How to give yourself serious gut problems like IBS
- Heartburn and acid reflux or GERD
- Leaky gut syndrome
- SIBO or Dysbiosis
- Gas and bloating
- Both diarrhea and constipation
Do you rush through meals when you’re in a hurry?
Do you eat while mindlessly scrolling through social media?
Do you gulp down your food while you are driving and or working?
I hope you don’t!
To enjoy proper digestion and to prevent digestive issues like IBS, your body must be in the rest-digest-detox mode (also known as the parasympathetic state).
Rushing whilst you eat and experiencing any stress compromises your entire digestive process at every step. Let’s look inside someone’s body to witness how being stressed severely affects their digestion.
Let’s imagine our make believe person is a hard-working mum trying to juggle both home and work responsibilities. She’s gained a little weight, her anxiety has increased, she’s not really feeling as energetic as she used to and she’s not really sleeping as well as she used to. These symptoms are the hallmark signs of someone going through Adrenal Fatigue or chronic stress. Adrenal Fatigue means her stress bucket is full and overflowing, and she can’t handle any more stress. Her stress response system has become dysfunctional and is stuck in fight-or-flight side of her Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).
We are going to peek into her body now during a rushed breakfast.
Our superwoman mum has made everyone else breakfast, and she feels pushed for time, so gulps down some toast at the same time she is trying to pack some lunches. So what is happening? Well, the first stage of digestion, which is very important, is NOT happening. If you’re in a rush and not in rest-digest-detox mode, you hinder the production of the salivary enzymes in your mouth that help with food digestion. This predigestion helps to break down your food.
The poorly digested food moves to her stomach, where hydrochloric acid sterilizes and liquefies it. The problem is, when she’s in fight-or-flight mode, her body doesn’t prioritize producing hydrochloric acid, leaving undigested food.
Her undigested food moves to her small intestine, where it should absorb vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Due to being in fight-or-flight mode, her small intestine is not producing enough digestive enzymes and its function is compromised. This can easily cause nutritional deficiencies, fatigue, and various illnesses.
The undigested food then moves to her large intestine. However, it’s too difficult for the good bacteria to digest it, so the good bacteria die off and the bad bacteria flourish. This can cause an imbalance in bacteria called dysbiosis and yeast or candida overgrowth, which causes very unpleasant symptoms.
While it’s crucial to eat foods that aid digestion, it’s equally important to minimize stress and eat in a relaxed setting for proper digestion.
Poor digestion can lead to serious problems like IBS. To ensure proper digestion, it’s crucial to be in the rest-digest-detox mode rather than fight-or-flight. When your body is in fight-or-flight mode, digestion takes a backseat because it thinks you’re dealing with a tiger, resulting in poor digestion.
The link between rest-digest-detox and the vagus nerve and great digestion
When you are in the rest-digest-detox mode it helps to activate your vagus nerve, which is the main nerve of your parasympathetic system. It is a long nerve that travels from your brain down to many organs, including your digestive system.
The vagus nerve regulates digestion, including saliva, stomach acid, pancreas, gallbladder, and gut movement. If your vagus nerve isn’t functioning properly, possibly due to stress, it can lead to inadequate stomach acid, causing digestion issues such as reflux, bloating, and cramping, along with diarrhea or constipation. A malfunctioning vagus nerve can prevent nutrient absorption, leading to fatigue.
Your body’s vagus nerve is active only in the rest-digest-detox mode, also known as the parasympathetic state.
So the BIG lesson here is that you need to be relaxed when you eat. Don’t rush around trying to stuff food in your mouth or you may end up with some type of digestive issue.
How Should You Eat?
Before you eat, sit down and take a breath. Before you take a mouthful, consciously relax your whole body. Look at the food. Looking at it triggers digestion and prompts saliva production. When you eat, eat slowly. Taste every mouthful. Avoid loading your spoon with food until you’ve finished the last mouthful.
Turn off the TV, and don’t look at social media. Transform your eating into a mindful experience. Almost like an eating meditation. You will enjoy it so much more and you will turn on rest-digest-detox mode or your vagus nerve and improve your digestion.
If you’re in the fight-or-flight state and your vagus nerve is not activated, then here’s what may happen;
- Your body fails to produce sufficient digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid needed for digestion.
- Your body fails to produce sufficient bile makes it challenging to digest fats.
- Peristalsis is hindered, slowing, or speeding up the movement of food through your GI track.
Keep an eye out for the upcoming article about stimulating your vagus nerve or activating your rest-digest-detox state!
