Really, there are four levels
of ways stress can affect your digestive tract,
or your gut, and the first one is your nervous stomach.
So those are the butterflies,
the kind of pit in your stomach
when you're anxious about that presentation or something.
That's level one.
Then you move on to level two,
which is more of an upset stomach,
that urgent, I've gotta get tot he bathroom ASAP
kind of feeling.
You're gonna have the loose stool or diarrhea.
Number three is gas and bloating,
that very uncomfortable distention
where you just can't button up your pants
and you feel lousy.
And then level four, DEFCON 4, is stomach pain,
so actual pain, or real discomfort
where you really don't feel like you can sit even still,
you're really uncomfortable.
So those are the four levels,
and I'm gonna go through them one by one.
Level one, like I said, the nervous stomach,
the butterflies in your stomach.
What's happening here?
So when your brain gets stimulated by anxiety or nerves,
it sends signals down to your gut
through what's call the vagus nerve.
This is one of the largest, most important nerves
in your body, and the vagus nerve then stimulates your gut
to move, to contract, and that's what gives you
that sort of somersault-like feeling.
So level two is that urgent upset stomach,
gotta run to the bathroom feeling,
and what's happening here
is some of the same neurotransmitters,
things like serotonin that are released in your brain,
are also released by the lining of your gut,
and sometimes it does go haywire,
it can cause an overactive, over-speedy digestion.
Now, another setup for that
is imbalance of good and bad bacteria in your gut.
So one thing to make you more resilient to stress
on your gut is to make sure your microbiome,
that healthy community of bacteria, is totally balanced.
So I have a bunch of foods here
that are gonna help you do that.
They have probiotics,
those are healthy, good-for-you bacteria,
but also prebiotics, and those are foods
that fuel the good bacteria that's already in your gut.
So we all know about yogurt, right?
Yogurt with live and active cultures, great probiotics.
But if you're not a big yogurt fan,
kefir is a fermented drink, that's something to try.
It has kinda like a yogurt flavor, but it's very unique.
And then another great source of probiotics, kimchi.
We know our Korean friends, this fermented cabbage,
which is delicious.
And then finally, sauerkraut, another great source
of a rich variety of different strains of probiotics.
Okie doke.
Prebiotic foods, asparagus, we have leeks here.
Again, two good sources of prebiotics.
They're gonna help your good bacteria
that's already in your gut flourish and grow.
And now we move on to number three.
So three is gas and bloating.
And we've all overindulged and felt that a little bit,
but sometimes stress can make that a major issue.
What's happening there is the stress is affecting
how you digest your food, and then your food
is producing more gas, more air in the system,
which leads to that real distended feeling,
very uncomfortable.
So what can we do when we have that over-bloated feeling?
Well we all know exercise is great for our body,
but a lot of people don't realize exercise
actually helps your colon start moving.
And it moves that gas along
so that it's not gonna stay in your system.
The other thing to do if you're having too much gas
and bloating, avoid chewing gum, using straws,
or drinking a lot of carbonated beverages.
Carbonated beverages I get,
but I never thought about chewing gum, huh.
Yeah, you know what, when you chew gum,
you're actually swallowing air during that active chewing.
When you think about it, you know, your mouth is open.
And with straws as well,
you end up getting a lot of air in your system.
So just doing a few tips like that
can help you really calm down the gas and the bloating.
And then the last level we talked about, level four,
that really bad abdominal pain or abdominal discomfort.
This is usually due to a spasming of your intestine,
so really, you know, that kind of wrenching pain
that you might get because of stress,
and sometimes it can happen immediately
after a very stressful situation.
So here again, the hormones and the chemicals
are affecting your gut.
And we know that deep breathing can break the cycle,
meditation, acupuncture, but if you want something quick
that you can just do at home, acupressure
is another thing to try.
And I'm gonna show you two spots on your abdomen
that can really help release that tension.
So you can see here, if you find your belly button,
and then you go two inches above.
And I'm just using two fingers,
you can use two or three fingers,
and slowly in a circular motion,
massage for about two or three minutes.
This is gonna help release the spasming
of that upper abdomen area.
If you're feeling more tension in the lower abdomen,
you can find your belly button again,
and go four inches below, and again,
two to three fingers, massaging gently,
and that can really help release the spasming,
and help release the pain.
If any of these things are very severe,
or happening frequently, please talk to your doctor.
This is not a time to sit home and wait.
(bells chime)