# Overeating & Eating late at night were the causes of GERD / IBS for me



## tummyrumbles (Aug 14, 2005)

I've been overeating all my life and didn't even realise it. My daughter recently told me I overate and that got me thinking about my IBS and GERD. It's hard to give a definitive example of what overeating is, but - I guess if you eat a footlong sub instead of a 6 inch sub, as well as an ice-cream later, that could well be overeating. I've done this a few times, but my main weakness was 2nd & 3rd helpings of dessert. The thing is - I'm not a big person and used to be very skinny when I was young. That could be a clue to why I was suffering intestinal distress on almost a daily basis. A lot of the food I was eating just wasn't getting digested properly. Any food that winds up in the colon undigested will feed bacteria. There is a close association of SIBO with GERD. There is also a close association of over-eating with GERD, but there's not much information on the link between over-eating, SIBO and IBS.

Over-eating and eating late at night had 2 different sets of symptoms. With the late night eating I'd wake up and have to sit up straight to burp. Also I slept on raised pillows, and had a raised bed at one stage. I also had sleep apnoea and snoring, throat gurgles, regular (backward) burps during the day. As soon as I stopped eating late at night these symptoms immediately went away. With over-eating I regularly had shortness of breath and IBS symptoms.

The over-eating I believe caused my IBS. We're often told that certain foods aggravate IBS by causing fermentation and gas in the colon, like baked beans for instance. What I could never understand is why normal people eat these things and not get IBS symptoms. I now understand. Normal people either don't over-eat in the first place, or if they do, they digest all their food and put on weight. I never put on weight, so I'm guessing a lot of the food simply bypassed the digestion process, feeding bacteria. This is also another good reason for SIBO to form. Have enough undigested food in the stomach and eventually bacteria will wind their way up to the small intestine where they don't normally belong.

I'm angry at myself for taking so long to realise this. It's taken me a lifetime and if it wasn't for my daughter's chance comment I probably would still be over-eating. I'm certain this is the main cause of all our GERD / SIBO / IBS woes.

Try smaller meals and don't eat until you're full. Eat until you're satisfied. It's a big difference. Try to eat your dinner no later than 7.30 pm, or at least allow 12 hours straight fasting from dinner until you get up in the morning. I find I have to make myself physically tired during the day so I can go to bed around 9.30 / 10.00 pm. This has made such a huge difference to my life so do try it.


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