How Survival Mode is Shutting Down Your Digestion

Anxiety manifests physically throughout your body, affecting everything from swallowing to nutrient absorption when your nervous system gets stuck in survival mode. We explore how stress creates a domino effect in your digestive system and share practical solutions to activate your parasympathetic "rest and digest" response.

Chapters

• 0:00 Anxiety's Physical Impact on Digestion
• 1:47 The Globus Sensation and Stress
• 5:16 How Stress Disrupts Digestive Processes
• 6:56 The Power of Social Eating
• 10:04 Episode Closing and Resources

Transcript

Emliy Feist: 0:00

Anxiety doesn't just live in your head. It shows up in your gut, your muscles and even how you swallow your food. You're not broken. Your nervous system is just stuck in survival mode and it's taking down your digestion and swallowing reflexes down with it. In this episode we're unpacking the signs and symptoms behind stress-related digestive problems and what you can do to get things flowing again, both figuratively and literally. Hi and welcome to.

Emliy Feist: 0:31

It Starts at Vagus, where holistic health meets modern day, living through the eyes of a massage therapist and that's me. I'm Emily and I am a neuromuscular massage therapist that helps people every day relax their muscles, and I'm here to guide you through the philosophy of the vagus nerve. It's the body's ultimate key to calm, connection and overall well-being.

Emliy Feist: 0:56

So if you have stress, anxiety, have burnout and you just feel stuck, you're in the right place. But before we start, could you do a huge favor for me and hit that subscribe button? It encouraged me to continue to make time to create this podcast. I can't tell you how much it means and helps when you hit that like and subscribe button. We currently have listeners in over 130 cities and as the show grows and gets bigger, we can expand the podcast, bring in guests and continue to support your wellness journey, because I want this podcast to continue to be worth listening to and help people all over the world get stress and anxiety relief. Naturally, thank you to everyone who's already subscribed. I really appreciate it. Now take a deep breath in, settle down and let's explore how we can use our nervous system to support our bodies.

Emliy Feist: 1:53

Stress has a huge role in digestion. First, the sympathetic nervous system activates and it creates a domino effect from there. So let's unpack this a little bit. And it creates a domino effect from there. So let's unpack this a little bit, starting with how it affects how you swallow your food. When you're stressed, your body's in fight or flight mode kicks right in, leading to physical changes, including muscle tension, and this includes the tightening of your throat muscles, which can make swallowing difficult or even painful. Anxiety can also lead to a heightened awareness of the throat and swallowing process, making it sensitive to any sensation or difficulties, and I have a personal experience in this. When I was little, I went to a restaurant with my family and I ended up choking on a pickle and I was able to cough it up. So technically it wasn't true choking, but I remember the feeling. It's a feeling that has been with me since that moment and to this day.

Emliy Feist: 3:00

I have to trick myself to take any medication, and before I even can take medication I would often ask if there's a liquid form or even a shot, because I can take those much easier than the mental strain of swallowing pills. So I just don't like the feeling and I know I physically can swallow pills, but my mind stops me. It just says nope, we don't feel safe with this. Me it just says nope, we don't feel safe with this. And no matter what I do, I just can't swallow it down. And I don't think I've ever taken a pill without tricking my mind that I have to chew it up first. So there are little ways that I've done to cope with this, but it just shows you that even after, goodness, 20, 30 years, I still have that feeling with me and my body has to this day said nope, everything that goes into your mouth you must chew because we don't want to choke again. And that is just my body, keeping me in survival mode.

Emliy Feist: 4:05

I will sometimes have a harder time swallowing food, but thankfully that doesn't happen as much anymore. Usually I can get food down pretty well, but here is a fun new vocabulary word for you, most likely, and that is the globus sensation. And this is just a fancy word for when people experience that persistent feeling of a lump or something stuck in their throat. Even if they're not drinking or eating anything, they can still feel it. That feeling is often linked to anxiety and stress surprise, surprise and it's not necessarily related to an underlying medical condition. It's just saying, hey, we're going to tighten these muscles because we're stressed out. It's just saying, hey, we're going to tighten these muscles because we're stressed out.

Emliy Feist: 4:54

But when food does make it down because most likely it will when you're stressed, your blood shifts away from the gut. Your body diverts blood toward your muscles in your brain and away from your digestive organs, because it's prioritizing, it wants to keep you safe for survival, and digestion just takes a back seat. So this includes areas such as your mouth and esophagus, which is what we just talked about, your stomach, these small and large intestines, your rectum and your anus. So when that stress is consistently high, your body feels it everywhere. And that's where you're saying, god, I've got all these problems and things that you know bother me, but there's no connection when, in reality that stress might be triggering all those things. Like I said, it's just a domino effect because your body puts your survival in priority. And those things, like I said, it's just a domino effect because your body puts your survival in priority and those things are just secondary to it. Now, it does create problems, but your brain goes survival's number one. So what are those problems? Your stomach becomes less acidic, your small intestine has a harder time absorbing the nutrients, your pancreas has fewer enzymes to produce, your liver slows down the detox process and bile production, and even your mouth can get dry. So all of those things are just common factors when it comes to swallowing food, digesting our food, all based off of that common denominator of stress and anxiety. So now that we know those two ways that stress affect our digestion one, because it makes it difficult to swallow, and two, once it does get down, it doesn't get prioritized let's reverse that response to get you in rest and digest mode. And here is the tip for that one Eat with friends.

Emliy Feist: 7:01

Eating with your friends is actually a sneaky good way to support your vagus nerve, to activate that rest and digest mode. And here are four reasons why. First, social connection it activates your vagus nerve and that vagus nerve is deeply tied to your parasympathetic nervous system, which is our rest and digest mode. And positive social interactions, like sharing a meal with your friends, naturally stimulate the vagus nerve and boost your sense of feeling safe, secure and relaxed. All good things that we need to do. Second, eating with friends. We often incorporate laughter and relaxed All good things that we need to do. Second, eating with friends. We often incorporate laughter and conversation and when you laugh, make your eye contact, talk with others that you enjoy. You engage part of that vagus nerve that helps regulate your mood, heart rate and digestion. So, yep, your body literally digests food better when you're having a good time and you can enjoy it. It's a great way.

Emliy Feist: 8:07

Third, chewing your food and breathing. That creates your parasympathetic power. Eating slowly, chewing your food thoroughly, chewing your food thoroughly and taking relaxed breaths between bites, which you're more likely going to do when you're not rush eating and you're not alone at your desk. That helps trigger your vagus nerve activity, because when you're socially engaged you're less likely to stress eat and more likely to eat mindfully. So, again, eat slower and enjoy your food while you're talking to your friends.

Emliy Feist: 8:48

And lastly, number four, feeling safe while eating. So important because, again, we want that parasympathetic nervous system activated, we want to rest and digest, we want the blood to get to our digestive organs. So, when the vagus nerve thrives, when your nervous system feels safe, eating in a calm, friendly environment, that sends safety messages to your brain and body, which then can reduce inflammation and even improve your gut-brain communication. If you need a backup and you're like I don't have time to get together with friends to eat my meal, my backup is watch something funny on TV. Listen to something funny. Again, if you're going to laugh, you're going to be able to enjoy your food. Your body's going to say, okay, we feel safe. It won't have the social interaction as much, but you're still going to help activate that rest and digest mode, which is what we're going for, so that you can enjoy your meal, you can digest your food and you can settle down all those unnecessary side effects of stress.

Emliy Feist: 10:04

So thank you for spending part of your day with me. Breathe and do one thing that makes you happy. Thanks for listening to. It Starts at Vagus. New episodes are released every Tuesday. If you liked this episode, go ahead and give it a subscribe button so that you get notifications and don't miss out on what's coming next. If you'd like a step-by-step video on how to do a pain-free and easy vagus nerve exercise, grab my free vagus nerve reset video in the show notes. It's what I do when I feel like I just not like myself. Until next time, remember, wellness starts at vagus.