Stop Before You Eat!
You’ve heard it a million times before; stress isn’t good for you. But did you know how stress has a negative effect on your digestive system and subsequently fat loss and/or aesthetic goals? It’s really quite simple; our bodies can’t easily manage stress and digest food simultaneously, nature wired us this way (thanks Mother Nature) for a number of reasons.
Our Nervous System
By now you should have heard the phrase ‘fight or flight’. This is a very real phenomenon and doesn’t just happen to those stranded in a jungle facing a lion! It is actually our bodies physiological stress response; our survival mechanism when it thinks it is being attacked. And unfortunately in our current day climate anything stressful can make us believe we are in danger….bad traffic, too many emails, an argument with your boss or loved one, training, even watching the news or a horror movie.....stress can come in many forms.
When we are in this state your bodies are not concerned with digesting food. Instead, (because our bodies are so smart – thanks again mother nature!) our bodies will utilise all of our energy to focus on the ‘attack’ at hand. Now severe cases will cause our digestion to completely shut off leaving the food in our gut un-metabolised. In the case of a less severe attack, our digestive system still slows way down and could cause us to suffer in a number of ways.
Unabsorbed Nutrients
We want our food to be in our digestive system for a certain length of time. This allows our gut to absorb the nutrients it needs as well as eliminating any waste. However; when we are stressed digestion can literally shut down. This can lead to constipation, constipation interrupts detoxification, and this leads to gas, bloating, stomach pain, and weight gain.
Heartburn
Think about when you last saw an advert on TV for a digestive aid, probably in the last 24 hours right? There are way too many people dealing with way too much daily digestive discomfort on a daily basis due to our stress responses and poor digestion. When we are in a stressed state the sphincter that closes off the oesophagus from the stomach can spasm meaning stomach acid can make its way back up into the oesophagus, causing it to burn the esophageal lining. Otherwise known as heart burn. Not pleasant and something most of us have experienced at one time or another.
Decreasing Blood Flow to the Body
When our bodies believe they are under attack, they redirect our blood flow to the brain and to the limbs in order to think quick and move fast. If our bodies are stressed while we are eating it can therefore cause our metabolism to slow down. This results in food sitting in our digestive tract for a lot longer, where it can start to ferment leading to gas and bloating and eventually inflammation if left long enough.
So What?
This is all great to know but you can’t stop the millions of emails, bad traffic, arguments and every day stressors from being in your life right? That’s fine (well not ideal but the best of a bad situation) What you can change is your behaviour when you eat:
Don't eat lunch at your desk: Take it outside in the fresh air away from stressors.
Don't eat dinner in front of the TV: Believe it or not watching a sad TV program, the news or a horror movie will actually put you into the stress response. Don’t take the risk! Sit at the table away from media, the computer or phone.
Don't eat on the go (in the car for example) when you can easily become irritated.
Don't eat after you have drunk coffee: Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but coffee also chemically induces us into this fight or flight state through an artificial caffeine high. So when we drink coffee, all the above symptoms can occur. So that morning coffee before breakfast? Save it for after!
It doesn’t have to be big changes but they will make a difference. Becoming more aware of when you eat and making sure every time you do you sit and relax will give your body the best chance it can to digest your food and be the most healthiest version of itself it can be.
Happy Eating!