Have you ever had your gut betray you when you’re nervous, on the verge of panic, or simply feeling out of your depth? Stress can really play footsies with your digestion and often won’t spare you from a good kick or two.
Hippocrates: “All diseases begin in the gut.”
It’s been over two thousand years; still, Hippocrates is right. The stomach holds the key to good health. Our gut flora is a finely honed balance of bacteria, viruses, and other microbes which helps our digestive system absorb nutrients and keeps harmful invaders of their kind out. An imbalance in this system in which bad bacteria overwhelm the good ones throws the body out of whack; and thus, starts the individual on the sick road to nutritional deficiency, immune system breakdown, toxic build-ups, and the like, all gateways to numerous illnesses or diseases.
When Stress Hits The Fan
When stress attacks, our digestive system usually takes a huge wallop. Stress triggers that “fight or flight” response which immediately raises your blood pressure and shunts blood over to your limbs and brain. The body goes into a survival tactic, largely forgetting your abdominal area by leaving it without much blood allocation. Your digestive system goes into a shut-down because the prime directive now is to fight or flee, not digest. While this response is highly crucial in the short-term for human survival, it takes its toll when stress becomes chronic. The digestive system is not designed to take prolonged shut-downs.
Stress interferes with digestive functions. It can cause an imbalance in gut flora by which good microbes are flushed out of the intestinal tract. This is a red flag because as mentioned, balance to our digestive flora is key to good health.
It isn’t uncommon to feel nauseous or have a stomach upset when you are feeling very anxious. Our parasympathetic system closely allies our nervous system to our digestive one. When prolonged stress hinders our digestive system, our body pays with:
- Imbalanced gut flora – This paves the way for infections and diseases to set up shop.
- Increased levels of bad cholesterol
- Increased levels of triglycerides
- Lowered levels of oxygen in the digestive tract
- Decreased capacity for nutrient absorption
- Decreased metabolism
- Increased allergic reactions and food sensitivities
- Huge decrease in productions of enzymes
With these consequences comes a host of a lot more:
- Excretion of important vitamins and nutrients. For instance, a stressed person’s body can excrete 60-75. mg. of calcium within the hour of the onset of anxiety.
- Development of Metabolic Syndrome – a group of conditions that can give rise to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. These include high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and a huge waistline.
- Diarrhoea, constipation, bloating, and flatulence
- Nausea
The Mind-Gut Connection
A stressed mind affects your digestive system; but, your digestive system affects your mind as well. How is that? About 80% of serotonin, a neurotransmitter largely responsible for mood balancing, libido, appetite, and sleep is, believe it or not, produced by the intestinal tract. Only a small percentage is manufactured by our brain.
Persistent stress lowers serotonin levels in your gut. Low serotonin levels, in turn, leaves a stressed person exhausted, unable to sleep well, with a much lowered appetite for food and sex, and ultimately depressed.
This is why it is very important to take care of our digestive system. A healthy digestive system can give you an enormous advantage when faced with stress.
Combat Stress By Keeping A Healthy Gut
Your gut will thank you for eating smart. Give it at least 30 grams of fibre-rich food daily. Fibre can be sourced from vegetables, fruits, nuts, and legumes. Reduce processed foods to a once-in-a-blue- moon treat. Take lots of water but limit alcohol, caffeine, and other diuretics. In addition, watch those killer fats and sugar. Developing an eating discipline will pay loads, health-wise.
Exercise as well. A well-planned program will strengthen abdominal muscles and reduce intestinal sluggishness.
Kick those ciggies out of your habits. Smoking promotes acid reflux, heartburn, peptic ulcers, and other gastrointestinal issues. Cancer may pop up as one of those serious consequences. The short-term pleasure just isn’t worth the bad payback.
It is noteworthy to mention that women should take special care of their digestive health. Because women are generally more emotional than men, women feel the burdens of angst more and are therefore more vulnerable to stress’ side effects.
Stress is inevitable because life never was made to be a bed of roses. What we need to do is learn how to blunt the thorns life sometimes takes such perverted delight in needling us with.
