Here are some of the signs that stress might be effecting your health:-
- You are having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Waking up in the morning still feeling tired.
- Gut Issues such as constipation, diarrhoea, discomfort, lack of appetite.
- Increase in anxiety or depression, also increase in irritability and anger.
- Feeling more overwhelmed, exhausted and fatigued.
- Having headaches muscle pain and tension.
When it comes to gut health, stress has a huge impact here. When working with clients in our clinic, food is a very important factor in healing. Something we do see is that if stress is getting in the way, then food won’t have the impact that we want it to. Addressing stress before addressing food means that changing your diet won’t just be another stress added on top of an already heavy load. So address the stress first, and you will already be starting the process of healing your gut.
These are some of the ways that stress effects the gut-
- Stress can increase gut permeability, leading to leaky gut
- Stress can lead to inflammation in the gut
- Stress can alter gut bacteria
- Stress can cause gut motility to either slow down or speed up, resulting in either constipation or diarrhoea
- Stress can reduce blood flow to the gut
Now that we know how stress effects health, we need to look at ways of reducing it! The easiest way to reduce the impact of stress is with activities that reduce our stress response, switching us from sympathetic nervous system function to parasympathetic. Our favourite way to do this is with the 4, 7, 8 breath, which is so simple, and can completely change your day in less then 2 minutes. Follow the steps below.
