10 Reasons You Feel Bad After Eating, And How to Stop It

Most variations of gallbladder disease result in nausea after eating. That’s because the organ works to push bile into the small intestine and help digestion.

Nauseous after eating? 7 causes, treatment options, and prevention tips for feeling sick after meals

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This article was medically reviewed by Jason R. McKnight, MD, MS, a family medicine physician and clinical assistant professor at Texas A&M College of Medicine.

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Common causes of nausea after eating include food allergies, stress, and pregnancy.
If your nausea lasts more than two days or is resistant to home remedies, see your doctor.
To treat nausea after eating, chew ginger, drink cold water slowly, and limit your physical activity.

Most people have felt nauseous at some point in their life — the queasy, upset feeling in your stomach that may make you feel like vomiting.

For some, this uncomfortable sensation occurs after eating, usually 30 to 60 minutes following a meal, and it may last one to three hours, says Jesse P. Houghton, MD, FACG, the senior medical director of Gastroenterology at SOMC Gastroenterology Associates.

If you do experience nausea after eating, here are seven of the most common causes and how to properly treat it.

1. Pregnancy

Nausea during pregnancy doesn’t just happen in the morning, it can also occur after lunch, dinner, and snacks.

That’s because pregnant people produce the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which comes with nausea as a side effect.

“The rise of estrogen or the change in the balance of the bacteria in the gut during pregnancy could be another reason nausea after eating increases,” says Niket Sonpal, MD, an internist and gastroenterologist.

2. Food poisoning

It’s well known that food poisoning can cause nausea. These foods are contaminated with either a virus or bacteria which disrupts the GI tract triggering nausea and, oftentimes, vomiting, says Houghton.

Usually, bacteria that cause food poisoning die when exposed to temperatures higher than 140 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s why pre-packaged and raw foods, like salad, fruits, and undercooked meat are common culprits of food poisoning since they’re uncooked, says Sonpal.

If you are also experiencing diarrhea, fever, vomiting, and stomach cramps, your nausea is most likely due to food poisoning.

Important: Visit a doctor immediately if you experience bloody vomit or bowel movements, extreme pain, blurry vision, or diarrhea for more than three days.

3. Food intolerances or allergies

When you eat something you are allergic or have an intolerance to, your body’s immune system responds with chemicals, like immunoglobulin E (IgE) and histamine, that can cause symptoms such as nausea, says Sonpal.

If you think your nausea is due to an allergy, get tested by an allergist who can help you determine which foods may be to blame.

4. Gastroesophageal reflux disease

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), aka acid reflux, occurs when stomach acid flows up into the esophagus, inflaming it, which can trigger nausea, says David D. Clarke, MD, a clinical assistant professor of Gastroenterology Emeritus and assistant director at the Center for Ethics at Oregon Health & Science University.

If you are also experiencing heartburn, difficulty swallowing, chronic coughing, and disrupted sleep, your nausea may be due to GERD.

Note: GERD is not life-threatening, but continued esophageal inflammation can lead to more serious problems like esophagitis and could require further treatments and even surgery.

Taking over-the-counter antacids, like Tums and Pepto Bismol.
Using prescription medication, like famotidine and cimetidine, reduces or blocks acid production.
Undergoing surgery such as fundoplication, which wraps the upper part of the stomach around the esophagus, which strengthens the valve between the two organs.

5. Irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects the large intestine and causes symptoms such as bloating, cramping, and nausea.

“There is no exact cause of an IBS flare-up. However, most symptoms, such as vomiting, tend to worsen after consuming food that is difficult to digest,” says Sonpal. “Sometimes IBS nausea also occurs because of certain trigger foods, medications, or stress.”

Avoiding foods that trigger your symptoms
Regular exercise
Drinking lots of fluids
Removing foods that can cause gas like gluten or FODMAPs
Taking a fiber supplement or laxative
Starting an antidepressant

6. Gallbladder disease

Most variations of gallbladder disease result in nausea after eating. That’s because the organ works to push bile into the small intestine and help digestion.

Medical term: Gallbladder disease is any condition that affects the gallbladder. Examples include cholecystitis, gallstones, and gangrene.

“If the flow of bile is obstructed, for example by a gallstone, the resulting stretch on the gallbladder or its associated ducts can lead to nausea,” says Clarke.

Other signs of gallbladder disease include:

Yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes,
Fever
Chills
Pain on the right side of the abdomen
Dark urine

If you experience any of the above symptoms, visit a doctor who can diagnose you and provide proper treatment. Gallbladder disease is rarely a life-threatening condition.

7. Anxiety or stress

As if stress and anxiety aren’t enough to deal with on their own, these mental health issues can also cause gastrointestinal problems like nausea or diarrhea.

“Stress hormones can affect how our GI tract contracts, either slowing it down or speeding it up,” says Houghton.

To determine if anxiety is causing your post-meal nausea, keep a journal of when you feel anxious and when you are nauseous. This way you can notice any patterns between the two.

Meditation
Breathing exercises
Exercising regularly
Setting realistic goals for yourself
Working with a mental health professional

How to reduce nausea

Limiting activity directly after eating
Eating small, frequent meals
Consuming ginger
Drinking cold, clear fluids slowly
Avoiding known trigger foods
Not brushing your teeth directly after eating
Eating bland foods like bread

Insider’s takeaway

Factors such as pregnancy, IBS, and stress can cause people to become nauseous after eating.

According to Clarke, you should see a doctor if:

Your nausea lasts more than two days
You’re dehydrated due to diarrhea or vomiting
You’re vomiting longer than a day
Home treatment isn’t working
You have worsening abdominal pain

If you are experiencing nausea after a meal, try chewing on ginger, slowly drinking cold water, or limiting your activity until the feeling passes.

Sarah Fielding

Sarah Fielding is a freelance writer covering a range of topics with a focus on mental health and women’s issues. She is also the co-founder of Empire Coven, a space for highlighting trailblazing women across New York.

10 Reasons You Feel Bad After Eating, And How to Stop It

We’ve all felt a little queasy after taking too many helpings of our favorite food. But if you’re always feeling nauseous after eating, there may be something else going on. Experts share 10 reasons why you may be feeling uneasy after chowing down.

Eating shouldn’t be a painful experience. Of course, we all feel a little bloated now and then after a meal, and that’s usually normal—maybe you overindulged a bit at a restaurant because that flourless chocolate cake looked too good to pass up, or you unintentionally ramped up your fiber intake when you went for a second serving of three-bean chili. In these cases, the pain is relatively fleeting and has a clear cause.

But always feeling nauseous after eating (think: bloating, gas, nausea) could be a red flag for an underlying condition or that you need to adjust your habits. Even if you think you’re eating well, a variety of factors—from what you eat to when you eat to how you eat—could be setting you up for post-meal pain.

Here, we talked to gut health experts about potential reasons you’re feeling nauseous after eating and what you can do about them.

10 Reasons You’re Feeling Nauseous After Eating

If your stomach hurts after eating, there are a few reasons it may be happening. Whether you’re experiencing bloating after eating or you feel like throwing up after eating, here are 10 potential causes.

1. You’re Not Chewing Enough.

Given all of our modern distractions, it’s no wonder we scarf down food in two or three bites. (When was the last time you actually ate lunch without scrolling Instagram or checking your email?) But swallowing your food without adequately chewing can overwhelm your stomach, potentially priming you for gas, bloating, and nausea. “If you don’t chew enough, the entire digestive process is slowed down, impaired, and likely ineffective,” says Nikki Yelton RD, LDN, CNHP, a functional medicine dietitian with a focus on gut health.

That’s because chewing is a crucial first step in the digestive process. “When you chew thoroughly, your food is exposed to saliva for longer periods of time and the [digestive] enzymes in your saliva help break down your food before you even swallow,” explains Yelton. Chewing more will put less strain on the rest of the digestive process and may even help you absorb more nutrients from the foods you eat.

Try this: Aim to chew each bite of food at least 15-25 times, suggests Yelton. “When chewing is a priority, you’ll likely notice many health benefits such as fewer feelings of bloat and indigestion after meals, regulated appetite, true feelings of fullness, and a healthier gut microbiome due to epithelial growth factor (EGF) production,” she says. (EGF is a protein released in saliva that stimulates the growth and repair of epithelial tissue, including the intestinal epithelium.)

2. You’re Stressed Out or Anxious.

Constantly asking yourself “Why do I feel nauseous after eating?” Your stress levels might be to blame. Unmanaged stress can trigger a cascade of processes that wreak havoc on the digestive system and make you feel ill after a meal.

Your gut and brain actually communicate back and forth via the gut-brain axis. So when you’re stressed and your body enters fight-or-flight mode (releasing hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine that are meant to prepare you for action), your digestion is impacted as well.

Often, this leads to changes in gastrointestinal motility, or how quickly food moves through the GI tract, which can lead to either constipation or diarrhea, according to Marvin Singh, MD, an integrative gastroenterologist and precision medicine expert. “Chronic stress can also impact the composition of the gut microbiome,” he says. “There’s been research to suggest when you have these stress chemicals released in the gut, they can contribute to non-pathogenic bacteria becoming more pathogenic. So basically, bacteria that might not be causing you any trouble could now change and become more problematic to you as a result of all the stress.”

3. Your Gut Microbiome Is Out of Balance.

Your gut microbiome is home to trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that influence your health in important ways. When the ratio of these microbes gets thrown out of whack or bacteria starts growing where it shouldn’t (as is the case with SIBO)—which can be due to everything from stress to poor food choices to medication to underlying health conditions—you can experience a range of problematic post-meal symptoms.

“You might experience nausea, bloating, gas, burping, abdominal distension, and constipation or diarrhea—or a little of both,” says Dr. Singh. A bacterial imbalance in your gut microbiome can also set you up for leaky gut—when the gut lining becomes damaged and loosens, allowing substances that should remain within the gut to leak into the bloodstream and setting you up for gut infections, food sensitivities, and nutrient deficiencies, explains Yelton.

Leaky gut, in turn, can drive inflammation that further contributes to an imbalanced gut, causing a vicious cycle. “This results in the digestive system being chronically unhappy, hence chronic bloating every time you eat,” says Yelton.

Try this: There’s no one way to heal or balance the gut. Both Yelton and Dr. Singh recommend seeking the help of an integrative or functional medicine practitioner who can identify your unique imbalances and potential underlying conditions, and come up with a custom healing protocol. Consuming a fiber-rich diet with a variety of plant foods, getting regular physical activity, and taking a probiotic supplement with several different strains of beneficial bacteria (like HUM’s Gut Instinct) are good preventive measures to help keep your gut in balance before you develop a problem.

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4. You Have GERD or Acid Reflux.

If you’re experiencing a painful burning sensation in the middle of your chest that gets worse after eating, along with nausea, burping, and a sour taste in your mouth, it could be acid reflux (a.k.a. heartburn). “Acid reflux occurs when the contents of your stomach that have not been broken down by stomach acid are pushed back up into the esophagus, and the acidity of the contents then burns the esophageal lining,” says Yelton.

“Heartburn and acid reflux after eating are actually often triggered by low stomach acid rather than too much. When levels of stomach acid are too low, the stomach and digestive tract are unable to properly digest food.” Certain foods and beverages (including alcohol), as well as overeating, may also contribute to acid reflux, adds Dr. Singh.

And when acid reflux occurs repeatedly, it turns into GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease, or chronic acid reflux). “After too many bouts of acid reflux, it damages your esophagus,” says Yelton. “This causes dysfunction of the lower esophageal valve that separates the esophagus and stomach. Once the valve becomes damaged, the food and acid [from your stomach] are able to make their way up to your esophagus on a chronic basis.”

Try this: Try diluting one to two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar (ACV) with water and drink it before your meals, suggests Yelton. Acid reflux is associated with low stomach acid, but ACV may help increase low stomach acid levels and reduce symptoms. Consider shrinking your portion sizes or eating until you’re 80 percent full to prevent the buildup of additional pressure against your lower esophageal valve, suggests Dr. Singh.

5. You Have Food Sensitivities.

If you occasionally feel sick after eating but have some days when you feel okay, you may have a food sensitivity. Common food sensitivities include gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, shellfish, eggs, corn, and FODMAPs, as well as some additives like food dyes and artificial sweeteners.

“When a food sensitivity is present, the immune system reacts to proteins that cause the release of chemicals called mediators—such as histamine, prostaglandins, cytokines—from the white blood cells in the body,” says Yelton. “This mediator release causes inflammation, which can lead to chronic bloating. Unlike allergies, symptoms of food sensitivities can have delayed reactions and can take from 45 minutes to three days to cause symptoms like bloating.”

Try this: First, try to pay specific attention to when your symptoms show up, making note of potential triggers. For example, you might notice that you’re constantly feeling nauseous after eating sugar. If you have a strong suspicion, you can try doing a targeted elimination diet in which you cut out a few potential triggers and then reintroduce them, one by one, after a period of time and note whether that causes an uptick in symptoms, suggests Dr. Singh. Also, consider working with an integrative or functional medicine practitioner who can run food sensitivity testing, says Yelton. These tests aren’t perfect, but they are improving and can help guide you in the right direction and may confirm any food sensitivity suspicions you have.

6. You’re Not Timing Your Meals Correctly.

When you eat matters nearly as much as what you eat—and timing your meals too close together or too far apart can both cause you to feel nauseous after eating. “Eating more frequently doesn’t give your digestive system adequate time to rest, causing sluggishness and bloating,” says Yelton.

That’s because constantly snacking can interfere with something called the migrating motor complex (MMC), which is a cyclic, recurring movement in the stomach and small intestines that aids in the movement of food through the lower GI tract. When your stomach is empty, it recurs every 90-180 minutes, but chronic snacking can inhibit the MMC, slow gastric motility, and potentially contribute to constipation and cramping.

On the other hand, “waiting longer than four hours can cause a dip in blood sugar,” says Yelton. So it’s all about balance.

Try this: “Become a creature of habit and be consistent with when you eat,” says Yelton. “To regulate your blood sugar and support a healthy metabolism, eat regular-sized meals with a balance of protein, fat, and carbs every three to four hours. This allows your digestive system to take a break in between meals and promotes rest and healing for the tissues.”

Build Your Supplement Routine

7. You’re Not Eating Enough Fiber

Not eating enough fiber for a couple of meals, or even a couple of days, probably won’t cause any major problems. But if you’re avoiding roughage on the regular, everything from sluggish digestion to gut dysbiosis can occur—both of which can make you feel pretty bad after you eat.

Fiber, which is present in most whole and minimally-processed plant foods, is key for healthy digestion and bowel habits. “It absorbs water, increases the bulk of your stool, and speeds up movement through the intestine,” says Yelton. “Too little fiber can lead to constipation, which allows toxins to be reabsorbed into your bloodstream, causing inflammation, fatigue, nausea, cramping, and poor gut health.” Additionally, fiber is a food source for the friendly bacteria in your gut. Once these good gut bugs metabolize fiber, they release compounds called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), explains Yelton, which have impressive anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects that support gut health and overall health.

“Different types of fiber feed different types of bacteria,” says Yelton—so it’s important to get a variety of fibrous foods in your diet such as leafy greens, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, and avocados.

Try this: Include at least one fiber-rich food from a different food group with each meal throughout the day. What does this look like? “You might include strawberries in your morning smoothie, add a leafy green vegetable like spinach to your lunch, include whole grains or sweet potatoes with the skin with your dinner, and enjoy a chia seed pudding for dessert,” says Yelton.

8. You have a Thyroid Condition

It might be the last thing you’d suspect, but your thyroid could be what’s making you feel nauseous after eating. Hypothyroidism (or an underactive thyroid) often leads to poor motility, sluggish digestion, and constipation. But post-meal constipation, cramping, and bloating aren’t enough to suggest a thyroid disorder. Because of that, it’s important to pay attention to your other symptoms, too.

“If somebody comes in and says, I have constipation and my skin is really dry, I’m losing more hair than usual, I’m really low energy and fatigued, then the first question I’d ask is, Has anyone checked your TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) or thyroid function lately?” says Dr. Singh. “You want to address the underlying hormone problem and then the other symptoms will work themselves out. In the meantime, you can do things to support motility.”

9. Your Meals Are Too Big

This one might be obvious. Really big meals can make you feel sick—especially if you’re eating them close to bedtime. With the growing popularity of intermittent fasting diets, it’s not unreasonable to think you might go hours and hours without eating only to be a tad overzealous on the portion sizes during your eating window.

But this can cause a buildup of pressure against the lower esophageal valve that separates the esophagus and stomach, allowing stomach acid and food to push back into the esophagus, triggering acid reflux and nausea. And when you do this before bed, you’re not giving your body an opportunity to properly digest. “You’re dumping a large load into your stomach and then shutting down the power plant by sleeping,” says Dr. Singh. “Don’t be surprised if you wake up in the morning and end up burping up your dinner.”

Try this: Eat slowly so your body has time to register how full you really are, or try to stop when you’re about 80 percent full to avoid overeating, and give yourself at least two to three hours between your last meal and bedtime, suggests Dr. Singh. Another idea? Take a digestive enzyme before bigger or heavier meals so your system has extra support. HUM Nutrition’s Flatter Me contains a powerful blend of 18 digestive enzymes to help break down food and prevent bloating.

12 Reasons Why You Have Nausea After Eating

No one likes feeling sick to their stomach, especially when you just finished a really good meal. But if you’re feeling nauseated within minutes or hours after eating, there may be something going on underneath the surface.

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Gastroenterologist Christine Lee, MD, helps us nail down some of the reasons behind why nausea happens after eating and what you can do to ease your symptoms.

Why you might have nausea after eating

There are many situations that trigger nausea, and this can make it difficult to figure out its exact cause. Some common causes could be related to stress, food allergies, food poisoning, unwanted side effects from medications, taking too many supplements or vitamins, or pregnancy, to name just a few. Gallbladder, liver or pancreatic disease, or diabetes and thyroid disorders can also contribute to feeling sick after chowing down on your favorite foods.

Dr. Lee offers 12 reasons you may be feeling nauseated.

1. Viral or bacterial infection

Ever heard of someone catching a stomach bug? This is just that: If you’ve caught a viral or bacterial infection, your whole body is going to go through it. You might experience nausea right after eating, generally lasting 24 to 48 hours, but you may likely experience a whole slew of other symptoms, too, like fever, muscle aches and joint pain.

“It generally affects your whole body,” says Dr. Lee. “This comes on quick and it usually goes away on its own.”

2. Food poisoning

You can have a physical reaction to eating rotten food. This can happen if you leave food (like meat or dairy products) out for too long, or your food has been mishandled or contaminated by whoever’s preparing the food. Food poisoning sets on suddenly. Luckily, nausea from food poisoning resolves on its own, as well.

“Vomiting or having diarrhea is not always a bad thing in some situations,” says Dr. Lee. “It’s your body’s way of getting rid of the offending agents like an infection, toxins and other things before they’re absorbed.”

3. Food allergies

Food allergies affect everyone differently. In most cases, the first time you experience a food allergy, you may have mild symptoms. Every encounter after that can escalate much faster and cause a more intense reaction. Some examples of allergic reaction symptoms include breaking out in a rash or hives, feeling cold and clammy, a drop in blood pressure, increased heart rate and swelling of your eyes and throat in addition to nausea (or you might not feel nauseated at all).

4. Stress and anxiety

Your body can have physical reactions to stress and anxiety even if it’s been simmering for days on end. The reason you may experience physical symptoms like nausea is that your brain’s “fight or flight” response kicks in, dumping a ton of hormones into your bloodstream that forces your body to react. And everyone has varying levels of this threshold.

“Let’s say two people are watching a movie. One person enjoys horror movies but the other person is terrified,” says Dr. Lee. “The stress hormones that are activated are different between the two people. One can experience increased heart rate or other physical changes like nausea while the other is simply enjoying the movie.”

5. Acid reflux

You can get heartburn shortly after eating, especially when you’ve been eating spicy foods or a greasy or heavy meal. This burning sensation in your upper chest and throat can also sometimes cause nausea.

Acid reflux happens because there’s a large amount of stomach acid that gets splashed back up into your esophagus (throat) and it lingers there. For many, it’s normal and not a sign of anything clinically wrong. Gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, is when your esophagus is harmed from excessive exposure to stomach acid resulting in chronic irritation, inflammation, ulcers and more.

6. Irritable bowel syndrome

Sometimes, your intestines just don’t move the way they need to. If you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), you may have issues moving stool through your intestines. It may move too fast or slow even though your colon is structurally normal.

“If your irritable bowel syndrome is acting up and you have stool stored in your colon, then your nausea can get worse because what doesn’t go down will eventually come up,” explains Dr. Lee.

One way to identify if you have IBS is to ask yourself where the pain is coming from. If you reach for your chest or throat, you may have acid reflux. But if you reach for your belly button, your bowels may be the issue.

7. Overeating

“Your stomach can only hold so much,” says Dr. Lee. “Once your stomach is full and food is still sitting there and you continue to eat, you’re going to feel nausea.”

Overeating can occur when “eating while bored.” Instead of eating when you’re hungry, you tend to reach for snacks and other things out of habit, out of boredom or while multitasking.

“There’s so much distraction when we live busy lifestyles, so more and more people are grabbing things on the go and we’re not able to discern what we’re eating, when we’re eating or how much we’re eating,” notes Dr. Lee.

You can avoid this by trying to stick to a routine and setting aside time to have regular meals whenever possible. It’s also helpful to plate your food (vs. eating directly out of a bag or box) to maintain portion control.

8. Medications

Some medications like neurological medications, anti-seizure medications, diabetes medications and mood-altering medications can affect your appetite and eventually lead to nausea. Other common medications that cause nausea are opioid-based narcotics and other pain medications.

9. Diabetes

Having too high or too low blood sugar can cause nausea, as well. But if you’ve had a long history of diabetes, even if it’s well-controlled, you can also develop what’s called diabetes-related gastroparesis (previously referred to as diabetic gastroparesis). This means your stomach doesn’t operate and move the way it should, and digesting food can be a slow process.

10. Gall bladder disease

You can thank your gall bladder for the ability to eat all those greasy foods you love. The bile created by your liver is stored in your gall bladder. Your gall bladder then releases that bile to break down fatty foods. When you have gall bladder disease, this important process can be disrupted and lead to nausea and other symptoms.

If you have gall bladder disease, you might experience nausea 15 to 20 minutes after eating, and it’s generally accompanied by abdominal pain, diarrhea, changes in stool (poop) color and sometimes unexplained weight loss.

11. Pancreatitis

This condition can happen as a result of gallstones, alcohol use, autoimmune disorders and other reasons. Your pancreas goes to work creating enzymes to break down food every time you’re eating, but if your pancreas is inflamed or damaged, it might not create enough enzymes to get the job done.

“Disorders of the pancreas can result in abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea and unexplainable weight loss,” says Dr. Lee.

12. Chronic mesenteric ischemia

Also known as intestinal ischemic syndrome, this condition is caused when blood flow to your digestive organs is compromised. This can be caused by a buildup of plaque in your arteries or from hardening of your arteries, as well as prolonged low blood pressure, arterial inflammation and more.

Those who are more at risk for this condition include people who are older who have a smoking history, high cholesterol or other vascular disorders like coronary artery disease or peripheral vascular disease, to name a few.

How do you stop nausea after eating?

Nibbling on saltine crackers, small amounts of ginger and resting up — these are all things Dr. Lee calls conservative management. You shouldn’t try treating yourself or doing too much, but if you’re not feeling well, there are some small things you can do to ease the “sick” feeling of nausea.

The most important thing you can do is keep yourself hydrated and get rest. Plus, you should monitor when you’re feeling nauseated, what brought it on, how long it lasts and what made it feel better. This is all important information that can help your doctor determine a diagnosis.

“If it keeps coming back or fails to improve or resolve on its own, it’s not normal and you should get it checked out,” advises Dr. Lee.

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Why Am I Nauseous After I Eat

10 Reasons You Feel Bad After Eating, And How to Stop It

Nauseous after eating? 7 causes, treatment options, and prevention tips for feeling sick after meals

1. Pregnancy

2. Food poisoning

3. Food intolerances or allergies

4. Gastroesophageal reflux disease

5. Irritable bowel syndrome

6. Gallbladder disease

7. Anxiety or stress

How to reduce nausea

Insider’s takeaway

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10 Reasons You Feel Bad After Eating, And How to Stop It