5 Causes of Nauseous After Eating And How to Prevent It

1. Food Poisoning

As one of the most popular causes of nauseous after eating, food poisoning happens when the foods are contaminated with either a virus or bacteria which disrupts the digestive tract triggering nausea and vomiting (for some cases).

Mostly, the bacteria that causing food poisoning will die when exposed to temperatures higher than 140 degrees Fahrenheit. So, that's why avoiding consumes pre-packaged and raw food such as uncooked meat is one of the best ways to reduce the food poisoning risk.

The sign that you have food poisoning is you get nausea after eating followed by diarrhea, fever, vomiting, and stomach cramps. The symptoms will be cure after your stomach 'clear' from diarrhea and vomiting.

But, if you are also experiencing bloody vomit or bowel movements, extreme pain, blurry vision, or diarrhea for more than three days, go see the doctor immediately.

2. Food Allergy

Nauseous After Eating - Photo by Couleur from Pixabay

Food allergy is a condition when you eat something you are allergic to or have an intolerance to. As the result, your body's immune system will react with chemicals, like immunoglobin E and histamine that will cause symptoms like feel nauseated. 

There is plenty of food product that can cause allergy, but you need to underline that it can be different from one person to another which can cause feeling sick after eating. The most common food allergies are eggs, wheat, fish, soy, milk, tree nuts, peanuts, and shellfish.

Just in case you feeling sick due to an allergy, it would be better to get tested by an allergist to help you determine which foods may be to blame and avoid them in the future.

3. Digestive Process

Feeling nauseous after eating also has a strong correlation with the digestive process on our digestive system. Before we analyzed it in the digestive function, feeling sick after eating may be caused by unchewed food.

In our digestive process, chewing is one of the most critical steps. Why? Because when we start to eat the food and chewing, our mouth will produce saliva that will soften the food and make it easier for the next stage of digestion to take over, which takes place in our stomach lining.

To avoid feeling nauseated, you need to keep in mind that you should chew your food correctly at least 20 times before swallowing it and bring your food to the next stage of the digestion process.

4. Lying Down

Nauseous After Eating - Photo by Pexels from Pixabay

Some of us may find it feels good to lie down after a big meal. But, the fact is that it can put harm on our bodies. Lying down will be put our body in a posture which bad for our digestion and leads to indigestion and heartburn. 

Give some time for your digestive system to perfectly processed all of the food that you have eaten for about 2 or 3 hours. After that, you can freely lie down or even go to bed to sleep.

Or else, you can take some light walk after had a meal to speed up the time it takes for your food to travel from the stomach to the small intestine. It was proved on research by the University Hospital of Heidelberg.

5. Stressed Out

Last but not least on the causes of nauseous after eating is by a psychological factor. Yes, stressed out. This condition has a significant impact on your body's digestive functions. 

Simply to say, when you are stressed or feeling anxious, your body will turn on 'fight' or 'flight' mode as a natural response. So, your heart rate will increase, the blood vessels become constricted, and the muscles tighten to fight or flight. As the result, you will feel nauseated and has an urge to vomiting.

To prevent nausea while you are stressing out about something is by relaxing for some moment before you have a meal. Take a deep breath, relax on your sit and forget about everything else. Focus only on the joy of eating and do not multi-tasking.

That's all the causes nauseous after eating that may happen to you. Stay healthy and be happy!