How Holiday Stress Affects Your Digestion
The holidays are upon us, and with them comes the usual joys of this season: food, fun, and family. Unfortunately, for many of us the holiday season also brings with it a heaping plate of stress - this year more than ever! This added stress can take its toll on us mentally and physically, and manifest in unpleasant symptoms making this time of year much more difficult.
Does Stress Cause Acid Reflux?
Believe it or not, there’s a distinct connection between heartburn and stress. When you get stressed, your stomach produces more acid, which can quickly lead to heartburn and other symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Almost 60 million people suffer from acid reflux every month. Around the holidays, that figure swells due to the added stress of cooking rich foods, family get-togethers, and gifts. Thankfully, there are small ways you can make changes this year to minimize your stress level and hopefully improve your heartburn and other symptoms of acid reflux.
Ways To Minimize Stress This Holiday Season
2020 has been a challenging year, to say the least, and now that the holidays are here get-togethers and traditions may be slightly different. Some changes you can make to minimize your stress this holiday season are:
Shop Online. You don’t need to race around picking up gifts for everyone! There are plenty of great online options for giving. Amazon has just about everything you could ever need.
Scale Back On Perfection. Think of 2020 as your opportunity to let everything be “good enough” rather than perfect. Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to make the best food, give the perfect presents, and make everyone around you have a wonderful holiday while you end up stressed and not feeling good.
Ask Family To Stay In A Hotel. Don’t feel like you have to host everyone at your place. That can add a lot of extra stress to an already trying time, not to mention expose you and everyone else to significantly more germs!
Invest In Some “Me” Time. Make “me time” a priority this holiday! Find some quiet moments to sit with a cup of cocoa and listen to holiday music, start a meditation program to find some peace during the hectic days, or take a warm bath and read a soothing book. Whatever it is you choose to do, make time for yourself this holiday season to keep yourself healthy and peaceful.
Acid Reflux Treatment
If you need help managing your acid reflux this holiday season or want this to be your last year spending the holidays plagued by annoying GERD symptoms, contact the reflux specialists at Tampa Bay Reflux Center and start your treatment today!