Nourishing the gut/ brain axis to support whole system health
Have you ever noticed that when life gets stressful, your digestion seems to change too?
Perhaps your stomach feels unsettled before an important meeting, your appetite changes when you're worried, or digestive discomfort becomes harder to manage when you're exhausted.
This isn't simply in your head. Your gut and brain communicate continuously through the gut–brain axis, involving nerves, hormones, immune signalling and the gut microbiome.
Stress doesn't explain every digestive problem, but it can influence gut movement, digestion rate, sensitivity and symptoms.
And this relationship works both ways: discomfort in the gut can affect how we feel emotionally, too.
Three gentle ways to support yourself
1. Pause before eating. Take a few comfortable, unhurried breaths before a meal and give yourself permission to slow down. Stress causes the digestion to shut down, and so its important to actively get into a state of intentional calm before eating.
2. Do a review of your diet. As a nutritional therapist, I review peoples diets for a living, and I still do my own too. Its easy to get stuck in a rut, or just grab easy to go foods that are more about convenience than nourishment. A simple diet diary over a week can help you self correct and understand where you might be able to bring some more balance to your diet - for instance, if you're finding that you're havgin a blood sugar rash at 11 am , and grabbing toast every morning as you run out the door for work, maybe you could prepare some blood sugar balancing overnight oats and warm some nut milk so that you can have a warming breakfast thats quicker and more stabilising to your blood glucose and reducing the mid morning spike?
3. Make recovery part of your routine. A short walk, time outside, a few moments without your phone or a calming evening ritual can help create space between the demands of the day.
These may seem like small things, but looking after ourselves is often about building sustainable habits rather than pursuing perfection.
The Stress / disease connection is well reaserched and spoken about by Dr Gabor Mate. As part of my approach, I teach people how & why to regulate their nervous systems to support their health.
Laugter & co regulation is a fundamental part of nervous system health!
A crucial and often overlooked key to reducing inflammation is through toning the Vagus Nerve. This nerve connects the brain to the internal organs, including the gut , and is the key nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system - so 'toning' it, not only creates feelings of calm but supports the digestion and immune system too (as 70% of our immune system is found in the gut)
When was the last time you looked after your own nervous system?
Many of us spend so much time caring for other people, meeting deadlines and keeping everything going that we don't notice our own stress until we're completely depleted.
That's one of the reasons I've created my six-week course:
Overcoming Overwhelm – From Chaos to Calm
We'll explore how your nervous system responds to stress, how to recognise your own patterns and how to develop practical tools for everyday life.
It's suitable for adults who want to better understand their stress responses, including parents who are navigating the additional demands of supporting a neurodivergent child.
📅 Starts Wednesday 28 October🕛 12:00–13:30 UK time🌿 Six weekly sessions
You deserve support, too.
With warmth,
Ella
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