Ate until You Are Bursting and Feel Like Throwing Up? How to Calm Your Stomach after Overeating

The concepts of deficiency and consumptive damage of the spleen and stomach and impaired qi circulation described centuries ago in Donguibogam align closely with modern medical explanations of signaling errors and dysfunction in the digestive system. Here is what occurs internally during an episode of overeating. When we eat, the stomach expands to accommodate food. Mechanoreceptors known as stretch receptors in the stomach wall register this expansion and signal the brain. When we consume too much, these receptors are overstimulated, prompting the brain to perceive an overloaded state. The vagus nerve then responds along the gut-brain axis, triggering a range of digestive symptoms. Overeating particularly disrupts the autonomic nervous system that regulates gastrointestinal motility. The vagus nerve, as a core component of the parasympathetic nerve, normally promotes digestive function; however, marked gastric dilatation or stagnant food can slow the gastric emptying rate or make motility irregular. As transit stalls, retained food may foster bacterial overgrowth and gas production, exacerbating fullness and abdominal distension. In addition, rapid overeating throws off appetite-regulating hormones. Satiety hormones such as leptin and cholecystokinin are released during eating, but eating large quantities quickly can delay their secretion or hinder the brain's ability to interpret them in time. People often finish overeating well before realizing their fullness, facing discomfort only afterward. Furthermore, excessive gastric acid or its backward movement into the esophagus frequently follows overeating, potentially causing esophagitis, heartburn, and acid regurgitation. What Donguibogam characterizes as qi being unable to ascend and descend mirrors these physiological mechanisms: impaired motility, hormonal imbalance, and nervous system strain. These symptoms serve as the stomach's clear distress signal, signaling that its capacity has been exceeded.