Poor Digestion Can Make Dieting Difficult

Many people who are overweight have poor digestion. For the most part, poor digestion is not inherited or genetic. We give it to ourselves through the way we eat. Eating to soothe stress or anxiety may be the culprit.

How Poor Digestion Causes Weight Problems

Poor digestion can lead to weight problems. Here’s how: When a person feels stressed, the part of the central nervous system that regulates digestion switches off. This is called the parasympathetic nervous system. At those times of stress, the body can take in food and process some of it, but digestion doesn’t work correctly to extract all the nutritional goodness from the food.

Poor digestion is not always obvious by observing symptoms. You could get heartburn, diarrhea, bloating, or constipation, but not always. Poor digestion can be seemingly silent.

Stress Makes Good Digestion Difficult

If you eat regularly when you are stressed, anxious, or nervous, you might as well be eating cardboard for all the nutrients your body gets. That's overstating the problem, but eating when stressed is a gaining situation. Now you might think, well, gosh, if I’m not digesting, the calories aren’t getting handled, so I should be losing weight. Good idea, but wrong reality. When digestion is impaired, the body starts “starving” from lack of necessary nutrients. Yes, it goes into starvation metabolism and starts hoarding fat and energy. Your body thinks it’s in a famine. The good news is that it’s easy to make some corrections and get rid of stress at mealtimes.

Easy Ways to Improve Digestion

If you feel stressed often, it can be helpful to take a supplement that contains multiple B vitamins. To aid with digestion when you’re stressed, take a digestive enzyme supplement with meals that helps digest proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. These help, but you could still find yourself stressed at mealtimes. Here’s how to make eating a pleasant “losing” experience.

• Eat with Elegance and Grace
• Eat Beautifully
• Eat when Seated
• Slow Down and Eat Calmly
• Chew Sanely

Eat using these suggestions and you’ll lower your stress and reduce the need for over-the-counter digestive aids.