Less Stress for Healthy Digestion
I opened up my iPad today to write a post about the secrets to healthy digestion and was quickly distracted by a beautiful photograph of my daughter being displayed in the Photos widget on the homescreen. Callie in the zinnias.
The photo was taken in September of 2021 in one of our garden beds. Callie was not quite two years old, with long golden hair that wisped and curled at the ends, frolicking about in the hollyhocks and zinnias. Earlier that spring, I’d enthusiastically set out to become a student of flowers. That April, I said goodbye to my 15 year old maltese poodle, and gardening had become my way of processing his loss, a pandemic, and new motherhood. It also kept Callie entertained for long stretches of time.
I planted zinnias, cosmos, hollyhocks, and cockscomb seeds straight into the soil. There were black-eyed susans and probably a few others I’m forgetting now. I ordered books all about gardening and landscaping with flowers. In the backyard, Jamie was working on our vegetable garden. We had big plans for our little bit of land.
Then, in May of 2021, we took in a pregnant dog who ended up having 14 puppies in our garage. I’ll spare the stories from that adventure for another day, but suffice it to say, my gardening goals took a back seat to our literal dog-days of Summer 2021.
Despite my lack of attention, our zinnias thrived. They became a source of connection and commentary from many a neighbor and passerby, alongside the daily concern and question that came with caring for 14 hound puppies in a residential city neighborhood…
Is someone torturing geese nearby?
Would you look at those zinnias – I’ve never seen them grow so tall!
They really were magnificent. Once a week, Callie and I would park ourselves in the front garden beds, pulling up weeds and cutting back the zinnias. We’d bring the cut flowers inside and fill vase after vase of fresh flowers, plunking them down on any flat surface that had space. Then we’d get back to the daily rounds of cleaning up the muck of 14 puppies. It was exhausting and empowering; scary and stressful – sweet and very stinky. (And did I mention loud?) It took a lot out of us, physically and emotionally.
I came here today to talk about the secrets to healthy digestion and ended up on a tangent about puppies and zinnias. But, it brings up an important point to be made about healthy digestion:
A big factor in healthy digestion is a person’s level of stress.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways stress negatively impacts digestion.
Chronic stress can lead to decreased stomach acid production.
Healthy levels of stomach acid are important for the proper breakdown of proteins and the elimination of foreign bacteria and pathogens.
Prolonged stress can change the levels of digestive enzymes produced in the saliva.
Your body produces three categories of enzymes that help facilitate the breakdown of food into its elemental parts. When you’re under a lot of stress, this can affect your ability to create your own enzymes.
Stress suppresses digestion by slowing down the contractions and movements of the digestive tract.
This can lead to food lingering in the digestive system longer, producing gas, bloating, and discomfort.
Digestion is actually the biggest stress we put on our system day after day, so it’s important to bring in daily support to keep things running smoothly.
In my next post, I’ll dive into some of the secrets of healthy digestion.
