The reason why your stomach hurts after eating tater tots is a result of the gas from the resistant starch in the potatoes that thee tater tots are made of.
Some people are more sensitive to the resistant starch, which can lead to gas buildup in your stomach or make the tater tots harder to digest for some people.
Also eating too many tater tots or using high at cooking methods, not draining the cooking oil off, if cooking the tater tots in oil can also lead to stomach upset after eating tater tots.
You may also have a nightshade sensitivity and potatoes are nightshades, or a rare allergy.
As for the high fat cooking methods, which can lead to the tater tots hurting your stomach.
The tater tots absorb a huge amount of the cooking oil during the frying process of the tater tots.
And high fat foods when eaten also slow down your stomach emptying also known as motility, which forces the body to work harder to release digestive enzymes and bile.
And this delayed digestion also frequently results in and causes upper abdominal cramping, nausea acid reflux or even a heavy "brick in the stomach" like feeling.
For the resistant starch fermentation, when potatoes are cooked, cooled (during factory processing) which occurs when making tater tots, and then reheated, they develop high levels of resistant starch.
And the small intestine in the body cannot easily absorb this resistant starch.
Instead the resistant starch that cannot be absorbed by the small intestine travels to your large intestine where your gut bacteria rapidly ferment the resistant starch and produce organic acids and trapped gas, which stretch sensitive abdominal nerves, which leads to sharp and or gnawing pain.
The tater tots can also lead to gallbladder strain, which can cause your stomach to hurt after eating tater tots.
Your gallbladder releases bile to break down dietary fats.
And eating tater tots and other greasy foods, can cause your gallbladder to contract forcefully and if you have underlying inflammation or gallstones, this contraction can trigger a sharp, sudden ache in your upper right or center of your abdomen.
Having conditions like SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) or IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), means that your gut is highly sensitive to the rapid production of gas caused by the potato starches .
And people with SIBO will also experience severe bloating and cramping, almost immediately after they eat the tater tots or other foods with starches because the bacteria in the wrong part of the gut ferment the food too early.
And although rare, some people also have a natural sensitivity to nightshade foods like potatoes, which can lead to stomach upset after eating them.
And frozen tater tots also often contain preservatives, additives or even cross contaminated gluten, which can irritate your stomach, especially with specific food intolerances.