What Are the Possible Causes of an Upset Stomach?

Family Medicine, Primary Care Roots Community Health Center, Hippo Education, Kameda Medical Center

Supervised by Kenji Taylor, MD

Commonly, an upset stomach is caused by gas or bloating from benign causes like poor digestion of certain foods or additives.

Explanation

There are a variety of causes of an upset stomach that run the gamut of common to very uncommon. Common causes of an upset stomach include poor digestion of certain foods (ie: dairy products, heavily processed foods, fried foods, etc. ), overeating, food poisoning or even stress. If persistent or intense, less common causes should be considered like an obstruction from a tumor, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, gastric motility disorders or functional bowel issues like irritable bowel syndrome.

(References)

Hasler WL. Gas and Bloating. Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2006 Sep;2(9):654-662. PMID: 28316536; PMCID: PMC5350578.

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