Why does my stomach hurt after eating pizza

Overindulgence can be a pain in your stomach. Skip the bellyache after your next big feed with these quick fixes.

Overeating.

Most of us have done it at some point, even with the best of intentions not to.

Sometimes that holiday meal is so delicious we can’t stop, or the dessert table is too tempting to ignore.

You feel bloated now, but don’t despair: Overdoing it once in a while isn’t going to ruin your health, though it can wreak havoc on your digestive system.

Overeating and your digestion

The average stomach ordinarily holds about one or two cups of food. When we overeat, we may be consuming twice that or even more. To make room for that extra food, your stomach stretches like a balloon. If you overeat frequently, your stomach expands easily (which is not a good thing unless you’re a competitive eater). Most people will feel discomfort as their stomach is stretched beyond its normal capacity.

Depending on what you’ve eaten, that feeling may stick around. Foods high in fat and fiber take longer to digest. So, if you’ve overeaten fried foods, expect stomach pain to linger.

As that food lingers in your belly, it can start to push up against your diaphragm, causing you to have shallow breaths. It can also cause digestive fluids to sneak back up into your esophagus. When that happens, you may experience heartburn, which has nothing to do with your heart, or a sour, acidic taste in your mouth.

Here are four guidelines to help avoid these symptoms.

Slow down. As you eat and your stomach stretches, hormones signal to your brain that you’re full. If you eat too quickly, you’ll have overeaten by the time your body gets the fullness signal. Also, try to listen to your body when you get that full feeling.

Get moving. If you’ve overeaten, take a gentle walk to help stimulate the process in your body that pushes the food down your gastrointestinal tract. Don’t run or overexert yourself, though. If you work too hard, blood will flow to your legs rather than your stomach, and digestion will slow down.

No napping. As much as a quick catnap after a big meal seems like a good idea, it’s not. If you lie down with your stomach stuffed, food can more easily work its way up your digestive tract rather than down. Lying down can worsen heartburn brought on by overeating.

Avoid bubbles. Have you ever been offered a glass of soda to settle your stomach? Just say no. Carbonated beverages add to the bloated feeling, and add more gas that your body needs to expel.

If you’re healthy overall and take your time when you eat, pizza shouldn’t give you bad gas. However, if you’re a fast eater, can’t digest milk or wheat, or have a food allergy, you could have frequent episodes of uncomfortable -- and embarrassing -- flatulence after enjoying your pie.

Fast Eating

When your doorbell rings as the pizza delivery person is standing on your front doorstep, you likely start salivating right away. Thus when you actually sit down to eat, you clearly want to feed your craving and delve right into your cheesy entree. But eating too quickly causes you to swallow more air than normal. That air has to sneak out one end or the other, causing burping or flatulence. Plus when you eat quickly, you don’t break down food in your mouth as much as you should. Your digestive tract has to work even harder, increasing the possibility of gas.

Abnormal Lactose Digestion

Gas could also be a sign of lactose intolerance due to the cheese on pizza. A diagnosis of lactose intolerance means that your bowels don’t have adequate levels of lactase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down lactose, or milk sugar. This causes the lactose molecules to travel through your gut, likely intact, since your body doesn’t have a way to digest them. In addition to having gas, you could feel bloated, have abdominal cramping and have diarrhea after eating pizza if you’re lactose-intolerant.

Gluten Issues

An underlying gluten intolerance, or celiac disease, could be the culprit for your gassy episodes after eating pizza. Gluten intolerance means that for some reason, your immune system assumes gluten -- a naturally occurring protein in wheat -- is a bad thing. As a defense, your immune system goes into overdrive and attacks the lining of your small intestine as a reaction to the “dangerous” gluten. Gas, stomach pain, diarrhea, moodiness, weight loss and fatigue are some of the symptoms associated with gluten intolerance.

Allergy Concerns

Sometimes gastrointestinal issues like gas, nausea and diarrhea are associated with a food allergy. You could be allergic to wheat flour in the dough, one of the vegetables or milk from the cheese, for example. Or if you have a known allergy such as seafood, nuts or fish, even if you don’t have these ingredients on your pie, they could have come into contact with the pizza in the kitchen, contaminating your dish. Hives, irregular breathing, mouth or throat swelling, or a weak pulse are some of the other symptoms often associated with food allergies. Since severe allergies can cause anaphylaxis, which can be fatal, seek medical attention right away.

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