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Are you finding that you’ve had an unreliable appetite, or other signs of an upset stomach in the last couple months?
I have had a number of people reach out, noting that they have almost no appetite and even waves of nausea or bouts of acid reflux they haven’t had before. Why all of a sudden, why now?
In a word: stress.
We’ve heard it a hundred times, but the situation we’re in is unprecedented. The jobless rate continues to climb, we are isolated from friends and family, return to some amount of normalcy seems out of reach especially as we’re seeing states go back into stricter quarantines on the heels of spiking covid rates. We’re likely not eating, or moving our bodies in ways to support these stress levels; and I know full well, an optimal diet and lifestyle factors can only take you so far.
Given the numerous emotional and physical stressors, it isn’t a surprise that our bodies have internalized that and we’re seeing suppressed digestive function as a result. Think of it like this, your nervous system perceives stress as either I am under attack, or I am not under attack. When we’re ‘under attack’ we don’t support digestion, reproduction, detoxification, or sleep-wake cycles as well. They are secondary to our need to survive the ‘right-now’.
We have evolved to undergo stress for relatively short periods of time, then recover and re-allocate energy towards secondary processes (which need to be considered primary the majority of the time!). Given the long-standing stress we’re under, you might have noticed that your stomach is upset more often, your period has been more painful or off-cycle, or you’re not sleeping as well as you could be. The mechanisms for disrupting these systems are related, but slightly different.
Digestion in a stressed state is hardly digestion. When your brain thinks you’re in a compromised state, it turns off many different processes, among them is effective digestion. Your stomach lowers stomach acid production, diverting the nutrients and resources elsewhere in the body. Your body is no longer ready to mechanically and chemically break down food that enters the stomach. This can come across as a loss of appetite, or an even stronger signal is presented as nausea. Furthermore, counter to ‘common knowledge’ acid reflux symptoms can actually be the result of not enough stomach acid. You read that right. When your stomach acid isn’t strong enough (ie the pH isn’t low enough), your small intestine doesn’t get the signal to open-up and move the digestion process along. The food moves out of your stomach and into the small intestine only once the stomach is quite acidic. If stomach acid isn’t being produced at the level it needs to be during meal time, because you’re thinking of a laundry-list of stressors, it stays in the stomach longer than it should. This is when you begin to feel the reflux symptoms. Your stomach is full, the food is not moving, and while the contents of your stomach is not acidic enough to be passed along to the small intestine, it’s definitely acidic enough to hurt your lower esophagus.
Keeping your acid production strong has a number of benefits. Stomach acid is crucial for properly digesting proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Without significant acid levels, we’re not getting nearly enough nutrients from our food. It also acts as a first defense against harmful bacteria that enter the body in our food or drinks.
In addition to stress, there are other factors that can lower stomach acid production. Use of acid suppressing drugs like PPIs, bacterial infections like H. Pylori, overconsumption of alcohol, antibiotics, and chronic under-eating or malnutrition can all inhibit stomach acid production. Studies have shown that acid levels decline with age; people over 60 experience a significant reduction in producing stomach acid.
So what do you do? De-stress, as best you can. This is what will help shift your body into a ready-to-digest, acid-producing machine. I say that in the best way possible.
Before you begin eating, take 3 deep breaths. Try to name (out loud or in your head) 3 things you are grateful for in that moment. Chew thoroughly and enjoy the food you’re eating.
Resist reaching for the ant-acids, as they can only prolong the cycle of low stomach acid → reflux symptoms. We want to encourage autonomous acid production, and not squelch the acid you are producing.
In addition to de-stressing techniques, it’s possible to encourage stomach acid production with digestive bitters or a bit of apple cider vinegar a couple minutes before your meal as well. If you have struggled with reflux for a while this might not be the best first option for you, as your lower esophagus might be sensitive to any amount of acid.
For cases of more severe reflux or GERD, support upper GI tissue with deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL), vitamin U, slippery elm, and other nutrients before thinking about increasing stomach acid. Please reach out to me, and I would be happy to share my straight-forward upper GI healing protocol with you!
Take deep breaths, nourish yourself, support each other.
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References:
https://nutritionreview.org/2018/11/gastric-balance-heartburn-caused-excess-acid/
Wright, Jonathan V. “Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You: Natural Relief from Heartburn, Indigestion, Reflux and GERD” (November 2001)