Have you ever wondered about the connection between stress and stomach problems? You may have noticed that your stomach acts up right when life feels like it’s spinning out of control. Just when you have a week filled with deadlines, family demands or worries that keep you awake, your digestion is suddenly a mess. The bloating, stomach cramps and horrible, heavy discomfort are exhausting and frustrating.

I’ve seen this pattern with so many people over the years. They tell me how they’ve tried every trick in the book—changing their diets, cutting out foods, taking supplements—yet the stomach issues keep coming back. You’re left wondering, “Why is this happening, and what can I do about it?” And at the heart of it all is something often overlooked: stress. When life gets intense, the gut usually feels it first.

This post is about the gut-brain connection and how it helps you address the underlying problem. This is key, just as with a leaky roof, where you can put out buckets to catch the drips (fixing the symptoms), but nothing will ever be right until you fix the roof (the underlying cause).

Time and again, when it comes to stress and gut health, focusing only on the gut symptoms without tackling underlying stress often leads to temporary relief rather than lasting change.

I’ll discuss how stress affects your gut, and then tell you what you can do about it.

When you’re under stress, it doesn’t just affect your mind; it also impacts your gut. Your digestive system is home to trillions of microorganisms that together influence your digestion, immune system and even your mood. But, when stress levels rise, the balance of good and the not-so-good bacteria in your gut can shift, making it difficult for your gut to work properly.

When things get intense, stress triggers the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These chemical messengers can cause certain bacteria to flourish, while the beneficial bacteria that usually keep your digestion on track often start to struggle. The imbalance when the bad bacteria start to outnumber the good is known as dysbiosis. People often begin to feel that unsettling shift in their digestion at this stage.

And worse, the effects of stress don’t just change the balance of bacteria, but also how they behave. Some types of bacteria start producing inflammatory compounds, which can lead to even more discomfort.

In other words, a stressful event sets off a domino effect; the more stressed you feel, the greater the release of inflammatory molecules, and the worse your tummy troubles.

Your gut should be a little ‘leaky.’ This permeability is how we can absorb nutrients from food. Small molecules are able to pass through tiny spaces between cells in the gut lining. But certain things can make the gut more leaky, and stress is one of them.

When stress levels rise, it increases inflammation throughout the body and the gut. The rising levels of gut inflammation irritate the gut lining and make the tiny spaces between cells bigger, a situation known as a leaky gut. When the gut barrier is weaker and more leaky, toxins and partially digested food particles can enter the bloodstream. This creates an immune response that causes even more inflammation.

As one of the body’s primary immune defence barriers, your gut lining is packed with immune cells that fend off harmful bacteria, viruses and other unwanted particles. All this whilst still allowing nutrients from food through. Your immune system has to identify and respond to any potential threats by releasing inflammatory chemicals to try and protect you.

However, under chronic stress, high levels of stress hormones can start to suppress parts of the immune system. So, while your gut may be dealing with inflammation, it can become even more vulnerable. The immune cells that typically maintain balance in the gut microbiome have become less effective, and harmful bacteria can gain a foothold.

Beneficial bacteria help to protect the gut barrier, but when the balance tips in favour of harmful bacteria, it is easier for pathogens and toxins to cross the gut lining. So, stress continually weakens gut immunity, allowing harmful species to thrive and creating more inflammation that can lead to digestive issues like bloating, cramps, and discomfort. When this becomes a more chronic digestive discomfort, it can leave you even more vulnerable to infections.

Stress triggers a fight-or-flight response, which translates as stomach stress via the brain-gut connection. Stomach stress can alter the speed of digestion or gut motility.

In fact, instead of fight or flight, the phrase “clench or clear-out” might be more appropriate in terms of its effect on gut motility. In any case, we don’t all react to stress in the same way. And it is the same with our gut response. For some, stress slows digestion, while it speeds it up for others.

The difference in response might be due to individual factors like genetics, the balance of the gut microbiome or how sensitive your gut is to stress. It is common for people who respond to stress with a ‘freeze’ reaction to have a slowing down of their gut. The muscles in the gut can tighten and spasm, causing cramping and bloating, and food tends to linger with a sensation of heaviness or nausea.

On the other hand, some people can experience rapid contractions in the gut in response to stress, and this often leads to diarrhoea or frequent bowel movements.

For people dealing with digestive disorders like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), stress is often one of the biggest triggers. Many people with IBS notice that their digestive symptoms—such as pain, bloating, and sudden urges—are worse during stressful times.

The answer lies in the gut-brain axis and how stress affects both gut motility and sensitivity. In addition to how stress affects motility, stress can make the gut more sensitive. When stressed, everyday sensations in the gut, like gas or minor distension, can feel magnified and even painful.

And so a cycle begins where stress worsens symptoms, which causes more stress. A loop that can feel exhausting and out of control and leaves you believing there is no hope.

In times of stress, one of the first things you might notice is a change in your appetite. But, again, this can be down to your susceptibility. Some people seek comfort foods, while others lose their appetite.

As we know, under stress, cortisol rises. Higher levels of cortisol can trigger cravings, especially for sweet or fatty foods. At the same time, another hormone, ghrelin, also sometimes known as the ‘hunger hormone’, can spike, increasing hunger, even when you’ve recently eaten. Also, eating certain foods can bring a brief sense of calm as well as temporary relief from stress.

On the other hand, when the body perceives a threat, either real or imagined, the blood supply is diverted to where you might need it most. In other words, blood is sent to the muscles for fight-or-flight, rather than to the digestive organs. A reduced blood supply means less efficient digestive function and means you lose interest in food. Repeated stressful events might lead to missed meals and under-eating, which results in fatigue.

Either way, stress is messing with your appetite and throwing off your natural digestive rhythm. Overeating can cause bloating and sluggishness, while under-eating can deprive the body of nutrients and lead to fatigue.

In the same way that stress can result in a loss of appetite, less blood to the digestive organs means that your body makes fewer digestive enzymes. These enzymes are specialised protein molecules that help to break down foods into nutrients that we can absorb. Lack of sufficient digestive enzymes means your food will not be fully broken down, which can cause problems in the digestive tract.

Food that remains only partially digested can lead to bloating, gas and that heavy feeling in your tummy. Plus, when food is not properly digested, you may not be able to absorb the nutrients you need, leaving you malnourished.

Sleep can be incredibly restorative for your whole body, including your gut. While you are asleep, your gut is more able to engage in essential maintenance and repair.

When stress disrupts your sleep, your gut can miss out on this essential maintenance and repair period because your body goes into survival mode instead of taking care of repairs. The gut lining can become more leaky and sensitive to certain foods without regular repair. Moreover, research shows that sleep deprivation harms the gut microbiome. So, over time, poor sleep can weaken your digestion and increase inflammation, and in turn, this can lead to more stress.

Stress affects digestion in many ways. It puts your body into fight-or-flight mode, prioritising survival over digestion. Blood flow shifts away from the gut to other parts of the body, hindering digestive processes. But, some simple stress management techniques can help your body to move into rest-and-digest mode, so that digestive processes can function properly. Small, intentional steps can make a big difference, and there are plenty of techniques to try.

Daily relaxation practices, like deep breathing or visualisation, are excellent ways to activate the relaxation response, soothing the nervous system and restoring harmony. Simple habits like taking some calming breaths before a meal or enjoying a gentle stroll after dinner can support the crucial shift to rest-and-digest mode.

I’ve included a downloadable checklist of some simple stress reduction techniques to support your digestion. By combining some (or all) of these ideas into daily life you can not only reduce stress you can create the ideal conditions for a happier digestive system.