It’s deep night again.
You lie quietly in bed,
ready to wrap up the day
with your go-to bedtime entertainment.
Source: Official WeChat Account @Gaoduanduan Human
As usual,
you scroll through your favorite video platform,
and soon you come across
your nightly companion: mukbang food livestreams.
Source: Official WeChat Account @Gaoduanduan Human
Watching others eat satisfies your cravings without weight gain,
bringing constant enjoyment.
Studies show that high-calorie food footage stimulates the brain far more intensely than violent, erotic or romantic videos.
But do you know
that while you feel entertained and satisfied,
your stomach is suffering silently?
01
What Happens When You Watch Mukbang Late at Night
What Your Stomach Goes Through
__________________
The stomach has two key components: gastric mucosa and gastric acid.
The gastric mucosa acts as a protective barrier, shielding the stomach from corrosion by gastric acid and other damage.
Gastric acid breaks down food as soon as it enters the stomach to speed up digestion.
Gastric acid remains stored in the stomach, ready to be secreted at any time.
Extra gastric acid will be secreted when food is consumed.
When your eyes are drawn to mukbang videos,
your eyes and brain
receive signals that food is coming,
activating the body’s sensory nerves
to trigger the secretion of more gastric acid
into the stomach.
Yet you only give a false signal,
without actually eating anything.
The gastric acid searches for food to digest,
but finds nothing at all.
The corrosive gastric acid is highly irritable.
It was resting peacefully,
yet you wake it up to work overtime in the middle of the night,
only for it to find
there is no food to break down.
Feeling tricked,
it starts to attack its "co-worker",
the gastric mucosa.
It continuously erodes the gastric lining, which is how stomach damage occurs.
When there is no food present, gastric acid irritates the gastric mucosa, raising the risk of stomach disorders over the long term.
02
Does Watching Mukbang Damage the Stomach
Does That Mean You Will Definitely Get Stomach Disease?
__________________
Not necessarily.
First of all, frequent mukbang viewing on an empty stomach harms the stomach, yet it does not guarantee stomach illness.
Key point: on an empty stomach
Still, it may trigger gastrointestinal problems including gastritis, gastric ulcers and reflux esophagitis.
Epithelial cells of the gastric mucosa only live 2 to 3 days and rely on steady self-repair. Excessive irritation prevents timely regeneration.
If the mucosa is eroded by acid every day, lesions or ulcers may form, leading to stomach illnesses.
03
Can I Still Watch Mukbang?
__________________
Absolutely you can.
But one rule must be followed: never watch on an empty stomach.
It is recommended to watch food livestreams after meals; this aids digestion and protects gastric health.
Digestion requires ample blood flow to power gastrointestinal peristalsis.
Watching videos activates the brain’s visual and auditory centers, which also demand large blood supply.
The two systems compete for blood, leaving neither digestion nor vision fully supported, ruining both your meal and viewing experience.
Long-term simultaneous eating and video watching weakens gastrointestinal function, causing indigestion and other digestive illnesses.
Besides, if you only feel slightly hungry late at night, try to resist the urge to eat.
If hunger becomes unbearable, eat a few crackers only. Avoid heavy food such as hot pot, snail noodles, barbecue and cakes, which will overburden your stomach.