Recent Molecular Link Between Anxiety, Metabolism May Impact Inflammatory Response

I was definitely in a stressful time when I got UC, but living a very healthy vegetarian life. My genes say I have a proclivity to celiac so maybe the stress and higher gluten diet pushed me over the edge. I didn't know my celiac potential until many years into UC and removing wheat and other grains has been very, very beneficial in healing my gut.

I also had another medical event (fibroids) at almost the same time as getting UC diagnosis, near menopause that made me anemic. I really believe it took the perfect storm for me to get UC but maybe it was inevitable. No one else in my family has ever said they had IBD so maybe I'm the first through circumstance. Got those Irish genes ha.

Aside from abx in and around the time of onset due to a thumb infection, I was under extreme stress with a work situation. Over the years I have noticed stress can have a strong impact on my symptoms.

Since being in remission however, I have had some stressful times as well, with no flare... so it's hard to say. My 'gut' still feels 'off' though when I am under stress, as do most peoples I would assume.

prior to my diagnosis, i was extremely stressed and depressed because of my grandma's terminal illness

This is what I love about the article...

"Hermona Soreq, lead researcher and a professor of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences and the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences, said the “connection between body and mind, between the physical and emotional” were already known. Studies show that psychological trauma affects gene activity."

And that is where meditation can play a huge beneficial role, since it's also proven that meditation can change brain cells and body cells...regardless if people want to believe it or not, we really can make beneficial changes for our health by using meditation, I know it sounds too good to be true, but even if mediation isn't a cure all, the benefits are amazing, it doesn't take very long and it's a really nice escape from the stressful lives most everyone lives. At least there's proven research behind the many health benefits meditation (and especially along with yoga) can provide.

TotesMagotes said...
I've just started meditation in the last week. It's so hard to stop the mental thought tangents and distractions. It's so hard to actually feel the moment. I have a few books on mindfulness to help me learn how to live in the now, in the moment.

My yoga teacher told me it took her a year to find that first meditation session where she actually lived it. And she was wound as tight as me. I'm sticking with it no matter how long it takes. I know it will benefit me in more ways than one. Even if I can just live my day in that day and not do it frantically. I would love to get off anti anxiety meds. They are just a cyclical drug. Anxiety - take pill - worse rebound anxiety. Plus it will make me a better mom.

That's awesome Totes!!! It can take some time since it's individual, the key is to relax and start off with short 3-5 minute meditations.....there are some excellent ones on youtube, guided meditations that make it much easier to get into meditating and help you learn how to focus and clear your mind.
The mind is very powerful, knowing how to control it makes a world of difference. Thinking positive about it (as you are) will be a huge help with your daily meditation practice. Enjoy all the benefits you reap and as a mom it's a great thing to teach your children about as well for their own well being, it's a tough world we live in and we need all the help we have available to us at practically all ages!!

Yup!! I was in an incredibly stressful situation when I has my first flare....combined with eating junk cuz we were flat broke. A lifetime of exercise and healthy eating didn't matter at that point I guess. I'm definitely working on relaxing though I'm nowhere nrarvas stressed as those first few months.

The first flare up, I was so chronically stressed and anxious it was pretty unreal. A crazy time.

Of course, due to this link between brain, gut, environment etc., I don't know what came 'first' - the chicken or the egg, the illness or the stress, but more likely they grew up in tandem with each other, like a feedback loop.

Getting diagnosed and put on meds that treated the inflammation acted as a disruption to that feedback loop ... which enabled me to start to generate more relaxation, more confidence, less stress ...

That has been a years-long project and is an ongoing one. I do find that when my gut is unsettled or my heart is beating quickly and obviously, I try to just "listen" to it without judging it or resisting it. Yes, that comes from practices such as meditation, and seems to help in its way.

But I think that until you treat your inflammation, as best you can, then you are never going to be 100% right in the gut, and you will feel this partly as a "gut feeling" like everybody talks about getting when they are dreading something. And if you can find ways of relaxing you will almost definitely heal much faster than if you're stressed or depressed.