Does the stomach actually shirnk / stretch?

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Arget - 29 Nov 2004 07:37 GMT

When you eat little or nothing for an extended amount of time (maybe a
couple days) and then eat a rather large meal, that phenomenon you
experience where you become full very quickly is that due to the
stomach having shrunk when eating very little and now being too small
to hold as much food, or is this just a myth? If so, what is the
reason to getting full very quickly like this?

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Cubit - 30 Nov 2004 16:05 GMT

I don't have a scientific answer, but my personal experience may shed some
light on this. For the last year I have been eating foods with a very high
calorie density. One of the results is that I am satisfied with tiny
portions of food. Yet, when I dine out at a buffet, I can eat a remarkable
amount of food without pain, or indications that my stomach size has
changed.

My guess is that the stomach size ideas are just myth. I would bet that
someday they find that results of stomach size reduction in weight loss
surgery stops the hormones that the stomach produces. The physical size of
the stomach may have little to do with the weightloss. IMHO

> When you eat little or nothing for an extended amount of time (maybe a
> couple days) and then eat a rather large meal, that phenomenon you
> experience where you become full very quickly. is that due to the
> stomach having shrunk when eating very little and now being too small
> to hold as much food, or is this just a myth? If so, what is the
> reason to getting full very quickly like this?

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Anderson's Email - 17 Dec 2004 20:09 GMT

I am no expert on this, but I would have thought that the feeling of
fullness in the stomach is a result of the body's production of a hormone
called leporine known as the satiety hormone.

>I don't have a scientific answer, but my personal experience may shed some
> light on this. For the last year I have been eating foods with a very
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>> to hold as much food, or is this just a myth? If so, what is the
>> reason to getting full very quickly like this?

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MattLB - 20 Dec 2004 17:36 GMT

> I am no expert on this, but I would have thought that the feeling of
> fullness in the stomach is a result of the body's production of a hormone
> called leporine known as the satiety hormone.

I've not heard of that hormone. Leporine refers to hares. Do you mean
leptin? Leptin isn't a satiety hormone so much as a "don't start eating"
hormone. The hormone normally associated with satiety (in the sense of
stop eating now) is CCK.

Regardless of the hormones involved, the walls of the stomach contain
stretch receptors which signal the fullness of the stomach to the brain.
Since it takes time to digest food and release satiety hormones, the
stomach stretch signal is likely to to be the earliest controller of how
much is eaten.

MattLB

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christopher.a.dowling@gmail.com - 17 Dec 2004 22:35 GMT

True. The stomach does not change its size, regardless of diet.

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Piezo Guru - 18 Dec 2004 03:03 GMT

The stomache and the intestines grow and shrink to meet their needs. If you
remove the stomache the intestine will bloat and fill the job.

> True. The stomach does not change its size, regardless of diet.

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