Is your Anxiety making you Bloated?

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR ANXIETY AND BLOATING ARE LINKED??  

Two of the most common complaints I see in clinic are bloating and anxiety, and they actually have an intrinsic cause and effect with each other.

Here are the multiple ways they are linked. 

• Anxiety shifts your nervous system into sympathetic  dominance (fight or flight) which redirects blood away from the gut and into your arms, legs and brain (so you can think quick and run away). This reduced blood supply slows down digestion which means food has a chance to ferment and create gas that causes bloating
• Anxiety rapidly uses up nutrients like zinc, which is required to make enough stomach acid to break foods down properly, causing gas and bloating from undigested food. 
• When food is not properly digested, optimal nutrients are not absorbed, leaving you depleted in things such as zinc (which you need to digest) and B vitamins which you need for a healthy stress response, and low levels can be a cause of anxiety. 
• Anxiety causes an imbalance in good microbes in your gut, particularly bifidobacterium species, which are required to help produce enzymes to break food down
• Low levels of bifidobacterium species cause a rise in cortisol (stress hormone) levels, which contributes to the feelings of anxiety 
• 90% of serotonin, our feel good hormone, is made in the gut, so an imbalance in good microbes affects this production and contributes to anxiety 

Can you see the whole chicken/egg situation? Its a vicious cycle really!

What can you do to help yourself today??

• Take 3 deep belly breaths before eating any food. This helps to activate your parasympathetic nervous system (opposite to fight and flight, called rest and digest) which directs blood towards your gut to support proper digestion
• Start a daily meditation and breathing practise to lower your cortisol levels
• Don't eat food on the go as this compromises digestion, always be seated and relaxed 
• Chew your food completely so your gut has to do less work

These lifestyle changes can have a really positive effect on symptoms, however depending on the number of weeks, months or quite possibly years that you have been experiencing issues, you most likely will need additional support in the form of high quality probiotics, nutritional supplements, digestive enzymes or herbal medicine. There is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution, so tailored treatments are required to provide the best results for your unique situation. 

If your gut and brain are telling you this sounds like something you need to address, then I would love to work with you! Let's get you feeling great :)