Why Does Stress Decrease Digestion?

Digestion is largely run by your parasympathetic nervous system the "rest and digest" branch of your autonomic nervous system. It's what allows blood flow, enzymes, and stomach acid to prioritize breaking down food.

The moment your brain perceives a stressor like a tight deadline, a difficult conversation, a packed calendar your sympathetic nervous system ("fight or flight") takes over. This shift does a few specific things to your digestion:

- Blood flow redirects away from the GI tract and toward your muscles and brain, since your body thinks it needs to run or fight, not digest.

- Stomach acid and digestive enzyme production drops, making digestion less effective and efficient

- Gut motility becomes irregular-  it can slow down (leading to bloating, heaviness, constipation) or, in some people, speed up (leading to urgency or loose stools).

- The gut lining's permeability can increase under chronic stress, which is part of why long-term stress is linked to more sensitivity and inflammation in the gut.

In short: your body cannot fully prioritize "digest" and "defend" at the same time. Under real or perceived threat, digestion always loses☹

If you have gut symptoms, and want to explore testing to see if you are digesting like you you need to, please schedule a free consult with me and learn more.