Feeling Nauseous AND Hungry? Here's Why!

Why is it, that when you haven't eaten in a while that you can start to feel extremely nauseous?

Well LiveScience says,

"Your stomach produces hydrochloric acid as a part of the long process of breaking down food, using what it can for energy and materials, and disposing of the rest. If you don't eat for an extended period of time, the hydrochloric acid can build up in the stomach."

And Amy Barnes explained it really well on Quora,

"Because stomach acid isn't smart. It is secreted in small amounts by the body all day, whether we're eating or not. And when we ANTICIPATE eating, or even THINK about eating, this stimulates an increase in acid production as the body prepares to digest goodies. So if you're thinking about fasting, or how hungry you are, or how good a big ol' cinnamon muffin would taste, your stomach is happily gushing out acids in anticipation of a lovely healthful energy-producing bounty of calories.

But acid can't sit idle, it's got to DO something. So if there's no food to break down, it will stay busy by breaking down the mucus lining in the stomach and then the tissues themselves."

Conclusion

The answer is simple. The reason you can get two conflicting feelings in your stomach is simply because your body is on a schedule and if you don't eat in time, your body will just keep producing hydrochloric acid, which will cause you to get sick to your stomach even though you know you need to eat. So what can you do to help in situations like this? Start out with some water, and let the nausea pass. If it lasts too long and you are concerned never hesitate to call a doctor. But, if it's just because you haven't eaten, just wait it out and eat as soon as you feel up to it.

Moral of the story, eat ALL the time to prevent hydrochloric acid build up ;)