Can You Get Sick From Eating Too Much Cheese?

Can you really get sick from eating too much cheese? Well, the truth is that too much of anything, including even water, can make you sick. But there are some components of cheese that may make it more likely that you will feel a little queasy after indulging a little too much. This can be especially bad if you have a condition known as lactose intolerance, which can reduce your bodies’ natural ability to digest the compounds in cheese. Here are a few reasons why you may feel sick after eating too much cheese.

Why Did You Eat So Much Cheese?

Before we can know why cheese makes you sick, we should look at why it is so easy to eat too much cheese in the first place. Like chocolate, cheese contains a compound known as castromorpines, which react in the body in much the same way some pain killers do. Eating cheese triggers the brain's “reward” response, releasing chemicals linked with happiness. They are the same chemicals that help prevent depression when you eat large amounts of chocolate. This causes you to want to eat more... and more, until you begin to feel sick from so much delicious cheese.

Lactose

The primary ingredient that would cause you to feel sick in cheese, is lactose, or milk sugar. There is a good deal of this milk sugar present in most cheeses, and sugars are one of the most complex and difficult substances for your body to break down. On average, it takes about three days to break down the lactose from a single piece of cheese! This is not just the case in those who have the condition known as lactose intolerance, but in most humans. As difficult as it is, avoid ingesting large quantities of milk, cheese, and butter in a day, and you can enjoy more of the cheese you love.

Lactose Intolerance

Lactose intolerance affects over thirty-million Americans, and is the single most common food intolerance in the world. This means your body has a particularly hard time breaking down lactic sugars. Lactaids can help break these sugars down before they hit your system, and are advised for people who experience cramping, stomach aches, diarrhea, or even vomiting after eating too much cheese. In general, you may need to avoid some complex dairy products, like cheese, altogether, as severe symptoms can cause ulcers and other long term stomach issues.