Is Stress Contributing To Your Leaky Gut?
Stress plays a huge part in illness and disease. Stress really plays a number on our immune system and entire body for that matter. A little bit of stress can actually be a good thing but just like with anything else, too much of it and it becomes negative.
Stress is a threat to the hemostasis of an organism which elicits adaptive responses in order to help maintain internal stability and to ensure survival. Stress, like inflammation, can be acute or chronic. Chronic stress can be damaging to our health and well-being, especially if there is already an illness or pre-existing condition. It just so happens that our gut is sensitive to the presence of chronic stress. Even acute stress can cause some upset. Stress can induce the following:
- Changes In Gastric Secretion
- Gut Motility
- Barrier Function
- Mucosal Permeability
- Mucosal Blood Flow
- Visceral Sensitivity
Studies and evidence show that gut microbiota might respond directly to stress-related host signals. Corticotropin Releasing Factors (CRFs) is a family of peptides that are responsible for conducting our body’s response to stress and stressors. CRFs have potent effects on the gut through modulation of inflammation, contribution to visceral hypersensitivity, increase of gut permeability (leaky gut), and increased perception of pain. Stress affects both the physiological function of the gut and it also causes changes in the composition of the microbiota.
Stress can lead to an overgrowth of specific bacteria while reducing the microbiota’s biodiversity in the large intestine. This disruption increases the susceptibility to enteric pathogens. Chronic stress can contribute to your leaky gut syndrome and it can also lead to several other gastrointestinal (GI) diseases such as:
- GERD
- Irritable Bowel Disorder (IBD)
- Food Allergies
- Peptic Ulcer Disease
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Psychological stress can slow normal transit time in the small intestine which encourages bacterial overgrowth, compromising your gut health, as well as, your general health and well-being. Stress can definitely be contributing to your leaky gut. Natural leaky gut treatment will help cure your leaky gut but it is important to also get your stress levels under control. Leaky gut antibiotics will help eliminate the bacterial overgrowth and leaky gut probiotics will help get the gut bacteria back in balance. If you have digestive or GI issues it is important that you try to limit the amount of stress you’re dealing with in order to keep the health issues from becoming worse. If you have a leaky gut and are also dealing with chronic stress it might be a good time to work on keeping your stress at a minimum. Stress management will be extremely beneficial but if it’s not working, talk to a doctor to see what else you can do to help ease your stress to help your body heal properly.