If eating your favorite foods takes a lot of effort, or if you feel full quickly after a few bites and have trouble swallowing a normal portion because of nausea and vomiting, you may have early satiety.
Early satiety is when a person feels full after a few bites or before eating a normal portion. This early feeling of fullness is often followed by nausea and vomiting while eating. Early satiety may seem like a minor problem, primarily if no other health concerns exist.
However, sustained early satiety is unhealthy and can lead to malnutrition, hunger, and poor wound healing, so be careful. Early satiety is more common in women than in men.
Anything that interferes with your stomach emptying can make you feel full faster. However, here are some reasons that you may need to pay more attention to:
1. Gastroparesis
When digestion works, typically, the abdominal muscles contract to break down the food. In people with gastroparesis, the abdominal muscles cannot contract as they should, causing food to pile up. As a result, people with gastroparesis feel full early because food sits in the stomach longer than it should.
According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the cause of gastroparesis is unknown, but the most common cause of gastroparesis is diabetes in most cases. People with gastroparesis experience other symptoms associated with feeling full quickly, such as frequent bloating, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, heartburn, and poor appetite.
2. Stomach ulcer
Sometimes, increased stomach acid can eat away part of the lining of the small intestine or stomach, creating shallow craters in the lining. These craters are peptic ulcers or peptic ulcers and can interfere with normal digestion. Stomach ulcers can also be caused by infection and develop with age.
Stomach ulcers can come and go for years, even with treatment. When ulcers return, you may feel nauseous, vomit, and even weak and tired because the body doesn't have the iron it needs to make red blood cells that carry oxygen. However, the most common symptom of stomach ulcers is a pain in the middle of the upper abdomen towards the back.
3. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
GERD is the occurrence of a burning sensation in the chest due to stomach acid rising into the esophagus. This stomach acid can cause irritation and discomfort. The most common symptom of GERD is heartburn, especially after eating a large meal or consuming certain foods. In addition, there are other accompanying symptoms such as a bitter or sour taste, chest pain, difficulty swallowing, dry cough, hoarseness, and sore throat.
4. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
IBS is a condition that affects the colon and causes abdominal pain. Other common symptoms include stomach cramps, gas, diarrhea, and constipation. However, IBS symptoms can change over time. IBS and mild bowel symptoms differ because IBS lasts long or recurs.
5. Cancer
Early satiety is also a common side effect of cancer treatment and cancer itself. According to the book Nutrition and the Cancer Patient, early satiety is one of the top 10 symptoms of cancer. Early satiety in cancer patients is usually accompanied by weight loss, anorexia, and taste changes.
Cancers in the stomach, small intestine, and pancreas are more likely to cause a feeling of fullness. Other symptoms of stomach cancer include severe indigestion, nausea and vomiting, and bloating after eating. Other symptoms of small bowel cancer include pain in the stomach, nausea, weight loss, and bleeding in the bowel. Meanwhile, other pancreatic cancer symptoms include abdominal pain that reaches the back, loss of appetite, weight loss, and yellowing skin and eyes.
If this early satiety bothers you and makes you nutrient deficient, consult your doctor and nutritionist, okay? Doctors and nutritionists will help you make dietary changes to meet your daily nutritional needs.
Also, read other interesting health articles only on Newfemme!
Source:
Lights, V., & Marengo, K. (2019). Everything You Should Know About Early Satiety. Healthline. [online]. https://www.healthline.com/health/satiety-early
McKenna, J., & Smith, M. W. (2021). Early Satiety: Why Do I Feel So Full After a Few Bites? WebMD. [online]. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/early-satiety