Intestinal Gas and Stress

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Intestinal Gas and Stress

Intestinal gas can painful and embarrassing. Intestinal gas has many causes, one of which is stress. If your gas is caused by stress, stress management techniques can be used to reduce gas and reduce discomfort.

Everyone has gas!

Normally considered poor manners and a possible source of embarrassment, the belching and passing of gas is an everyday normal bodily function.

Gas in the digestive tract can be annoying and uncomfortable, and sometimes very embarrassing!

You may be wondering if you have too much gas and what you can do about it?

Here we describe some of the causes of gas, how stress can increase the amount of gas that you pass, and what you can do about it.

Causes of intestinal gas

You may be wondering if you have too much gas and what you can do about it?

While in some cases too much gas can be dangerous, in most cases it is the social consequences of excess gas that people fear.

Gas in the intestinal tract can vary and become particularly noticeable after eating.

Does this sound familiar?

The source of intestinal gas comes from two sources.

One is the gulping or swallowing of air – this is known as an exogenous source of intestinal gas.

The second cause of intestinal gas is endogenous.

This may come from the food that we eat and the byproducts of colonic bacteria that produce methane and other gases from the breakdown of food.

This gas can be released through belching or flatulence.

On average, we typically expel air 12-25 times per day.

While only about 1% of the air expelled is odorous, the human nose is very sensitive to the gas – meaning that even small amounts of gas could be embarrassing!

Apart from stress, gas can also be increased by antibiotics, eating foods that are difficult to digest, eating foods that you have a low tolerance to, irritable bowel syndrome and swallowing air while you eat.

How stress causes gas

Stress can increase the amount of gas in the intestine in a couple of ways.

When stressed and anxious we swallow more air. This can be a source of excess gas in the intestine.

Excessive emotional stress also results in an increase in hydrochloric acid in the intestinal tract and stomach. This increase in stomach acid can cause gas in the intestine to build up.

While adopting eating patterns that reduce swallowing of air, such as eating slowly and not talking while eating, gas in the intestine may also be best managed by observing what you eat.

For example, beans, which contain complex carbohydrates (raffinose and stachyose) can be difficult to digest and thereby increase gas. While taking beans out of your diet may not be a healthy option, pre-soaking beans may be a worthwhile strategy to reduce gas in the intestine.

What you can do if stress causes intestinal gas for you

If you think that stress is causing you gas there are a number of things that you can do.

Keep a stress diary. Often a first step in managing stress is to know what causes you stress and how you react to stress. A stress diary allows you to collect objective data on your stress levels and the biggest causes of stress for you. This allows you to implement stress management strategies that target your sources of stress. Download your stress diary today.

Laugh more. Laughing can reduce your stomach acid and gas. Laughing is also a great stress reliever that helps you to re-frame problems and exercise your internal muscles. I write more about the benefits of laughter therapy for stress relief.

Relax. Relaxation techniques can help to short circuit the effects of stress. Relaxation techniques do this by activating the relaxation response which counters the stress response. These relaxation techniques can promote relaxation and reduce stress.

While most people are more concerned about the social implications of gas in the intestine, if various lifestyle changes and stress management practices do not alleviate intestine gas then please visit your doctor.

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