“We often underestimate just how deeply everyday stresses can influence our gut.”
A top nutritionist has revealed the ways your everyday stresses – from unexpected bills to feeling undervalued at work – are impacting your gut health.
Nutrition and education advisor Kim Plaza claims stress can be directly responsible for disrupting your gut’s natural balance and lead to stomach discomfort.
With the stress hormone, cortisol, linked with a reduced diversity in gut microbes, which could have a knock-on effect for functional gut health, such as the ability to digest food and make mood-supporting vitamins, such as B vitamins.
People may also experience a change in appetite due to stress – which might impact the quality of their diet and consequent digestive symptoms such as bloating and gas.
But Kim said there are very simple ways to lower this impact, such as taking time to monitor exactly how you feel, and importantly, supporting the gut with nourishing foods that feed the beneficial microbes.
However, the most common pitfalls and health fads that people fall for when it comes to digestive care are extreme diets without supervision, which have little to no benefit.
It comes after research of 2,000 adults, commissioned by Bio-Kult, revealed the top stresses of life.
With not getting enough sleep at night, rising household costs and not having enough hours in the day to get everything done among the top culprits.
While 23 per cent struggle with maintaining a healthy work/life balance and 29 per cent can’t cope with unexpected costs like the car needing work.
Kim Plaza said: “Regardless of the source for the worries, it can have a huge impact on your gut health and general wellbeing.
“We often underestimate just how deeply everyday stresses can influence our gut.
“Lack of sleep, financial pressures and time constraints don’t just affect our mood.
“They can disrupt the delicate balance of microbes that support digestion, immunity and even mental wellbeing, which can impact our ability to digest food and make mood-supporting vitamins, such as B vitamins.
“The good news is that small, consistent changes such as paying attention to how we feel, prioritising rest, and including gut-nourishing foods such as kimchi and kefir can make a significant difference in helping our bodies cope better with stress.”
The study also found 55 per cent of adults notice changes in their gut when feeling stressed, such as bloating (38 per cent) or loss of appetite (32 per cent).
And while 48 per cent said their stress manifests in both physical and mental ways, 12 per cent are more likely to feel physical symptoms.
Fewer than one in 10 (seven per cent) rate their current gut health as excellent, while 67 per cent think everyday life stresses can impact someone’s internal wellbeing.
Other top worries plaguing the nation included a lack of time for themselves, or to partake in hobbies (25 per cent) or coping with a family illness or health issue (24 per cent).
With as many as 20 per cent finding their stress comes from arguments or disagreements with their partners, according to the OnePoll.com data.
A spokesperson for Bio-Kult said: “There are so many different places that stress can attack us from.
“Life, work, relationships – modern life can be hard to deal with, for so many reasons, but there are things we can do to help.
“It’s not a solve-all, but making sure your gut is in a healthy place is a great way of making sure your mind and the rest of your body can deal with stress better.”
The top 20 stresses of everyday life
1. Not getting enough sleep at night
2. Rising household costs
3. Unexpected costs, e.g., car needing work, plumbing issues etc
4. Trying to manage household chores
5. Not having enough hours in a day to get everything done
6. Lack of time for yourself or hobbies
7. Coping with an illness or health issue in the family
8. Trying to maintain a healthy work/life balance
9. Arguments/disagreements with my partner
10. Pressure to meet deadlines at work
11. Getting an unexpected bill in the post
12. Feeling unappreciated at home
13. Not seeing family members because life gets in the way
14. Being a working parent and juggling routines
15. Feeling unappreciated at work
16. Not being able to afford a holiday
17. Seeing friends progress in life ahead of you e.g. in careers, love life etc
18. Feeling left out of social plans
19. Having to work additional hours due to circumstances outside of your control
20. Worrying about how well your kids are doing in school
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