Most of us love travel season — weeks at the beach, time exploring new cities, climbing mountains or lying by the pool. However, during such times, we are prone to stress of all kinds.
Stress comes in all forms, and can affect us both physically and mentally. The stress that emanates from the mind is usually managed by meditation, attending therapy sessions, and mindfulness practices such as journaling. However, the million-dollar question is how can we manage the stress that presents physically, particularly while out of our usual routine during times like travel season.
Stress & The Human Body: What You Need to Know
The gut is your gastrointestinal system, which includes the stomach, intestines, and colon. It digests, absorbs nutrients from food, and excretes waste. Physical stress is often apparent when you experience symptoms of an upset stomach like indigestion, bloating or cramps. This could be a physical symptom of mental stress, or a symptom of a stressed-out gut, affected by a change in diet or even food prepared or stored inappropriately. For many reasons, travel can be a time when your stomach shows physical symptoms of stress, this can be from the mental strain of planning a big trip or things going wrong on your adventures, or from food your gut might not react well to for any reason.
It might seem like you need the expertise of a DNP to FNP program or similar medical qualification to make well-informed decisions about maintaining a healthy gut while traveling, but there are some smaller steps you can take.
But first, why is gut health important?
In a Forbes Health article, clinical dietician and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Alicia Romano, said “the gut plays a huge role in the health and well-being of our bodies.”
She further adds that in addition to digesting food and absorbing nutrients, “the gut is in tight communication with the brain, playing a constant game of telephone and influencing several factors, including immune activity, GI muscle contractions, and fluid secretion. And the gut is a key player in the body’s immune system – over 70% of your immune cells reside in the gut.”
How do I maintain good gut health?
There are many ways you can look after the health of you gut in your everyday life:
1. Eat dietary fibre-rich and probiotic-packed foods
Fibre, also known as roughage, is the indigestible part of foods that aid in the health of the digestive system. Sources of natural gut-enhancing fibre include sweet potatoes, spinach, beets, carrots, and fennel.
Fibre increases the bulk of stool, helps promote regular bowel movements, and reduces the time that waste spends inside the intestines.
Fibre works together with probiotics to support the gut microbiome. Probiotics can be found in fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, and kombucha.
Consumption of yogurt in particular results in the production of a gut-benefiting bacteria known as lactobacilli and prohibits the production of an inflammation-causing bacteria, enterobacterium.
2. Exercise often
This might sound like the last thing you want to do on your travels, but exercise is one of the best ways to support your physical wellbeing. Research shows that exercise promotes an increase in the diversity of healthy bacteria in the gut, creating positive change in the gut microbiota, which is the collection of bacteria, archaea, and eukarya colonising the gastrointestinal tract.
A morning swim or yoga session might be all the more enjoyable if you can do them at the beach, anyway.
3. Limit your alcohol intake
Of course, drinking on your travels is fun; however, excessive alcohol consumption can put stress on the gut and lead to gastritis, which is when the lining of your stomach becomes inflamed, causing pain, indigestion, and sickness.
Excessive drinking is also associated with intestinal inflammation, which also disrupts the microbiota ecosystem.
4. Set aside time for relaxation
There’s also a significant body of research that indicates a connection between the brain and the gut that stimulates the feeling of butterflies when you are excited or anxious.
Feelings of anxiety and depression can also be evident in the gut, potentially increasing the risk of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional bowel problems such as constipation, diarrhoea, bloating, pain, and stomach upset.
To look after your gut health, you must indulge in activities that are bound to reduce feelings of stress, be it acute or chronic. Set aside time to lay by the pool or get a spa treatment on your getaway.
5. Consider a supplement
Thanks to advancements in medicine, supplements are now more readily accessible than ever. As mentioned earlier, probiotics are important for maintaining gut health, so probiotic supplements are a great place to start.
However, just like any medicine, endeavour to consciously involve your doctors before committing to any supplements, just to ensure they are the right choice for you and your body.
Travel is one of the great joys of life, but it can come with a variety of stress. Remember to be conscious of your daily habits, even when travelling, to look after all aspects of your health and avoid a grumpy gut that could ruin your precious time away.