I would assume everyone rather have a little irritated stomach than an irritated brain, but what if I told you they were essentially the same thing in my opinion.
Imagine feeling bloated, experiencing stomach distention, and constipated all the time! That's just the tip of the IBS iceberg. Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a major cause for concern. Approximately 20+% of the US population is dealing with it and uncomfortably to say the least.
There are theories around it's causation but ALL doctors would agree it's influenced and helped by lifestyle factors. One of the most commonly used 6 letter words is STRESS.
Repeated low levels of stress arousal over time can keep your brain stuck in a cycle where it feels the need to just survive instead of thrive. When this happens, your body produces stress based chemicals and hormones as a result , which perpetually irritate the digestive system and keep it inflamed, sensitive, slow, and irregularly contracted. Sound fun? Try getting some productive work done, or enjoy life when this is taking place every week.
If STRESS is the key word, understanding how to shift it, and give your brain a clean slate is essential to helping your mind and body heal from this.
Your nerve system is divided into 2 different parts:
Sympathetic (SNS): responsible for short term stress or crisis management also known as fight or flight. We were never designed to live or stay in this state. It's core purpose is protection and survival.
ParaSympathetic (P-SNS): is responsible for health and helping you thrive. It's also known as the rest and digest division. Having balance here allows for growth and development, as well as immune system activation.
Your spine is a major player in this and here is why! Poor spinal health, whether it be individual vertebral movement or sectional mis-alignment, both are associated with MAJOR irritation to the central nerve system and can negatively influence the brain-body feedback system. This can keep YOU stuck in a SNS (sympathetic) state. A very specific and individualized adjustment based off properly analyzed X-rays of your spine can stimulate your brain instantly and help it move into a P-SNS state.
Important to know:
It is not about avoiding stress and eliminating it as that's impossible and unrealistic. So...don't read this and only take away "I need to change careers or avoid life altogether for me to heal" because that's not the point.
Everyone is looking for a magic bullet to IBS and other lifestyle related conditions, but there is no secret elevator. It's simple, start by making sure you are under routine and regular spine care to help balance your brain-based stress responses and form a healthcare team that keeps you dialed into minimizing dietary triggers and helps you maximize your innate capacity to heal and grow as a human being.
Key point: making health changes is rarely attractive in the beginning, but...ends up beautiful in the end.
Tons Of Respect,
Dr. Zev