Emotions influence digestion
3 tips for more balance in the stomach

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Joy, sadness, stress – our psychological state influences the functions of the gastrointestinal tract. What can help with a nervous stomach and how an irritated intestine can find peace again.
The fact that our emotions can affect digestion can be observed as early as childhood. At school, exams can cause a nervous stomach – often accompanied by nausea or diarrhea. In later life, these symptoms sometimes continue and occur in particularly exciting or stressful situations, such as reaching a personal milestone or giving a presentation.
Emotional stress affects the intestines: This is how a Study that people suffering from depression often suffer from constipation. The exact connections here have not yet been scientifically clarified. Further studies are needed to be able to make general statements. However, a lot can be derived from this for everyday life. For example, it seems to be helpful to keep your own emotions in balance for intact digestion – our three tips will help with this.
Emotions in balance: 3 tips for everyday life
1. Identify stressors
You should take a closer look at what causes stress in everyday life. A stress diary with a scale can help with this: This makes it easy to see how high the stress level was in certain situations. Afterwards, the way you deal with the stressor is “reprogrammed” by using strategies that help you to better set boundaries, for example. Less stress in everyday life leads to more calmness, which benefits both your stomach and intestines.
2. Create small islands of calm
Oases of calm help the body to “wind down” – the stress level drops, the heartbeat normalizes and the intestines are not unnecessarily irritated. Ten minutes a day are enough for a small island of calm. One idea could be to sit on the edge of the bed with your eyes closed for ten minutes and just let your thoughts flow. The key here is that you are not distracted by music, TV, cell phone ringing or similar. If the “reset button” is regularly integrated into your everyday life, it can help you live more intuitively, recognize needs and thus keep your emotions in balance.
3. Gut-healthy diet
Probiotics and prebiotics are essential for a healthy gut. Lactic acid products such as natural yoghurt (preferably firm), kefir or fermented foods such as sauerkraut or kimchi should be served daily. They provide the gut with valuable bacteria that keep it healthy. Prebiotics ensure that these good bacteria are properly fed. The indigestible plant fibers that are part of the dietary fiber “clean” the gut from the inside and help it to get rid of unwanted substances. Fresh fruit and vegetables (especially bananas, broccoli, fennel, chicory, artichokes, salsify), whole grain products and foods with resistant starch provide the gut with prebiotics.
By the way: Resistant starch is created when starchy foods are cooked and refrigerated for around twelve hours. These include potatoes, pasta and rice, for example. It is therefore worth pre-cooking large quantities and putting some of them straight into the fridge. The next day, you can use them to cook fried potatoes, pasta salad or rice dishes – because the resistant starch does not revert despite being heated again.
Sources used: pubmed.gov, internisten-im-netz.de