Did you know that your bloating could be related to your stress? There is a reason that your stomach hurts when you feel tired, overwhelmed, and burnt out.

In fact, stress plays a pivotal role in hindering digestion. It diminishes gut health. Relaxation plays the exact opposite role of keeping digestion running smoothly.

Gut Health and Stress+Gut Health and Rest

Maybe you have heard of the term, “Fight or Flight.” 

In fact, I am almost certain that you have heard this before. 

I would be surprised, however, if you have ever heard of the term, “Rest and Digest.” For some reason, “Fight or Flight” gets all the attention, when for day-to-day living what we really need to be focusing on is “Rest and Digest.”

In fact what you learn today could drastically change your gut health.

First thing is first though. You are probably wondering what on earth these two separate phrases actually mean. 

Both of these responses are a part of the autonomic nervous system- a system that controls the way our organs function (Did you know that “Fight or Flight” was related to your organs?!?)

Now, to break down how these responses are different.

Fight or Flight and Gut Health

What is “Fight or Flight”?

When I hear “Fight or Flight” I think of hiking in the wilderness, and having an encounter with a grizzly bear. Innately, the human body will most likely signal the “fight or flight” response in this scenario.

It is a matter of life or death, and we were innately created to attempt survival.

In simple terms, what occurs in the fight or flight response is that a stressor (i.e. giant angry mamma bear) triggers the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. 

This triggers a wide array of physiological responses. 

This activation occurs through the sympathetic nervous system– which allows for fast-acting responses due to the adrenal glands. 

Some of the responses involved in this are 

When you think of feeling stressed, it is probable that you have experienced at least one of the symptoms above.

This is because, while our bodies have been designed with this mechanism to get out of danger, they have become stuck in a chronic state of this type of stress through today’s environmental factors. When in a chronic state of stress, the body is unable to perform functions the way it was designed to. This includes functions relating to gut health.

Rest and Digest and Gut Health

What is “Rest and Digest?”

“Rest and Digest” is the state that the human body was designed to be in apart from danger. While both of these mechanisms are under the autonomic nervous system, the Rest and Digest mechanism branches off under the Parasympathetic system. It is slower moving than the sympathetic (Fight or Flight) system. This system is in charge of controlling homeostasis within the body, which is exactly where humans should be.

Homeostasis creates balance and stability. When the systems of the body are in balance, it can rest, repair, and work the way that it is supposed to. Digestion works, meaning gut health is optimal.

Take a long, deep breath in. Now slowly breathe out. Do you feel the tension falling out of your shoulders?

If that small act can do such great things externally, imagine what being in a state of Rest and Digest does internally:

Do you see how being in a state of Rest and Digest will allow your body (and therefore gut health) to function optimally?

The problem is that now a days, humans are in a state of chronic stress, making for difficulty in digestion, which in turn leads to issues such as bloating, gas, constipation, and malabsorption of nutrients. A large majority of Americans today struggle with gut health- in fact 39% of Americans report experiencing some form of poor gut health during a 2023 study.

Chronic diseases are also strongly correlated with chronic stress, but for the sake of this blog post, we are simply going to focus in on how to optimize your digestion through a relaxed state.

How does rest and digest relate to gut health?

The digestive processes is very intricately designed and is extremely complicated. But the basics are not too difficult to understand, so let’s simplify the digestive process into a few steps.

First of all, the digestive process begins wayyyyy before you put food in your mouth. Do you remember being a kid at grandma’s house, back when she would cook fish sticks and tater tots for lunch? That’s what mine did anyways. (And no, I am not recommending this as a substantial meal) 

The smell of those greasy tots in the oven was enough to make your mouth water. And this is where the digestive process begins.

The smells of the food being cooked signal different process in the body. The mouth begins salivating, and the liver is triggered to produce bile, all before the first bite.

As food is bitten into, saliva and teeth help to break it down into easy-to-swallow pieces. Muscles then drag the food down into your stomach which further digests the food through muscle movements and stomach acid.

The food is then transported to your small intestine, where nutrients are broken down thanks to the help of digestive enzymes and bile.

As it moves further down the small intestine, nutrients are absorbed through the intestine’s wall.

Once remaining water and electrolytes are absorbed, the remaining stool enters into the large intestine. You know what happens next.

Isn’t this process absolutely incredible? If you want to study the digestive process in greater detail, click here.

I said it before and I will say it again, we were designed in such an incredible way, and the intricate processes of our bodies leave me in constant awe of how we were created.

Now that you are an expert in the digestive process, you may be wondering why it matters to your gut health whether the body is in fight or flight, or rest and digest.

I will tell you.

Why Rest and Digest Matters for Gut Health

Do you remember what happens in the body during these processes? I will highlight what is important for the sake of digestion:

In Fight or Flight…

-The body is in a state of stress

-digestive functions are dropped

-bile production reduces

-saliva production slows

In Rest and Digest…

-The body is in homeostasis

-Digestion functions optimally

-Bile is produced

-Saliva production increases

Did you catch that?

If you were running from a bear in the woods, why would your body waste any of its energy on digesting food? Instead, it would give all of the resources that it could to getting you out of this life-threatening situation. 

The problem is that in today’s society, the majority of people’s bodies believe that they are being chased by a bear, even thought that bear is the blue light staring at a person through their screen, or a meeting that they are not prepared for, or baseball practice 30 minutes away from ballet class.

The bear is a fight at the dinner table, the bear is crammed schedules, the bear is a messed up circadian rhythm that goes to bed at 2 AM and wakes up at noon.

The bear is processed donuts deep fried in canola oil. The bear is quickly eating lunch as you drive between work and that doctor’s appointment, trying to make it to both on time.

This mechanism was very useful in nomadic tribes that roamed around the earth, who were much more adaptable between these two separate states when necessary. 

The problem is that the body struggles to differentiate stress, and associates it all as a threat, causing a consistent release in cortisol.

This means that when it comes time to eat a meal, digestive signals are most likely not functioning properly, because the body is in a chronic state of running from the bear. Does it make sense now why being in a stressed out state diminishes gut health?

So, how do we support our bodies to come out of this state of stress as we sit down to eat our meals? Do not despair, it is pretty simple. You can even put one thing into practice at a time to allow your body rest as you prepare to eat. 

How to Enter Rest and Digest to Support Gut Health

The goal is to support your body so that it will create bile, saliva, digestive enzymes, and all the other processes needed to properly digest food. This will support your gut health and help nutrients to absorb better, processes to run smoother, and for bloating to be diminished. 

7 Tips to Optimize Gut Health

Here are my tips for optimizing rest to support gut health:

1. Get into a relaxed state 15 minutes before you eat.

-Turn off the distractions, sit outside, read a book, do something that you enjoy. Stop working if you can and just be present with yourself and with others.

-If you are the chef, pop on your favorite playlist and make food that you enjoy. Learn to love the process of creating meals as the magical smells of food waft through the air.

2. Support digestion through whole food supplements 15 minutes before and/or after you eat.

-Enjoy a gut-healing drink with apple cider vinegar (1-3 TBSP), digestive bitters, or dandelion root tea.

-These all help to stimulate bile production.

-My bloating was greatly diminished by simply drinking ACV before my meals. If I am not particularly feeling the taste, I will add in some aloe as well which makes it go down smoother for me.

-Enjoying a gut supporting tea after my dinner is my favorite way to end off the night. After my other meals I will do ACV.

-You can shop these different products by clicking these links: Dandelion Root Tea, Apple Cider Vinegar, Digestive Bitters, Aloe Vera Juice.

3.Practice gratitude before digging in.

I find it pretty amazing that I prayed before meals my entire life, and did not learn about how this truly allowed the food to be blessed to my body until I dove into this sphere of health.

-Praying before meals, or expressing thankfulness to the hands that prepared the food (even if it was you!) allows your mind to think on what is good, helping to remove stress and negativity from thoughts.

-This also allows a minute or so for the nose to smell the delicious scents of the foods and stimulate digestion.

4. Take 3 deep breaths before you eat.

-Similar to practicing gratitude, this helps to relax the body and prepare if for eating.

-It will help you to slow down, instead of stuffing your face full of food as soon as it hits your plate.

5. Don’t eat in order to race for seconds.

-Enjoy your first plate slowly, allowing your body to catch up. 

-Racing to get seconds immediately puts your body back in a state of stress.

-Enjoy your meal, talk with others. Odds are, if you do this you may not even feel hungry by the time your first serving is gone.

-If you’re still hungry, enjoy seconds the same way.

6. Eat the meals that you can outside

-The sunshine will put your body into a great state of rest

-This also gets you away from screens (Screens will inhibit your ability to be in rest and digest).

-You can absorb all of the sunshine’s nutrients, while also absorbing the nutrients in your food

7. Eat away from your phone and the TV.

-Again, the stimulation which comes from screens will immediately raise your cortisol, taking the body out of homeostasis.

-If you want to properly digest your food, put the screens away. Enjoy your meal in a state of rest.

-It can be therapeutic to do this both by yourself or with others to share the meal.

Gut Health Takeaways

There you have it.

If you follow the 7 tips above, your digestion could be greatly improved, and bloating diminished.

Keep in mind that proper digestion is only one benefit of a body that is in a state of Rest and Digest, and that there are so many other things to implement besides this that will support balance and total body healing. 

Choose one thing in the list above to begin implementing and let me know your results!

In the mean time, check out this other posts on nutrition: 5 False Nutrition Beliefs that You Need to Rewire.