Does the Stomach Shrink While Dieting?
Does the stomach shrink while dieting? It does seem to me that it does. I have been eating less for a few weeks now and I do get full at meals and do not feel the need to stuff myself and go back for seconds. I will do some research to see if there is any truth/science to support this.
The first result on Google is from the European Food Information Council. It looks like a legitimate site/organization that provides science based information. It says about fasting:
When you have not eaten for about four hours your stomach will be relatively empty, looks a bit like a deflated balloon and in this state, holds about 50ml. Once full, however, it can greatly expand and hold up to 4 litres of food and drink. Fasting can not therefore shrink the stomach; it simply remains in the empty, deflated state. As soon as you start eating and drinking normally again, it expands once more.
Next result is from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and a small study of obese patients, based on 4 weeks of diet for some and no diet for others:
The results demonstrate a reduction in gastric capacity in obese subjects after a restricted diet.
The reduction was 27% to 36% in capacity depending on how they measured it. On another website that refers to this study, they discuss how obese people may have stretched their stomachs with continual overeating at meals. I think this might be true for me. I like to eat and even if not hungry will go back for 2nds and 3rds beyond what most people will eat. Well, I’m not doing that now but when I am overeating, I do. Something to be mindful of.
I find other websites that purport to answer the question but without any scientific basis. Most say that the stomach will stretch when over filled but will not shrink. Some say that the only way to shrink the stomach is surgery.
What matters to me is that I am now eating less and feeling satisfied with what I eat. I am also drinking very little alcohol and have adjusted to that as well. The trick will be to maintain this state.
September 28th, 2006 at 9:43 am
When i started school it really decreased the time time that i had to eat . i would eat something small in the morning and the wouldnt eat until i got home from school . Then i would eat a nice size meal for dinner. As a result of this i lost 30 pounds in 3 to 4 months !
September 30th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
Carmen,
Thats a great success story. Congrats to you!
I don’t usually recommend skipping lunch but somehow I think that younger people can get away with it. As we get older, it seems that our blood sugar goes a little crazy if we skip meals.
CathyM
December 15th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
Hi there. Did you find anything else out about this? Found you through Blingo when I searched for “stomach shrink” he he he
February 12th, 2007 at 8:27 am
I can remember when I was younger I would fill up very quickly.
Now after years of overeating I seem to never fill up. I to was
wondering if I could shrink my stomach.
June 22nd, 2007 at 12:06 pm
[...] I found an interesting blog post on CathyM’s weight loss blog. Be sure to check her post because she covers a question I’ve been wondering about for quite some time: Does your stomach shrink if you eat less? [...]
July 19th, 2008 at 7:02 am
I gotta say, the minute I moved into my apartment, I ate next to nothing, because there’s no food in the house ever! So when I go to restaurants, I can’t even go halfway before being full. and I used to weigh a LOT. and i used to be able to eat A LOT. but that’s no longer the case at all, i’m always eating a few bites of something so my stomach never gets full. Only when I’m hungry. So basicially, these were my two cents on the shrinking: I believe it occurs, hands down!