Stress and Digestion- 8 Things You Should Know

No matter if your stress is mental or physical, stress affects the digestive tract which serve as a significant source for vital defense from sickness and disease through it's robust immune capabilities. The disruption in the functioning of the Gut eventually affects the function of digestion, absorption and elimination.

When your body reacts to a potential threat, blood is shunted away from most parts of your body to your muscles to allow for a quick flight of flight response. Hence, your gut is deprived of its blood supply, leading to poor digestion and absorption of food.

8 Ways Stress affects your Gut

1. Stress activates the flight-or-flight response in your central nervous system, which can cause your esophagus to go into spasms, increasing production of your stomach acid, which results in indigestion.

2. Stress can both delay emptying your stomach or speed up passage of material through the intestines. This is why you might feel the urgency to use the bathroom frequently or repeated urges to urinate during or following a stressful event.

3. An increase in peristaltic movement in your gut due to hormonal stimulation from your brain could lead to diarrhea and constipation.

4. Stress can lead to a cascade of events that may trigger Irritable Bowel Syndrome due to sustained levels of hormone stimulation from a long standing stressful event.

5. People who tend to be easily stressed out are more prone to stomach ulcers. There has been several studies reporting the relationship of Type A personality and the early onset of Peptic Ulcer disease.

6. Various digestive problems, and appetite changes may be highly indicative of undetected stress in many people who live in urban metropolitan cities. Normal city life occurrences like high traffic, environmental pollution and fast paced lifestyles may become chronic stressors that could insidiously begin to cause serious health issues.

7. Stress increase the activity of bad bacteria in the gut thereby causing a chronic condition of Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth.

8. When your body reacts to a potential threat, blood is shunted away from most parts of your body to your muscles to allow for a quick flight of flight response. Hence, your gut is deprived of its blood supply, leading to poor digestion and absorption of food.