What causes dizziness after eating?
If you get dizzy after eating, there can be many reasons for this. First and foremost, one should think of metabolic disorders such as diabetes or causes that affect the cardiovascular system.After a meal, the body conveys the degree of satiety to the brain by stretching the stomach. In the brain, this signal triggers the release of messenger substances which inhibit the intake of food.
Some of these messenger substances, however, act on activity centers in the brain and inhibit them, one feels tiredness. After heavy, fatty meals, this tiredness can develop into dizziness with dizziness or vertigo-like symptoms. In addition to these, to a certain extent, “normal” symptoms, dizziness after eating can also be caused by cardiovascular diseases.
Low or high blood pressure or even heart failure can also be the cause of dizziness after eating. Diabetes mellitus as a metabolic disorder is able to cause dizziness after eating. People with diabetes suffer from a hormonal disorder affecting insulin, which is responsible for regulating blood sugar and normally lowers blood sugar levels.
There are two different types of diabetes mellitus. Type 1 mostly affects young patients, there is an absolute insulin deficiency, i.e. the hormone is not produced at all. Type 2 diabetics are often older, and are insulin resistant.
Insulin is still produced, but can no longer be used by the body, resulting in high blood sugar levels. A diabetic disease with permanently elevated blood sugar levels brings many secondary diseases with it. Some of them cause dizziness after eating.
Especially the so-called autonomic neuropathy (nervous disease of the vegetative nervous system) is the reason for dizziness after eating a meal. Autonomic neuropathies affect almost the whole body. Very often, cardiovascular (heart and circulation) events occur, such as rapid heartbeat and low blood pressure.
It is noticeable that both complications occur after eating and cause dizziness. Nerves of the stomach are also affected, occasionally a gastric paralysis (stomach paresis) can occur, the stomach is no longer able to pass on the absorbed food to the intestines, where the nutrients are normally absorbed. Hypoglycemia with dizziness, sweating and palpitations are the result.
If the diabetes is treated, many symptoms improve quickly and dizziness after eating occurs less frequently. Blood pressure disorders such as low blood pressure (hypotension) or high blood pressure (hypertension) are known to cause dizziness or vertigo-like symptoms. Elderly people suffer more often from dizziness after eating due to low blood pressure.
Paradoxically, these people are usually more likely to have high blood pressure. However, after eating a meal, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated. The parasympathetic nervous system is the part of the autonomic nervous system that is active in resting situations.
Opposite it is the sympathetic nervous system, which puts the body on alert in moments of stress. When the parasympathetic nervous system is active, heart rate and blood pressure are lowered and low blood pressure can occur. People who generally have a somewhat more unstable circulation notice this when they feel dizzy after eating.
Sweets are among the foods that contain a lot of sugar. Sugar in the form of carbohydrates is one of the basic building blocks of our food. It provides energy, but at the same time it can damage the body.
If you eat something sweet, the blood sugar level rises rapidly, but then falls again very quickly, as some types of sugar, especially those contained in sweets, are quickly broken down by the body and are no longer available as energy suppliers. This sharp drop in blood sugar levels can cause dangerous hypoglycaemia in pre-treated patients, for example diabetes patients, which can lead to symptoms such as dizziness after eating sweets. But also in general, sugar makes tired and contains many “empty” calories.
A change in diet helps to combat fatigue and dizziness after eating sweets. During pregnancy, dizziness and nausea after eating are commonplace for many women. The production of pregnancy hormones, such as estrogen, causes nausea and vomiting.
Classically, nausea during pregnancy is also known as morning sickness. However, many women either feel nauseous all day long or get sick when they eat something specific or even smell a dish.Dizziness after eating during pregnancy can therefore be accompanied by nausea and vomiting, or it can be caused by the nausea, but it also occurs due to the increased blood circulation in the body. If the dizziness lasts for a long time or occurs more frequently, it is advisable to consult a doctor.
Some women suffer from so much nausea with massive vomiting that there is a risk of dehydration (lack of fluid). A lack of fluids causes symptoms that affect the circulation, and in addition to dizziness, headaches and drowsiness may occur. Such symptoms must be treated, this is often done in hospital by infusion.
Dizziness after eating can also be caused by an intolerance of the substance histamine. Although histamine is an endogenous carrier substance, it is also involved in triggering various symptoms in the course of intolerance. Normally, histamine is broken down in the body by an enzyme, diamond oxidase.
Histamine intolerant people suffer from a malfunction of this enzyme. If these people then consume foods that contain particularly high levels of histamine, such as red wine, seafood or some types of cheese, this leads to a type of allergic reaction with a variety of symptoms. These symptoms affect the skin, the cardiovascular system, the digestive system and, in rare cases, the psyche.
In the area of the skin redness and rashes occur, the cardiovascular system reacts with palpitations and high blood pressure, resulting in dizziness after eating and headaches. Digestive problems such as diarrhea or flatulence and, rarely, depressive moods can occur. If stomach problems occur after eating, such as a feeling of fullness, pressing or cramping pain, dizziness is often an accompanying symptom.
Often you have simply eaten too much or have eaten something that you cannot tolerate. But it can also be a disease of the digestive system and a doctor should be consulted for clarification. The cause of dizziness that occurs after eating can also be medication that is taken at or after the meal.
Protonone pump inhibitors, which are often prescribed for stomach complaints such as reflux disease (leads to heartburn), are also possible causes of dizziness, as they are a possible side effect. Consultation should therefore be held with the doctor who prescribed the drug. If dizziness is caused by the stomach after eating, this often occurs after partial removal of the stomach.
This form of surgery is used, for example, for stomach cancer. The area that connects the stomach with the duodenum (pylorus) is most often removed. The pylorus is responsible for closing the stomach to the duodenum.
If the pylorus is missing, the chyme from the stomach moves too quickly into the intestine. A large “lump of food” is formed, liquid flows in from the surrounding tissue to thin the lump, causing circulatory problems and severe pain in the upper abdomen. This clinical picture is called dumping syndrome.
The dumping caused by the influx of liquid directly after eating is also called early dumping. Late dumping, on the other hand, is called hyperglycaemia with subsequent hypoglycaemia. Because of the too fast sugar absorption in the small intestine, the blood sugar level rises strongly at first.
This is the signal for the body to release more insulin than usual. High insulin secretion in turn causes hypoglycaemia. Too low blood sugar levels are what cause symptoms such as dizziness and dizziness, about 2 hours after eating.
Dizziness after eating is often a consequence of low blood pressure. Thyroid hormones, among other things, are important for the circulation and thus also the regulation of blood pressure. People with hypothyroidism, i.e. a lack of thyroid hormones, tend to have low blood pressure.
After eating, the body is put into a state of rest and digestion by various signaling pathways. One effect of this nervous system, called parasymphaticus, is a lowering of blood pressure. People with a thyroid disorder can therefore experience dizziness as a sign of low blood pressure, especially after eating.
But also an over-function can cause dizziness due to a too high blood pressure and pulse. A thyroid gland problem usually causes other, in itself unspecific symptoms, but can be confirmed or excluded by medical diagnosis.Besides this hormone-related explanation, there is another aspect that can explain dizziness after eating due to a thyroid disease. The most common cause of an underactive thyroid is the so-called Hashimoto’s thyroidoditits.
It is an autoimmune disease, i.e. the body produces certain proteins (so-called antibodies) that are directed against the body’s own structures. Hashimoto’s disease leads to the destruction of thyroid tissue and thus to hypofunction. The autoimmune disease itself is associated with symptoms of vertigo. If dizziness occurs after eating, the thyroid gland should also be examined for a possible disease during the clarification of the cause.
