Stress is something we all face in our daily lives. At work, we have deadlines, we try to make it to meetings and preschools on time, we have problems with our boss or we worry about our finances. For short periods of time, stress is not harmful – it’s just a way for our bodies to mobilize extra strength and energy. But when stress lasts so long that our bodies and brains don’t have time to recover, it can make us ill. When we are stressed, we also tend to make more unhealthy choices. We eat more unhealthy food, sleep less and exercise less which, combined with stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, damages our gut flora and gut health. In this article, we talk about how stress affects gut health and provide tips on what you can do to take care of your stomach and maintain good habits even during stressful periods in your life.

Chronic stress can lead to inflammation in the body

 Short episodes of stress are not harmful. However, if we are stressed for long periods without recovering, we suffer from so-called chronic stress, which can be harmful to our health and can cause both fatigue syndrome and depression. When we experience stress, the stress hormones cortisol, noradrenaline and adrenaline are released and disrupt the balance of our gut flora, weakening our immune system and making us more vulnerable to inflammation.

Stress leads to unhealthy choices

In the short term, stress often affects our appetite. The nervous system sends signals to the body to release adrenaline which triggers our fight-or-flight response, putting our hunger cravings on hold. But if we’re stressed for long periods of time, our body starts producing a hormone called cortisol and instead increases our appetite. Cortisol levels usually drop as the stress eases, but if the stress persists, cortisol levels can remain high and so can the appetite.

Our appetite is also affected by two other important hormones – ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin is usually referred to as our hunger hormone and regulates our feelings of hunger, while leptin regulates our feelings of satiety. When we are stressed, ghrelin levels increase and the hormones become imbalanced. We experience increased feelings of hunger and eat more than we really need.

Stress not only affects our appetite, but also our food preferences. Studies show that we tend to choose foods high in fat and sugar when we are stressed. This is believed to be caused by a combination of high levels of cortisol, insulin and ghrelin. Another reason for our increased cravings for fat and sugar is that stress can trigger unpleasant feelings such as anxiety and worry. When we eat sugar in combination with fat, the body starts to produce dopamine. Dopamine is known as our feel-good hormone, and gives us a short-term sense of pleasure. This, combined with the hormones cortisol, noradrenaline and adrenaline, which are released during stress and send signals to the body that the brain needs sugar to fight or flee, makes us choose foods high in sugar and fast carbohydrates. Besides the fact that we tend to make poorer food choices when we are stressed, other lifestyle factors are also negatively affected: we sleep less, exercise less and drink more alcohol.

Stress and unhealthy choices affect gut health

When we are stressed, the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline are released, which cause damage to our immune system and gut bacteria. This is because there are at least 500 million nerve fibers in the gut, all of which have a direct link to the brain. This means that stress exposes our gut bacteria to all the harmful stress hormones, causing the good bacteria in the gut to disappear and get replaced by harmful bacteria. The fact that we also sleep less, move less and eat a poorer diet when we are stressed also has a negative impact on our gut health. In other words, it is particularly important to take care of your gut and make active and healthy choices during stressful periods in your life.

Tips for healthy choices that make your body more stress-resistant

A good way to boost your gut flora is to adopt an anti-inflammatory diet that both combats inflammation in the body and nourishes the good gut bacteria. Exercising daily, even during stressful times, also works wonders – both for your gut flora and to keep stress hormones at bay. It also stimulates the body’s production of serotonin – an important hormone that makes us feel happy and helps us cope with stress. Also, try to get plenty of sleep for 7-8 hours a night to give your body some much-needed rest.

Another good remedy for stress is to try to do things that you know will make you happy and feel good about yourself – every day. This could be anything from taking a walk in nature and getting a breath of fresh air, to a nice yoga session or just having fun with family and friends.

If you want more tips on good habits to implement in your daily life, professor Stig Bengmark has listed his 12 commandments that can be especially helpful when stress levels in the body are high.