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What Causes Heaviness In Stomach After Every Meal?
Question: Sir i am 27 years old 5'8 and 77 kgs i have a sitting job 9 hrs shift i have normal veg meal but most of the time my stomach feel heavy and specially after eating meal it popping out heavy. I walk and job 8 kms daily.
Still feels heavy and popping out balging too. My whole is body is quite fit though.
This stomach heavyness is very tried and lazy. Please advise what should i do
Still feels heavy and popping out balging too. My whole is body is quite fit though.
This stomach heavyness is very tried and lazy. Please advise what should i do
Brief Answer:
Diet & lifestyle modification. To rule out liver disease & ulcers
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for your query.
I'm Dr. Shuba Hariprasad and will helping you with your query today.
Would you please clarify a few things for me?
1)do you smoke or consume alcohol?
2)do you have any heart burn or pain in the center of your chest or the stomach area? Any breathing difficulty?
3) do you have any medical illness like diabetes, hypertension, thyroid, hormone imbalances, heart problems? Any family history of these or any other disease?
4)do you do any abdominal muscle work out like sit ups or do you lift weights?
5)does this occur right after meals or after a couple of hours?
6)do you eat a lot of carbohydrates, Fibre, fruit with your meals? Or add lots of oil or salt?
7)how is your stool and urine?
I would like to primarily rule out liver, gall bladder & stomach problems like liver enlargement, gall stones, gastric /duodenal ulcers.
I would :
-get a detailed medical history & information about personal & dietary habits.
-do a complete physical examination
-get some basic blood tests (complete blood count, Esr, renal & liver function tests) and a urine& stool routine
-get an ultrasound of the abdomen
-an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy if indicated.
Further investigation based on findings & results.
I would recommend the following b
- maintain a diary of what you eat at every meal, how much water you have and the intensity/frequency of your symptoms
-drink at least 3litres of water throughout the day.
-chew your food well (half of the digestion should be by saliva in the mouth-watering of us hardly get 10‰).
-Avoid drinking water during and half hour after main meals. Small sips if absolutely necessary.
-avoid fruits for 1hour after & before meals.
-monitor which food increases your symptoms?
-reduce salt intake, oily, fatty foods.
You don't have to completely cut food groups out. Reduce it & chew well while you eat.
Do core strengthening exercise (for back & abdomen). Walk for 10 minutes every 2 hrs at work. At least get up, stretch.
Don't lie down or slouch after you have just eaten
I believe the above suggestions will help relieve your symptoms. Try for 2 weeks and if it still persists, go for the above tests.
Hope this helps.
Please let me know if I can help you with anything else. If not, please close this discussion & rate my answer.
Wish you good health.
Regards,
Dr. Shuba Hariprasad
Diet & lifestyle modification. To rule out liver disease & ulcers
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for your query.
I'm Dr. Shuba Hariprasad and will helping you with your query today.
Would you please clarify a few things for me?
1)do you smoke or consume alcohol?
2)do you have any heart burn or pain in the center of your chest or the stomach area? Any breathing difficulty?
3) do you have any medical illness like diabetes, hypertension, thyroid, hormone imbalances, heart problems? Any family history of these or any other disease?
4)do you do any abdominal muscle work out like sit ups or do you lift weights?
5)does this occur right after meals or after a couple of hours?
6)do you eat a lot of carbohydrates, Fibre, fruit with your meals? Or add lots of oil or salt?
7)how is your stool and urine?
I would like to primarily rule out liver, gall bladder & stomach problems like liver enlargement, gall stones, gastric /duodenal ulcers.
I would :
-get a detailed medical history & information about personal & dietary habits.
-do a complete physical examination
-get some basic blood tests (complete blood count, Esr, renal & liver function tests) and a urine& stool routine
-get an ultrasound of the abdomen
-an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy if indicated.
Further investigation based on findings & results.
I would recommend the following b
- maintain a diary of what you eat at every meal, how much water you have and the intensity/frequency of your symptoms
-drink at least 3litres of water throughout the day.
-chew your food well (half of the digestion should be by saliva in the mouth-watering of us hardly get 10‰).
-Avoid drinking water during and half hour after main meals. Small sips if absolutely necessary.
-avoid fruits for 1hour after & before meals.
-monitor which food increases your symptoms?
-reduce salt intake, oily, fatty foods.
You don't have to completely cut food groups out. Reduce it & chew well while you eat.
Do core strengthening exercise (for back & abdomen). Walk for 10 minutes every 2 hrs at work. At least get up, stretch.
Don't lie down or slouch after you have just eaten
I believe the above suggestions will help relieve your symptoms. Try for 2 weeks and if it still persists, go for the above tests.
Hope this helps.
Please let me know if I can help you with anything else. If not, please close this discussion & rate my answer.
Wish you good health.
Regards,
Dr. Shuba Hariprasad
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Yogesh D
Dear Madam,
1) i do you not smoke and do not consume alcohol?
2)i do not have any heart burn or pain in the center of your chest or the stomach area and no breathing problem i jogg 8 kms
3) i do not have any medical illness like diabetes, hypertension, thyroid, hormone imbalances, heart problems and not in family history of these or any other disease.
4)yes do cardio sit ups but no lifting weights.
5)This occur right after meals.
6)i eat normal diet milk and apple in b/fast sometimes roti and noraml veg meal a good diet (heavy)
7) Its flexible office chair i sit on and use XXXXXXX urine.
I drink lot of water during meal after meals we are XXXXXXX brahmin family so pure veg meal and eat sabzi dal and roti normally 8-10 roti a meal
do i need to control on my food in take ??
Dear madam thank you all your advises I will definitely apply in my routine ma'am I never been evaluated for thyroid my sister in law suggested me go for check up should I ?? I will start and follow all these yaaa one thing does sleeping habit counts here i sleep 7 hrs. Thanks again after this we close our discussion thank you ma'am
1) i do you not smoke and do not consume alcohol?
2)i do not have any heart burn or pain in the center of your chest or the stomach area and no breathing problem i jogg 8 kms
3) i do not have any medical illness like diabetes, hypertension, thyroid, hormone imbalances, heart problems and not in family history of these or any other disease.
4)yes do cardio sit ups but no lifting weights.
5)This occur right after meals.
6)i eat normal diet milk and apple in b/fast sometimes roti and noraml veg meal a good diet (heavy)
7) Its flexible office chair i sit on and use XXXXXXX urine.
I drink lot of water during meal after meals we are XXXXXXX brahmin family so pure veg meal and eat sabzi dal and roti normally 8-10 roti a meal
do i need to control on my food in take ??
Dear madam thank you all your advises I will definitely apply in my routine ma'am I never been evaluated for thyroid my sister in law suggested me go for check up should I ?? I will start and follow all these yaaa one thing does sleeping habit counts here i sleep 7 hrs. Thanks again after this we close our discussion thank you ma'am
Brief Answer:
Diet modifications
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for the follow up.
I see a few patterns which could be causing the bloating/heaviness.
I suggest:
1) Do not mix Fruit and milk- have them atleast half hour or more apart. Try half hour first. See how this works (some people digest faster). If still symptomatic, increase to a one hour gap.
2) Drink about 400 ml of water, the first thing in the morning , once you wake up or after you brush your teeth.
3)Reduce your portion size (8-10 chapthis to 4-5). If you still feel hungry, eat some fresh veges or nuts (walnuts, almonds, toasted sunflower seeds, peanuts).
Reduce it for every meal. make sure you focus on chewing, this will feel weird and annoying at first. However you will see the difference and it time will get used to it.
4) always keep your tummy only 3/4ths full, never completely full. Do no drink water (except few sips, if absolutely necessary) with and after meals. This dilutes the acid which helps in digestion and increases the digestion time in the stomach and small intestine which leads to improper digestion and excess gas.
It also hyper distends the stomach which can cause weakening of the lower esophageal sphincter and can cause reflux disease in the long run.
5)I meant for you to walk and get the blood flowing when you work 9 hours straight. Its good that the chair is flexible but sitting for so long can cause problems.
6)add some natural ingredients to your diet that helpe relieve and prevent gas formation. Garlic, ginger, asafoetida. Also cook the dals well, this enable faster digestion.
7) Monitor your salt and oil intake. This may go unnoticed in XXXXXXX cooking as everything has it is not really seen. 2 litres of oil a month for a family of 4 is the ideal intake. Frying stuff takes more oil and is additional. I would like to add here, that reusing oil that is used for frying (papads, pooris, vada) also releases toxins that is ingested can irritate you stomach and in the long run, increases your risk for gastrointestinal and reproductive organ cancer. most of restaurant, if not all, especially road side and small time shops reuse heir oil multiple times.
8)Avoid tea/coffee on an empty stomach (it is the XXXXXXX tradition, I know but try it for a week to see how it changes your symptoms). Say no to carbonated/sugary/ store bought drinks.
Note: one may think that nothing has happened so far, so how come it is causing problems now. The fact is, our body is an amazing system that has a tremendous resilience and can adapt to perform at optimal levels till the damage is beyond its capacity. once that happens, there is no turning back.
Subtle signs like yours (its great that you picked up on it ) is a warning sign that you need to make changes.
Please try my suggestions and let me know how it goes. I would like to follow up in the long run as well, if you are willing.
Hope this helps.
Questions:
1) Have you been evaluated for thyroid problem, diabetes, hypertension?
2) you did not mention if your stools and urine were normal?
Sleeping for 7 hours a day is ideal.
I would recommend a general health check up from the age of 30. Every 2-3 years if all is well.
Since you have subtle symptoms, I would suggest you first try these remedies. Most of the time, we can do something about it.
If you do not find relief in one month (atleast by 50%), Kindly go for a general check up. thyroid problems are more prevalent these days.
Hope you feel better soon.
Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.
I believe this will make a difference if you could just give it a sincere try. The same goes for everyone in your family.
If you do not have any further questions, please close this discussion and rate my answer.
Regards,
Dr. Shuba XXXXXXX
Diet modifications
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for the follow up.
I see a few patterns which could be causing the bloating/heaviness.
I suggest:
1) Do not mix Fruit and milk- have them atleast half hour or more apart. Try half hour first. See how this works (some people digest faster). If still symptomatic, increase to a one hour gap.
2) Drink about 400 ml of water, the first thing in the morning , once you wake up or after you brush your teeth.
3)Reduce your portion size (8-10 chapthis to 4-5). If you still feel hungry, eat some fresh veges or nuts (walnuts, almonds, toasted sunflower seeds, peanuts).
Reduce it for every meal. make sure you focus on chewing, this will feel weird and annoying at first. However you will see the difference and it time will get used to it.
4) always keep your tummy only 3/4ths full, never completely full. Do no drink water (except few sips, if absolutely necessary) with and after meals. This dilutes the acid which helps in digestion and increases the digestion time in the stomach and small intestine which leads to improper digestion and excess gas.
It also hyper distends the stomach which can cause weakening of the lower esophageal sphincter and can cause reflux disease in the long run.
5)I meant for you to walk and get the blood flowing when you work 9 hours straight. Its good that the chair is flexible but sitting for so long can cause problems.
6)add some natural ingredients to your diet that helpe relieve and prevent gas formation. Garlic, ginger, asafoetida. Also cook the dals well, this enable faster digestion.
7) Monitor your salt and oil intake. This may go unnoticed in XXXXXXX cooking as everything has it is not really seen. 2 litres of oil a month for a family of 4 is the ideal intake. Frying stuff takes more oil and is additional. I would like to add here, that reusing oil that is used for frying (papads, pooris, vada) also releases toxins that is ingested can irritate you stomach and in the long run, increases your risk for gastrointestinal and reproductive organ cancer. most of restaurant, if not all, especially road side and small time shops reuse heir oil multiple times.
8)Avoid tea/coffee on an empty stomach (it is the XXXXXXX tradition, I know but try it for a week to see how it changes your symptoms). Say no to carbonated/sugary/ store bought drinks.
Note: one may think that nothing has happened so far, so how come it is causing problems now. The fact is, our body is an amazing system that has a tremendous resilience and can adapt to perform at optimal levels till the damage is beyond its capacity. once that happens, there is no turning back.
Subtle signs like yours (its great that you picked up on it ) is a warning sign that you need to make changes.
Please try my suggestions and let me know how it goes. I would like to follow up in the long run as well, if you are willing.
Hope this helps.
Questions:
1) Have you been evaluated for thyroid problem, diabetes, hypertension?
2) you did not mention if your stools and urine were normal?
Sleeping for 7 hours a day is ideal.
I would recommend a general health check up from the age of 30. Every 2-3 years if all is well.
Since you have subtle symptoms, I would suggest you first try these remedies. Most of the time, we can do something about it.
If you do not find relief in one month (atleast by 50%), Kindly go for a general check up. thyroid problems are more prevalent these days.
Hope you feel better soon.
Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.
I believe this will make a difference if you could just give it a sincere try. The same goes for everyone in your family.
If you do not have any further questions, please close this discussion and rate my answer.
Regards,
Dr. Shuba XXXXXXX
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Naveen Kumar
Answered by
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