I have all sorts of stomach issues and it’s come down to some sort of gastrointestinal functional disorder. I recall to all originally started after I first ever had an anxiety attack. Also when I get super nervous or stressed I start physically feeling unwell. I also can’t eat in a high emotional state without feeling nauseous.
In: Biology
The brain and the digestive system are connected directly via the vagus nerve. The connection is directly between the brain stem (where a lot of “fight or flight” signals happen) and many parts of the abdomen. There is a literal link between the reptilian part of our brain and most of our gut. While emotions generally involve lots of parts of the brain, the “oldest” emotions that involve fear, anxiety, etc. involve the brain stem.
Possibly related but I’m unsure:
I can’t help but wonder if the presence of mu-opioid receptors in your digestive system plays a role…
Not a professional but own a gut.
I have been on a weight loss journey and dieting for personal goals. To prepare my diet, I went through several articles and posts to understand what might work for me.
In that pursuit, what I ended up discovering was that the gut flora significantly affects the attitude, mood and the behavior of a person. Primary reason attributed to this is that the different food gets digested at different parts of the intestine and by digestion: it breaks down the food and takes in something and leaves out something else. Majority of what the gut flora leaves out affect the hormones of that human, these hormone-affecting releases travel through the blood stream to different organs including the brain. For example, sugar craving is caused by the adrenaline pathway affected by the sugar digested in the gut. That person’s gut would remember this reward pathway and not worry about say eating veggies or fruits.
Depending on what a person eats, they may have more or less energy. And, depending on their energy levels their activities get affected. Depending on their activities their relationships, behavior, and thereby their mood get affected. And again their cravings and their need to comply with their reward pathways affect their choice of food.
Not an expert.
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