# Can you eat until you explode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2000, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787 "2000-12-09T18:25:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/1 "2000-12-09T18:25:05Z")
Is it possible to eat so much that your stomach ruptures, or will you vomit or something after a certain point? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/2 "2000-12-09T18:32:35Z")
Only if your name is Mr. Creosote … ---
**Author:** ![Damhna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Damhna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damhna)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/3 "2000-12-09T20:15:39Z")
Just avoid the after dinner mint and you should be allright ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/4 "2000-12-09T20:17:32Z")
Oh come on, they’re just _waffer_ thin mints… I don’t think so. In a few diseases (Praeder-Willi syndrome comes to mind) people eat compulsively, to say the least. Large amounts of wood, grass, circus peanuts, anything they can get their hands on. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/5 "2000-12-09T20:27:04Z")
hard to do, but possible. A few cases have been documented in the medical journals. You basically need to overrule your gag reflex, keep forcing food or fluids in, and have a gastric ulcer that’s about ready to rupture anyway. Occasionally erosive ingredients are involved, like alcohol. I suppose one could also swallow an M-80 in a bun to facilitate the process. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/6 "2000-12-09T20:30:55Z")
Dr. Paprica, if you will allow me to voice my opinion… Vomiting is possible, although it would not be directly cause by overeating itself. The stomach will not rupture. If a question is serious, do not eat till you “can’t eat any more”. Stop before. Do not eat fast. Otherwise, you won’t be able to do many things pretty soon. Thank you, Dr. Paprica. Please, correct me or point to the teeming millions what is wrong, sir. So, nobody will get irresponsible medical advice. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/7 "2000-12-09T20:35:59Z")
Dr.Q, you are right, but I always assume that, unless specifically mentioned, we are talking about a “normal person”. Although, Prader-Willi syndrome nonwithstanding. eating “to the brim” would not be normal in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![LifeWillFall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@LifeWillFall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeWillFall)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/8 "2000-12-09T20:41:16Z")
Well, to cite a credible source - in the Movie Se7en the first man murdered was fed till he passed out but spacey had to kick his gut to get it to “pop” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/9 "2000-12-09T20:45:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LifeWillFall \* > \*\*Well, to cite a credible source - in the Movie Se7en the first man murdered was fed till he passed out but spacey had to kick his gut to get it to “pop” \*\* Charming imagery from our friends in Hollywood. Actually some cases of gastric ulcers rupturing during heavy (but not force-fed meals) have been noted, and some with rupture of the ulcer occurring just while imbibing ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/10 "2000-12-09T21:04:00Z")
Well, peace, I tend to spell my name Paprika. You don’t really need to eat to cause the esophagus or stomach to rupture if varices or a deep peptic ulcer is present. These answers are cheating. Cheating, I say. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/11 "2000-12-09T21:22:39Z")
Sorry, PapriKa it was an oversight. I will concentrate. I did not get you. What was “cheating”? That normal stomach cannot rupture? Actually, I doubt than “overeating” can cause rupture even of the ulcerous stomach. Although the condition is sometimes called “rupture” (perforated ulcer), it’s actually the erosion of the gastric wall, caused by the acid, enzymes, etc. I mentioned it for the teeming millions, you know that. Overeating is bad for any stomach, or, rather, person. Pain will probably prevent any ulcer patient from overeating, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/12 "2000-12-10T00:01:35Z")
RoboDude, why not try it & get back to us. However, the stomach has holes at the top & bottom so one would have to force food in at an astronomical rate for anything like that to occur. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/13 "2000-12-10T00:33:27Z")
I think you might be right, peace. But eating often makes peptuc ulcers feel better (gives the acid something else to erode besides stomach wall). ---
**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/14 "2000-12-10T01:08:28Z")
Evidently it is possible but very rare (only 59 cases of “spontaneous rupture of the stomach” had been reported in the medical literature as of 1982). Here are two case reports of stomach rupture attributed to overeating in people without preexisting stomach problems: LeDoux MS, Sillers MJ, Atkins CP. Spontaneous rupture of the stomach in an adult. South Med J 1991 Mar;84(3):399-401 "We have reported a case of spontaneous rupture of the stomach in an adult. Immediate onset of severe upper abdominal pain after overindulgence in food and drink along with radiographic evidence of pneumoperitoneum and the clinical findings of massive abdominal distention, epigastric tenderness, shock, and occasionally subcutaneous emphysema should suggest the possibility of gastric rupture. The treatment is simple, but mortality is high when surgical intervention is not rapid. Nakao A, Isozaki H, Iwagaki H, Kanagawa T, Takakura N, Tanaka N. Gastric perforation caused by a bulimic attack in an anorexia nervosa patient: report of a case. Surg Today 2000;30(5):435-7 "We report a rare case of gastric perforation due to a bulimic attack in a 17-year-old girl suffering from anorexia nervosa. She was admitted to our hospital with the chief complaint of abdominal pain following bulimia. Initially, her symptoms were reduced after drainage using a nasogastric tube. Eight hours later, however, she fell into a state of preshock. Abdominal radiography revealed subphrenic free air. We diagnosed the patient as having diffuse peritonitis. At laparotomy, the stomach was dilated and necrotic with perforation. Almost the entire stomach was resected. Postoperatively, the patient recovered uneventfully. We should therefore be aware of this condition when treating patients with anorexia nervosa who complain of abdominal pain. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/15 "2000-12-10T02:10:02Z")
Yeah, I wonder what the opinions of our doctors are concerning these cases. I am a skeptic. I do not believe that NORMAL stomach can be mechanically distended to the point of rupture while both sphincters hold. I do not believe that this mechanism is possible physiologically: overfilled stomach, closed shut pyloric sphincter, continuing secretion and working one way (relatively weak) esophageal sphincter, letting the food in, but not out… As I‘ve never heard about anyone crushing testicles, I’ve never heard about anyone blowing stomachs and measuring their tensile strength. In the olden days, the “skin” of the hot dogs was made of animal gut. It was very strong, tennis rackets strings used to be made of the same material. Gut wall consists of two muscle layers, the stomach wall consists three. I do not dispute the facts of perforation themselves, but I flatly deny the proposed etiology. As I understand, Dr\_PapriKa had a chance to hold a human stomach in hand. I wonder, what was his impression of its wall strength? I do not like to diagnose things by description, but I think that undiagnosed peptic perforating ulcer was the most likely cause. I’d like to know if surgical or pathological findings were available in a single case. ---
**Author:** ![dragonlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@dragonlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonlady)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/16 "2000-12-10T02:49:30Z")
Isn’t it true that during WWII, some unfortunates had garden hoses forced down their throats and water run until “their stomachs burst”? I have never seen an autopsy report from any of these victims, but the stories are wide spread. ---
**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/17 "2000-12-10T02:51:39Z")
Peace, can you **please** start speaking English? I have no idea what you are saying in 2/3 of your posts. Anyway, here is an article in Salon about eating until you explode: [Unhappy meal: How to eat yourself to death.](http://www.salonmag.com/health/col/roac/1999/12/03/roach/) The magic volume seems to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 or 5 liters consumed. From said article: > [@](#): > > Not all people who eat themselves to death die of > a ruptured stomach. The Florida psychologist > died of asphyxia, her grossly distended stomach > having protruded so far up and out of its > customary terrain that the lungs were terminally > compromised. Yummy. As for **peace** ’s comment on the relatively weak esophageal sphincter, I found this interesting. From [Reflex control of the sphincter- the Cannon-Dougherty reflex](http://www.inxpress.net/~oastiennon/webdoc17.htm): > [@](#): > > These quotations, reflecting the importance of the subject on the one hand and the unsatisfactory state of knowledge > on the other, aptly epitomize the “problem” of the lower esophageal sphincter. > > The problem, as commonly formulated, requires an answer to two questions: > > Why does the closure mechanism yield to a pressure as low as 5 mm Hg from above? > > Why will intragastric pressures as high as 80 mm Hg fail to force it? Seems like it is indeed an interesting question, the sphincter magically is a one-way door. For the most part. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/18 "2000-12-10T03:52:47Z")
Doug, sorry. Would you please quote my sentenses which you did not get, I’ll try again. I’ll try to get hold of 1986 article from Dade county ME office. Your other references confirm what I said: a death could be possible from “overeating”, but not from stomach rupture. I can believe that isolated stomach can be filled with large amount of water/food, especially if a purse string suture is placed on the pylorus, but it would not rupture.If a tap water is used to fill the stomach, the pressure in the system would be not sufficient. I’d rather believe in the reflectory or compression cessation of respiration/heart beat. Are you a doctor? What’s your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/19 "2000-12-11T05:17:16Z")
Doug, do you know how to get to The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 1986? TIA. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787/20 "2000-12-12T01:36:59Z")
I haven’t read the published reports. The normal stomach has a high tensile strength since the normal action of the stomach is to distend when filled and help digest food by a spasmodic mechanical action. I have only held a human stomach in my hands during anatomy and pathology classes, they tend to be pretty tough. Acid can eat away the stomach wall if their is insufficient mucus or occasionally in _Heliobacter pylori_ “infection”. Stomachs can be weakened through sliding or paraesophageal hiatal hernias or congenitally; prolonged forced vomiting can certainly cause severe esophagitis could lead to a serious Mallory-Weiss tear in the esophagus. Boerhaave’s syndrome can also lead to esophageal pergoration. Did the patient cited have evidence of a perforated peptic ulcer? Did the anorexia-bulimic patient have esophagitis? I’m sure I don’t know. I’m sure it is futile to ask, at this stage, whether they had “normal” stomachs… unless they died and had an autopsy showing otherwise. I find it hard to believe it could happen in a normal person, but I guess it depends on how you define normal and what you consider an explosion to be. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-eat-until-you-explode/44787.md?page=2)