AboveㅣSource: Clip Art Korea
“I ate a lot and my stomach stretched. That’s why I keep overeating.”
“I didn’t eat well, so my stomach shrunk, so I can only eat a little bit.”
It is a story that can often be heard from gluttons or news eaters. As they say, does the size of the stomach increase and then decrease depending on the amount eaten?
The stomach, which was the size of a cherry when you were a newborn, gets bigger as you grow. On an empty stomach, an adult’s stomach is about the size of their own two fists. Contrary to popular belief, however, the size of the stomach itself, the size of two fists, does not change regardless of food intake over a long period of time. Depending on whether or not food is ingested, the stomach temporarily relaxes or contracts. The volume of the stomach when there is no food in it is about 50 mL. When food enters the stomach, its capacity increases to 1.2 L for women and 1.4 L for men. In other words, when you eat food, your stomach swells up, and when you’re hungry, it just shrinks back to its original size.
The stomach is divided into three main parts. The upper part of the stomach, the ‘gastric bottom’, the body part, the ‘gastric body’, and the lower part, the ‘gastric antrum’. Haidak internal medicine counseling doctor Seong Moon-hyeok (Seoul Internal Medicine Clinic) said, “When food first enters the stomach through the esophagus, the bottom of the stomach serves as a storage. It accumulates in. From the bottom of the stomach, the peristalsis of the stomach starts, and the food mixes well with the gastric juice.” Food is broken into small pieces by peristalsis and stomach acid, and is eventually digested in a porridge-like form. Since the small intestine cannot absorb food all at once, the stomach stores the porridge-like food and sends it out little by little into the small intestine.
The upper bottom is characterized by excellent elasticity. Director Seong explained, “There is a difference in degree from person to person, but the upper part of the stomach can increase considerably as food comes in.” “Like a rubber bag, it expands when necessary and then shrinks again when you are hungry.” It takes three to four hours after a meal to send all the food in the stomach down to the small intestine, and at this time, the size of the stomach returns to its original state. Dr. Seong said, “It is not that the size of the stomach shrinks and then increases through diet control. You can understand that the elastic stomach expands or contracts according to the amount of food eaten.” It is more appropriate to gain weight because of this lack.”
Help = Haidaq Counseling Doctor Seong Moon-hyeok (Seoul Internal Medicine Specialist)
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