When Good Food Poisons You...

In my last post, I was telling you that during a long crisis, I had to take deliberate steps to protect and support my gut – because I couldn’t uphold the standards of my specialized diet anymore.

I told you that this is when I figured out that HOW we feed our body is just as important as WHAT we feed our body, and that TARGETING specific foods was more effective than ELIMINATING foods. 

​This is because our health depends upon a fully functioning digestive system – and digestion is very disrupted by stress.  Here’s how: 

1.     When our brain registers fear of any kind - a bear on the trail, or angry words with your boss or friend - it triggers our flight or fight response through the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). This shunts blood to our heart and brain and away from our gut. It is meant to be a short lived response but these days we are often enduring ongoing fearful/stressful situations.

​2.     Good digestion depends upon a relaxed state of mind and body – our parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) needs to be engaged so our digestive organs can do their jobs secreting digestive fluids, moving food along at the right pace and keeping our gut bacteria happy.

So as you can see, if we’re constantly worried, fearful, angry and stressed – our gut is not functioning properly.​​ ​

​​And even if you are eating a “good diet”, you are not receiving the benefits. In fact, most clients that come to see me have already been eating “all the right things” but they are still sick! 

What they don’t know is how stress is disrupting their digestion and essentially poisoning their body, even though they are eating good food. 

Yes, good food can poison you too. When food is not fully digested, it causes imbalance in how the organs function, damages the bacterial profile in your gut and causes inflammation.

This leads to gas, bloating, food intolerances, cravings, diarrhea, constipation, and more.

But again I say - don’t despair! Remember, I was in crisis for years, and I figured out how to nourish and support my gut through those stressful times without a specialized diet. 

Now that I’ve introduced to you how and why stress affects digestion, I’m going to give you first step to take to help your gut in the next email, so stay tuned.

BUT FOR TODAY – I want you to mentally turn on your lightbulb of awareness and ask yourself: 
What is happening on a daily basis that is causing me stress, fear, anger or despair? OR what stress took place prior to the onset of my health problems? 

Take note. It's more important than you may realize. You'll understand why in the posts to come. 

P.S. Want to share your AHA moments with me? Send me a note and share a personal find if you like.  Oh, and don't forget you can always learn more from me and others - everyday - in the It Takes Guts Community Facebook group.