Modern life can be stressful under the best circumstances, and currently in much of the US, circumstances are not great for numerous reasons. Civil unrest and a global pandemic on top of your normal, day-to-day stresses could well be contributing to poor digestive health and/or adrenal fatigue.
The expert practitioners at Family Acupuncture and Wellness understand how stress can impact your life and your health. We know how to treat adrenal fatigue and the part that gut health plays in your overall health. Even more importantly, we know how the two conditions are related.
Your adrenal glands are on top of your kidneys, and they produce several so-called stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline. When your flight or fight response kicks in, your adrenal glands get to work.
When you live in fight or flight mode constantly, your adrenal glands are overworked. Adrenal fatigue can leave you feeling tired all the time, cause you to have body aches, be unable to lose weight, feel depressed, get sick more often, among other complications.
Your intestines are filled with bacteria; some are good, some are bad. When the bad bacteria proliferate, you have poor gut health. All kinds of things can affect the bacterial balance in your gut including your diet and your stress levels.
Some foods are inflammatory — sugar is a well-known and documented cause of inflammation — and a diet high in inflammatory foods can change the balance of bacteria in your intestine. Over time, inflammation can damage the lining of your intestine, causing more problems.
Stress can also affect your gut health. Living with constant stress can make your digestive system more sensitive and cause diarrhea or constipation, as well as changing the balance of bacteria.
One of the things that we do a bit differently at Family Acupuncture and Wellness is take a whole-person view of your health. We practice functional medicine, which involves finding the root cause of your symptoms and treating that. In other words, if you have indigestion every day, we find out why instead of suggesting antacids.
By considering your overall health along with your circumstances, we are more likely to find a link between your gut health and your adrenal fatigue symptoms, and can adjust your treatment as necessary.
Because stress is a factor in both poor gut health and adrenal fatigue, we’re likely to work with you on reducing your stress levels. Although that may seem laughable, there are techniques we can put into action. Massage therapy, acupuncture, and working with you to develop an appropriate exercise and diet plan are just a few of the ways we can help you live with less stress.
If you’d like to learn more about the connection between your digestive health and adrenal fatigue, book an appointment at Family Acupuncture and Wellness today. Simply call 603-556-8908 and we’ll schedule your appointment.
