According to scientific research, there’s a connection between heartburn symptoms and anxiety. But does this mean that people with heartburn are more likely to experience anxiety because dealing with frequent symptoms is stressful or could stressful feelings actually be causing the symptoms to manifest? Here, experts who specialize in acid reflux dig into the science for answers.
What Is the Connection Between Stress and Heartburn?
The aforementioned study took into account over 19,000 people and found that experiencing gastroesophageal reflux was linked to higher instances of both depression and anxiety. But registered dietitian Andrea Marincovich, RD, points out that the researchers don’t state that these mental health conditions cause heartburn. One reason for the link, she says, is because certain medications used to treat depression and anxiety could make heartburn worse. For this reason, if you are taking an antidepressant or antianxiety medication and also experiencing frequent heartburn, it’s a good idea to talk to your health care provider about switching to a new medication. Not all antidepressants or antianxiety medications cause heartburn. In fact, one study found that antidepressants actually lessened symptoms in between 23 and 67 percent of people with gastroesophageal reflux. The fact that antidepressants could help minimize symptoms is itself interesting. Could managing stress and anxiety help with heartburn? Functional nutritional therapist Ma’an Romana, who specializes in acid reflux, believes it could. “When we are in a state of stress, we are in what we call a fight-or-flight and our sympathetic nervous system is activated. The sympathetic nervous system actually inhibits the activities in our digestive system and as a result stomach acid production is affected,” she says. Romana explains that optimal digestion happens when the body is in a rest-and-digest mode, not fight-or-flight. “Among the many factors that affect or cause heartburn, being able to manage stress will be crucial,” she says. There’s also the fact that regularly experiencing heartburn is stressful in and of itself. Meals can be anxiety-inducing because every food, drink, or ingredient feels like a potential landmine. This doesn’t exactly make it easy to stay in the relax-and-digest mode Romana says is so important. So what’s the solution? The experts say it comes in managing both heartburn symptoms and stress simultaneously.
How To Manage Both Stress and Heartburn
Romana offers several tips on how to manage stress, particularly before mealtime. First, she says it can be helpful to take several deep breaths, which has been shown to help with digestion. She also recommends eliminating anything that could cause stress from the table; that means not eating while answering emails on your computer or phone. “Focus on chewing your food and savoring the flavors,” she says. Additionally, Romana says it’s important to manage stress outside of mealtime. Spending time in nature, regularly exercising and engaging in activities that bring you joy are all ways to do this. If you are having trouble managing stress, she says that it can be beneficial to work with a therapist. In addition to doing your best to manage stress, Marincovich says it’s important to also work with a registered dietitian or gastrointestinal doctor to help identify what foods could be causing your heartburn. “What may cause heartburn in another person may not be the same for you and vice versa. By working with an [expert] you can eliminate all of the known contributors and reintroduce them one by one to assess what foods don’t agree with your body,” she says. Marincovich says that one eating plan in particular has been linked to reducing acid reflux and heartburn—the Mediterranean diet. This way of eating is centered around fresh vegetables and fruit, lean meats and seafood, nuts and seeds, legumes, whole grain foods, and olive oil. The Mediterranean diet has also been scientifically linked to improving symptoms of depression and anxiety. A pretty interesting coincidence, wouldn’t you say? What’s most important is getting to the root cause of what’s causing the frequent heartburn, which may require working with a healthcare professional. There’s certainly no downside to managing stress while also following an eating plan known to lessen symptoms. The changes you put in place will have benefits that go beyond treating heartburn, helping to support your overall health for years to come. Next up, check out these 15 DIY remedies for quick heartburn relief.
Sources
Andrea Marincovich, RD, registered dietitian and founder of The Realistic DietitianMa’an Romana, functional nutrition therapist and founder of Well-Nourished Living
