The Damage Stress Does To The Microbiome

“Stress is a great strainer. It consumes nutrients at an alarming rate. Many people get ill after a stressful time. Go back to intro. They will get all the necessary  nutrients on the second stage of the diet,” Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride said in Session Two at the Weston A. Price Annual Convention in 2015.

The National Institute of Mental Health says continual stress causes nerve chemicals which deplete and suppresses immunity. This negatively impacts the digestive tract, the excretory system and the reproduction system. Sometimes the stress causes them to stop normal function altogether. They say, “Problems occur if the stress response goes on too long, such as when the source of stress is constant, or if the response continues after the danger has subsided.”

We live in a time like no other where financial stress, job security, health insurance, health issues, interest rates, retirement plans, college costs, automobile costs, autism rates, Alzheimer’s in the family and the overall high cost of living is overwhelming and suffocating. The stress burden creates great demand on the body.

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To add gasoline on the fire our food supply is tainted with chemicals and toxic additives that damage the microbiome further. 

The Annals of Gastroenterology, a publication on in the intestinal tract and its function, says, “Stressors impact the microbiota.” 

This change in the microbiome impacts us in a negative fashion causing an overgrowth of pathogenic flora.

The publication found two hours of stress negatively impacts the microbiome community in such a way that the phylum is changed. The pathogenic flora propagate. It changes the mucus secretions. In dogs, stress changed the function of the migrating motor complex, a sweeping broom that travels through the small intestine nightly sweeping the pathogens from the small intestine into the large intestines. Stress also slowed the time it took to empty the bowel.

This means that stress causes great alterations of our gut flora. It depletes beneficial strains and allows pathogenic strains to take hold. Stress damages the function of the intestines. 

Beneficial Microbes reported a study done with college students during final exams. Stress levels, sleep, diarrhea related symptoms and body mass index were recorded. Some students were administered antibiotics and probiotics during this stressful time of draining test taking. Those who used a probiotic with Bifidobacterium bifidum showed less impact from the stressful time. Bifidobacterium longum ssp. infantis showed the same beneficial results. Those who took antibiotics along with B. bifdum or B. infantis showed no negative impact from the antibiotics.

We can not really control the stress that happens in our lives but we can control how we respond to it. Relaxing techniques such as tapping, deep breathing and meditation are all effective methods of calming the system. Taking a therapeutic dose of clean probiotics, which do not contain ingedients which feed the pathogens, it necessary. Click here for a clean list. 

*Nourishing Plot is written by Becky Plotner, ND, traditional naturopath, CGP, D.PSc. who sees clients in Rossville, Georgia. She works as a Certified GAPS Practitioner who sees clients in her office, Skype and phone. She has been published in Wise Traditions, spoken at two Weston A. Price Conferences, Certified GAPS Practitioner Trainings, has been on many radio shows, television shows and writes for Nourishing Plot. Since her son was delivered from the effects of autism (Asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia, through food, she continued her education specializing in Leaky Gut and parasitology through Duke University, finishing with distinction. She is a Chapter Leader for The Weston A. Price Foundation. becky.nourishingplot@hotmail.com

“GAPS™ and Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ are the trademark and copyright of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. The right of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Patent and Designs Act 1988.