Combating Stress in the Gut!

Combating Stress in the Gut!
We’ve all had that stressful feeling in the gut.  Maybe it’s work related stress, financial difficulties, relationship problems or just the daily grind of life that’s become a chronic pain in the middle.  Whatever the cause, an upset digestive system can make matters worse!  Diarrhea, gas, bloating, pain and discomfort can all make your already challenging issues even harder to deal with!  What to do?  We can’t whistle away our problems and the stresses of daily life aren’t just going to melt away.  But isn’t there something we can do to at least relieve some of our digestive issues?  Probiotics may provide an answer. 
Imbalance of what’s called “intestinal flora”, can make a big difference in how our bodies deal with digestion.  We must have helpful bacteria doing their work in the gut at all times, processing the nutrients we take in from foods and eliminating the wastes we don’t need.  It’s a balancing act by our system and unfortunately, stress can contribute to an imbalance.  According to a study conducted at Ohio State University, published in the journal, Brain, Behavior and Immunity, researchers found that stress alters the normal balance of gut bacteria, making us more vulnerable to disease and to complications of improper digestion.  Helpful bacteria are destroyed by stress-related reactions, giving the harmful bacteria also present in the digestive system an opportunity to flourish.  As a result, these alterations in intestinal flora can lead to gastrointestinal diseases like IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), Chron’s disease and even immune system deficiency conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.
Probiotics work to re-balance intestinal flora, providing the “good” bacteria needed to properly digest our foods and block the harmful and toxic bacteria causing our digestive problems.  Multiple strain probiotic supplements provide different types of these good bacteria to different parts of the digestive track.  Thus, the seven strains of probiotics found in IHL’s Probiotic Seven Strain formula provide a well- rounded dose of helpful bacteria to ward off intestinal difficulties brought on by stress, poor diet or natural causes.  Single strain products are still good.  But a more diverse collection of these powerful and beneficial microbes can work in a more symbiotic way to restore digestive health and balance. 
While we can’t easily defeat the stress that can make our lives challenging, it is possible to do simple things like taking relaxation supplements and probiotics supplements to ease the body’s reaction to stress and help keep us in balance for better health.