• Question: How much could you eat and is it possible to explode if you eat too much?

    Asked by court to James on 14 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by sherlock.
    • Photo: James Hargreaves

      James Hargreaves answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hey court,
      I’ve been doing some research into this for you. I don’t know to much about the human body, but here is what I have found for you.

      The stomach has a lot of functions and one these is to expand and contract.

      These muscles expand and contract depending on how much food is in the stomach.

      The amount of liquid able to be stored in the tummy varies depending on the person. It usually is around 1 -2 litres. (Big Bottle of Coke size). Imagine one of this bottles full of chewed up food! That a lot of food!!!

      I was also interested to know myself if a tummy can explode if you eat too much. You may or not be pleased to know that it CAN!!! Normally when you are too full and have eaten too much, your body will make itself sick! 🙁 however, it is possible for your stomach to burst if you eat something that your body has difficulty in bringing back up, (such a large bits of food that you haven’t chewed properly.)

      The medical term for this is gastro-intestinal rupture. It is very rare, but it has happened.

      Maybe if you asked the more “medically trained” scientists such as Ailsa or Kath, they could tell you more than what i possibly can?

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