How to Reduce Stress (and Reduce Bloat!)

Did you know proper digestion actually starts before food even enters your mouth?

Stressed, rushed and frantic eating impacts bloat and digestion way more than most people realize. When working with clients in my gutTogether program, one of the top things I see clients struggling with is actually taking time to eat a meal.

Do you find yourself constantly eating a “working lunch,” or speeding through meals while distracted? It’s not enjoyable to realize that you aren’t noticing when you’re done eating, or take just minutes to finish a meal in haste.

What’s even LESS enjoyable is the miserable bloat that often follows.

Improving gut health involves more than just food – stress is a HUGE factor! If you are anything like my clients, you may bloat regardless of what you eat, showing that there is something else contributing to your bloat beyond food. HOW you eat is often more important than WHAT when we are looking to improve digestion.

One way to do this is by lowering your cortisol (a stress hormone) pre-meal to improve digestion and motility by getting your body in a state of “rest and digest”.

A few simple ways to do this:

1. Reducing distractions. Turn off the TV, stop working, stop scrolling… focus on the current moment and enjoying what’s in front of you. This allows you to be better in-tune with your body and senses, too!
2. Practicing a breathing exercise. Try a few rounds of the box breathing method I shared on the blog recently!
3. Actually sitting down (and taking a break from the busyness) to eat and ENJOY your meal. Eating while doing other tasks may feel productive, but it’s really counter-productive for healthy digestion!

Small daily habits like these (in addition to identifying your underlying causes) are essential to long-term relief from your gut-related symptoms. Let me know if you give any of these a try!