That’s because the same neurotransmitters and neural network that is affected by mood and feelings also affects our gastrointestinal or GI system.
Stress creates more acid in your stomach, causing heartburn, nausea and ulcers. It can also lead to spasms and reflux in the esophagus, and cramping, constipation, diarrhea or inflammation in the intestines and colon.
Want to ease up on stress? Here’s how:
- Exercise: From regular walking to yoga to whatever activity you enjoy doing, getting the body moving helps the blood flow, the neurologic system, the endorphins and refreshes the mind and the mood.
- Meditate: Relaxation techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, biofeedback, music, can all generate what is called the “relaxation response. ” Using the mind to refocus the neurologic response to mood and the downstream effects to the GI system.
- Therapy: Talk/journal therapy can also be very helpful for many people. Getting stressors out onto paper so you unload your mind and can also then look at them from the “outside” can be very helpful. Also talking to either a trusted friend or a professional can again help unload stress. Many times, they can provide a new perspective that helps break the circular thinking we can get into.
- Diet/Probiotics: Diet can be the most variable area, as different things are better for different individuals, and even within one individual what helps and what aggravates can change. In general it helps our general health to eat a balanced diet, and then experiment by either adding or removing one item at a time for several days and see if there is an effect. Probiotics, vegetable based diets, and minimizing antibiotic use can help build a stronger microbiome with a broader number of types of microbes and greater numbers of healthy ones.
Sometimes, even with the best proactive measures, we experience the unwanted side effects of stress. There are many medicines to manage these, but it is best to talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
