick, they went to the vomitorium then came back to eat some more:)
Celebration by feasting has been a part of just about every culture since the beginning of man. We're bound to over-do-it sometimes. Holidays have always been an excuse to overindulge, but we all should have some common sense.
You are absolutely right!
It many countries an overabundance of food is an indicator of great success and is to be shared with all that enter the home. The more food, the more success.
Romans? Or bulemics?
Not sure if you are joking, Miker, or just in need of a history book. Erring on the side of the latter, I will just confirm that what Nihao wrote is true. Food and drink were great indulgences for the upper class Romans, the more, the better -- and if there wasn't room for more, they'd make room. Yup. Those were the great Romans. ;-)
No one with the capacity for understanding human anatomy would think this.
This makes me wonder about competative eating...I know they have to train, but that would be akin to bulimics I would think.
Many people overeat "once in a while", but I think more and more people realize that's just not fun. We've "paid the price" for overindulging enough time to know better. Others will use "any excuse" to pig out every moment of every day... like they've just escaped from some Nazi prison camp.
Considering the number of grotesque, gluttonous folks who are so morbidly obese they need to be unloaded, using some sort of Mechanical Lift by their ENABLERS, out of their "handicapped vehicles" and on to their "I'm too fat to stand up scooters". This all takes place just to allow these very sick people to fill up their shopping carts to the very brim with the deadliest and most fattening foods available at the supermarket.
So, the answer to the question is, "No, I do not believe that people's stomachs would burst from eating too much".
Our culture, instead of telling them the truth, we "creates every possible excuse", to literally encourage these obsessive over-eaters to "continue GORGING them selves until they burst". Ironically, they never really do burst, they just continue to expand and expand and expand until their hearts give out and they die from massive heart attacks.
Possibly one of the saddest things of all is that many of these overfed folks are not only "permitted to give birth" but they are allowed to "keep their children and raise them in this culture of gluttonous behavior"... creating more morbidly obese individuals, but at increasingly YOUNGER ages. Others can excuse it, hide it and/or just not discuss it... but raising children in that type of environment is ABUSIVE... literally "teaching children how to DIE VERY YOUNG" from a "behavioral disorder".
It is common knowledge that obese people DIE DECADES YOUNGER than they otherwise would or should.
Living in Florida, I meet many, many people well in to their 80's and 90's all the time. But, you'll never meet anyone over 45 or 50, let alone 80 or 90, who is "morbidly obese"... NEVER. They're all DEAD.
Everyone knows that obese people all die very young... that is really sad.
I have to agree that I'm disgusted when I see these people in the grocery store with their equally over-weight children. It's so hard for me not to say anything! Definitely ranks up there with the worst child abuse...
Jen, most definitely a lot of obesity is environmental, but there is a direct correlation of weight and genes. Studies were shown using adopted children/adoptive parent/birth parent that shows the child to take after the birth parent regardless of environment.
Reference: Genetics: A conceptual approach (text)
Sadly, all one has to do to become obese is to follow the USDA dietary recommendations. It isn't gluttony in all cases. Refined carbs (including the so-called heart-healthy whole grains) cause obesity and our govt recommends you get a LOT of them in your diet! Either they're ignorant of this or worse, in cahoots with corporate farms and pharms. because there's tons of profit in people not being healthy.
Sad? Well Speedy, shouldn't be any skin off your nose. Those morbidly obese folks are enjoying life the way they want too, and, since eating is a recreation to them the more they are dissed the more they eat to compensate. So what?
If you are eating that much then you are NOT eating like a HUMAN, but a greedy PIG.
Actually, if you read the article, most of the very few people who experience this have diagnosed eating disorders and/or genetic anomaly (Prader-Willi syndrome) causing what everyone would consider unhealthy, disordered eating behavior, not just people who like food too much. But I'm sure you calling them names will set them on the right track. Do you feel better now?
Apparently overeating can cause a haital hernia fairly easily.
Yes, unfortunately that happened to me a few years ago at Thanksgiving. I only had one large plateful but because I am not used to over eating, it happened to me. It was so very painful, like nothing I had felt before. I just thought I had a most horrific heartburn, that everything was trying unsuccessfully to come back up (gross-sorry). I didn't know about it until almost a year later when I had some other troubles and had a special test done. The doctor said it could have been fatal. Stop eating when you feel full!
It's not how many minutes you take to eat, it's how many seconds.
Stop eating before you feel full, as it takes 20 minutes for your body to register that it's had enough.
And one of the reasons some of the most LUXURIOUS HOTELS in the country have always kept "Ambulances" quietly parked behind them on Thanksgiving - for those patrons who OVEREAT in their restaurants to the point of medical emergency.
With the obesity problem in our country today and to prevent HEART ATTACKS on Thanksgiving from folks overeating all day........
MAYBE it's time to CREATE A NEW TRADITION and SAVE LIVES!
Henceforth, Thanksgiving will be TURKEY and EGGS for BREAKFAST!
(Since people couldn't possibly OVEREAT at breakfast - IMAGINE the misery/money/hospital admissions it can save!!)
Never heard that one, but Embassy Suites is about as high on the hog as I go.
...ever been to the breakfast buffett at the Excalibur in Vegas Tonto. Some years back I went on recommendation ONCE and saw ENORMOUS people with huge heaping plates of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, grits virtually loafs of toast AND WENT BACK FOR MORE!! These people deserve to die and likely will.
Makes you wonder if the HIGHEST and BEST USE of the new "Universal Health Care" wouldn't be to give EVERYONE over the age of 18 a FULL LENGTH MIRROR and make them sign a pledge to ONLY EAT IN FRONT OF IT for ONE YEAR WHILE NUDE.
If they are NORMAL WEIGHT at the end of ONE YEAR, they can have FREE HEALTH CARE!
And if eveyone makes that pledge to Grover Norquist, we will all be at ideal weight in no time.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Well, there goes MY holiday...
I'm surprised this hasn't happened to any of the Nathan's hot dog eating "contest" participants (if you can call it that).
There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying a little holiday indulgence -- if you do not go to extremes and it is not a regular habit. Harvest festivals (which is what is really at the root of Thanksgiving) have been a part of the human experience for pretty much all of human history. I will never understand why it gives some people so much pleasure to look down their noses at others the way many on this thread have, or why some people love to spoil the parade by condemning others for what should be an innocent moment of celebration. Yes, some people over do it at the Holidays. Some people eat too much all year long. Neither of those truths are reasons to trash the entire Thanksgiving tradition -- of which food is a part (as it is in all harvest festivals), yes, but should also be about recognizing the passage of time (Thanksgiving is a fixed point in our conceptualization of time and another passing reassures us that the cycle of our lives continues), as well as quality time spent with friends and family. Argue for a healthy balance of these things if you must argue, but don't throw the whole holiday out. If you think Thanksgiving is only about over-eating, you need to spend some serious time in personal reflection and decide what is important to you and what these holidays should be about. Every culture has and needs traditions to survive, to hold it together. Thanksgiving, as a primarily secular holiday, is one of the few we can all share -- and shared traditions are necessary to the identity of any group. Let's not ruin it, then, shall we?
Problem is, we have learned from history that many "Traditions" world-wide were literally deadly!
We must always keep an OPEN MIND to new ideas-to make Albert Einstein PROUD of us all.......
RIP Al.
Saddened, you're probably right about that, maybe we've become a bit jaded living in our world of plenty, enough to go around and all. Well, lol, except for money, there's never enough. I'm guilty of being jaded too because as far as I'm concerned today, Thanksgiving Thursday, is just another day in the week and the only reason I loved it was because I got a four-day weekend off with pay. Remember the Pilgrims? Sure, ok, and now we go on with life, making what we can out of it.
there is something seriously wrong with sitting down and gorging yourself on food. Thanksgiving should be about being grateful for the positives in your life, not about how much you can eat.
And a Happy Thanksgiving to all....
And especially thanking the Indians for their beautiful country.
Well, ok Tonto, good point. But, was it really theirs? Did they own it or was it up for grabs?
It was theirs as much as it ours now as in for new people to come and take over, they would have to kill us/force assimilate us. The land is the focal object necessitating the actual crimes of murder/rape/forced assimilation/subjection that allowed the taking of land.
So is this like bloat in dogs?
Good thing we don't eat kibble for Thanksgiving.
Maybe we'd all be MUCH healthier than everyone else by meeting right here tomorrow and telling JOKES - and let the rest of the "chubs" gorge themselves to death and argue all afternoon/evening with long lost "loved" ones.
(Here's your hat Aunt Mary, sorry you can't stay........_
LOL
Or, Tonto, listening to the women mumble about how dry the turkey was, how the mashed spuds were lumpy, how the biscuits weren't done on the inside and how the gravy was too runny, lol. The holiday spirit takes many forms.
Great article to include as reading material for terrorist trainees and future suicide bombers, especially those among the starving and malnourished in the Islamic parts of Africa. The best propaganda to inspire terrorists is written by clueless Americans.
... I'm sorry, what now?
This ship has sailed, I'm afraid, but in the future you could do more articles about the opposite extreme. For example, I recall a recent one about starving Africans forced to eat dirt, quite literally.
Hang in there, Melissa :-) I think Optimist is suffering from Early Onset Tryptophan...
Question to Carnac:
"What do you call a person/chat bot who is on a health/medical blog regarding ruptured abdominal/gastrointestinal problems who really needs to be educated on the WONDERFUL AND ALTRUISTIC work The Bill Gates Foundation is doing around the world to help the masses in dire need?"
Carnac: "A You're-on-the-wrong-BLOGS-ter!"
Basic laws of physics, if you cram too much into a container something IS going to break.
Thou shalt not exceed the Elastic co-efficient!
A few comments here remind me of the time we took our kids to (a well known buffet restaurant chain) for dinner. I had been taking them there fairly often since back when I was a single father, but this was one of the first times my wife and I had taken the kids together.
It was fairly quiet for some reason and my daughter (then about 4) asked in a voice that seemed to boom like the Wizard's voice in Oz, "Daddy. Where are all the fat people?"
those people probably didn't drink soda with their food.
if they had, like here in america, the soda gases would have expanded the stomach and allowed the person to ingest more food.
then because of the super high sugars in soda, the brain is fooled into believing that the energy is coming from the fast and junk foods being digested at the time and the brain demands more and more of it.
it is a trick used by the fast food and junk food industry. thats why they are always promoting each others products on advertisements and windows.
Question to Carnac:
"What is your last minute BEST advice so you don't overeat and get sick?"
CARNAC reples:
"From Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy."
"If you're at a Thanksgiving dinner, but you don't like (want?) the stuffing or the cranberry sauce or anthing else, just pretend like you're eating it, but instead, put it all in your lap and form it into a big mushy ball. Then, later, when you're out back having cigars with the boys, let out a big fake cough and throw the ball to the ground. Then say: "Boy, these are good cigars!"
Perhaps the best people to answer this question would be Rosie O'Donnel, Kirstie Alley, and Aretha Franklin. A panel of experts, so to speak.
And one mustn't forget the many MALE ROTUND candidates actually running for PREZ......
(Some of them would have had a heart attack on any campaign trail - and STILL COULD!)
During WWII, the Japanese occupation troops used an interrogation technique that involved forcing water down a suspect's throat, then jumping on the person's belly to rupture the stomach. It was a very painful way to die (intended to get information from other suspects who were forced to watch.) This was the fate of many Filipinos.
Mythbusters ran a program to determin just how much the stomache can hold on tv.