If our stomach has digestion issues and we can’t eat a lot of food throughout the day, why does this not make our bodies feel weak? Why does the feeling of weakness only come when our stomach feels totally empty, even though we might eat less food when our stomach isn’t feeling well?

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I have gone for weeks with very low appetite due to illness, and I often ate very small portions of food before feeling totally full, but during these time, I practically never felt tired or weak. Once my stomach was better, however, I was able to eat a lot more food, and as soon as I feel hungry, I usually also generally feel fatigue and muscle weakness until I have eaten. How is it possible that I can feel less weak when I am consuming less food?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

**How much energy are you using up?** Combined between ‘healing’ and ‘physical movement’ and ‘mental work’ <— all of these use up energy/nutrients. By reducing mental & physical work, you’re reducing the amount of nutrients/energy your body is using up, at a cellular level.

So if you were sick and were ‘taking it easy’, it could be that you were eating enough, without overloading your stomach.

What are you eating a lot of?

1. Carbs & sugary foods – Eating a big meal with lots of carbs, your blood sugar can spike, which make your insulin spike, which creates drowsiness.
2. When you eat a big meal with lot of tryptophan (found in turkey, chicken, milk, bread, peanuts, oats, etc) your body creates melatonin and serotonin and makes you sleepy
3. When you eat a big meal with lots of fat, CCK can be released in the blood to help you break it down, which *also creates drowsiness*.

People tend to be more sensitive to the big dips/crashes when they go from ‘small meals’ to ‘big meals’ abruptly. – it’s why huge feasts often make people really sleepy.

But that’s all *after you eat*.

If you’re feeling weak *before* you eat, it might be **Low Blood sugar**.

People who are sensitive to low blood sugar triggers a ‘must eat now’ kind of hunger, where you’re weak, irritable, maybe lightheaded – flags your body uses to signal ‘EAT! NOW!!’ (Hangry!)

If you regularly experience weakness alongside trembling, sweating, heart palpitations or unusual anxiety, you may want to get checked by a doctor because it could signal Hypoglycemia, diabetes, or pancreatitis. That’s *dangerously,* *extremely* low blood sugar

You might have been avoiding those symptoms by eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. With fewer, larger meals, your body has more time to do the ‘blood sugar spike, then massive drop’ cycle.

I should note that your particular example is not really normal, as far as I’m aware.

The only time I get weak/fatigued-feeling BEFORE eating is when I’ve skipped meals entirely, and my blood sugar is low at the end of the day because I was fasting.

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