January 9, 2019

This is What Happens to Your Gut When You’re Stressed Out

You may not have realized it, but your level of stress has a direct relationship with your gut. Have you ever felt extremely nervous before giving a major presentation? Or have you been so anxious because of a big test coming up that you’ve completely lost your appetite? Congratulations! You have officially felt the impact that stress can have on your body, specifically on your gut. Here’s why it’s important to understand that relationship and what it means for your overall wellness.

The Connection.

Your brain and gut are connected through your vagus nerve, or the nerve that helps tell the heart, digestive tract and lungs what to do. When your stressed, this nerve triggers an inflammatory response in your body, which prevents it from sending information.

According to Harvard Medical Schools online journal Healthbeat, “Watch our for these common symptoms of stress and discuss them with your doctor. Together, you can come up with strategies to help you deal with the stressors in your life, and also ease your digestive discomforts.”

Physical Symptoms	Behavior Symptoms	Emotional Symptoms
Stiff or tense muscles, especially in the neck and shoulders	Procrastination	Crying
Headaches	Grinding Teeth	Overwhelming sense of tension or pressure
Sleep problems	Difficulty completing work assignments	Trouble relaxing
Shakiness or temors	Changes in the amount of alcohol or food you consume	Nervousness
Recent loss of interest in sex	Taking up smoking, or smoking more than usual	Quick temper
Weight Loss or Gain	Increased desire to be with or withdrwaw from others	Depression
Restlessness	Rumination (frequent talking or brooding about stressful situations)	Poor Concentration
		Troubling remembering things
		Loss of sense of humor
		Indecisiveness

Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/the-gut-brain-connection

These gastrointestinal-induced complications can cause nausea, inflammation, constipation, and other digestive discomforts.

What you can do to manage it

What do you do when you are in a vicious cycle of stress impacting your gut? There are five things you can do to get your stress level (and overall wellness) back on track.

Step 1: Remove the Stressors.

You cannot heal your gut without removing the stressors that it is reacting to first. Start with a to do list to prioritize the tasks you need to complete. Ask a friend or co-worker for help on a major project you are working on. Or simply, practice some stress relief through breathing or exercise.

Step 2. Supplement your diet.

There are certain products that have been show in clinical studies to both protect and support a healthy gut. You will need to replace the digestive enzymes you are lacking with Probiotics and a Multivitamin. A high-quality multivitamin, complete with Vitamin C, biotin, Magnesium, an organic blend of greens (organic broccoli, kale, spinach and more!) and probiotics, can provide you with numerous health benefits, for your gut, skin and everything in between.

Step 3. Review your diet.

You may want to rid your diet of processed foods and sugars to rebalance your gut through your diet. Turning to anti-inflammatory foods like fiber-rich whole foods that contain lots of vitamins and minerals can help. Think: broccoli, beans, nuts, berries, and apples.