Heart Palpitations After Eating

Heart palpitations after eating is a condition where a person feels that his heart is 'racing' or 'fluttering' after a meal. This maybe felt immediately after a meal, or might even start while the person is eating. This is a common complaint seen in overweight people, and sometimes in recovering anorexic patients.

Why is Heart Palpitations after Eating Normal?
After eating a meal, the heart needs to pump more blood to your stomach and adjoining areas. Thus, it needs to bring about an increase in the blood supply of the stomach, so as to aid in digestion. This is important, as this increased blood flow in the abdominal region immediately after a meal helps in digestion and assimilation of food. Hence, for some, this routine activity of the heart may manifest as palpitations.

Symptoms that may Accompany Heart Palpitations after Eating
Following are the symptoms that occur after eating:

• Along with palpitations, a person may complain of nausea after eating
• Dizziness after eating
• Feeling tired after eating. Fatigue after eating maybe mild in nature, or a person may feel severe exhaustion.
• Chest pain after eating.
• Feeling of tightness and soreness in chest.
• Excessive yawning
• Sweating and restlessness
• Discomfort in abdominal region and stomach palpitations.
• Inability to sleep peacefully at night, immediately after dinner
• Shortness of breath

Causes of Heart Palpitations after Eating
There could be various causes of heart palpitations after eating. This could range from psychological palpitations to palpitations induced by hormonal fluctuations. Here is a list of possible causes of heart palpitations after eating:

Sudden Consumption of Food after Staying Hungry for Long: A vicious cycle is generated when a person is hungry for long and then suddenly binges on food. This is often seen in patients suffering from anorexia nervosa. Sudden binging causes rapid increase in the blood sugar level, leading to cardiac arrhythmia, followed by a chain of reactions that culminate in heart palpitations after eating. These reactions are as follows:

                                                       Severe hunger and low blood sugar
                                                                                  ↓
                                                                  Sudden intake of food
                                                                                  ↓
                                                                Blood sugar rises rapidly
                                                                                  ↓
                                                             Excessive secretion of insulin
                                                                                  ↓
                                                      Fluttering of heart (cardiac arrhythmia)
                                                                                  ↓
                                                                Lowering of blood sugar
                                                                                  ↓
                                                                 Secretion of adrenaline
                                                                                  ↓
                                                             Heart palpitations after eating

Hormonal Imbalance: Hormonal imbalance could be a possible cause of heart palpitations after eating. Hormonal imbalance in young women is often a cause for palpitations. In fact, any kind of hormonal imbalance, irrespective of how minor it maybe, could wreak havoc in the body. A person suffering from hyperthyroidism especially is at an increased risk of suffering from palpitations after a meal.

Hiatal Hernia: Hiatal hernia is a condition where a portion of the stomach protrudes into the chest, through the diaphragm. It is often associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This hiatal hernia, coupled with acid reflux disease, often leads to chest pain similar to angina and may even lead to heart palpitations. Read more on hiatal hernia: causes, symptoms and treatment.

Obesity: Often, an overweight person, who has a diet high in sugar and caffeine and who leads a sedentary lifestyle, may show symptoms like heart palpitations after eating. This is because, in people suffering from obesity, the heart has to work extra hard to pump the blood to the stomach. Also, sometimes these people may complain of radiating pain in their left arm, in which case he or she should get a check-up done immediately, as this maybe indicative of a more serious underlying illness.

Severe Anemia: Severely anemic people, whose hemoglobin levels are very low and who have low ferritin count have an increased risk of experiencing heart palpitations after eating. This symptom is often accompanied by fatigue and extreme weakness.

Stress and Anxiety: One of the most common culprits responsible for a variety of diseases, excessive stress and anxiety may lead to palpitations. Stress can manifests itself in many ways, and patients complaining of heart palpitations after eating often have other symptoms like chest pain, abdominal pain, fatigue etc. accompanying palpitations.

Treatment of Heart Palpitations after Eating
Although there is no universal treatment of heart palpitations after eating, there are certain guidelines that one can follow to help prevent heart palpitations and to keep heart health in good condition.

• Eating moderate amounts of food at regular intervals is a much smarter option, than eating one meal in the morning and then starving oneself for the remaining half of the day. Regular meals in small proportion help energize the body on a timely basis and thus, prevent any sudden spurt of hormonal activity which could cause irregularities in the functioning of the heart.
• If you are a female, it is best to get a regular check-up done to lookout for hormone levels and to check on iron levels in the body. Females are at an added risk of suffering from anemia and thyroid irregularities.
• One should try cutting down on sugars if he or she is obese. Also, a bit of regular exercise goes a long way in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
• As cliched as it may sound, living a stress-free life is the key to good health, peace and longevity. One can keep a number of diseases at bay, simply by eliminating the stress factor.
• If the symptom worsens with time, its best to get a full cardiac scan using a holter monitor done, along with running a few necessary tests which maybe recommended by your physician, because after all, taking care of your heart health should always come first.

Thus, to keep heart palpitations after eating at bay, ensure that you follow a healthy lifestyle, with a good and nutritious diet supplemented by regular exercise.