Category: Books

Stress and Anxiety

We all know, I think, by now that stress can have a negative impact on our health. The problem though can be not being fully aware of how much silent stress we carry in our lives.

In my efforts to figure out, “How Did End Up Here?” so that I can eventually find my way back to health, I have to look at another piece of the puzzle– stress.

We all know, I think, by now that stress can have a negative impact on our health. The quick rush of adrenaline that stress provides isn’t all bad – it helps us meet deadlines at work, prepare for exams at school or quickly avoid an accident while driving. The problem though can be not being fully aware of how much silent stress we carry in our lives. The chronic stress of the every day that we don’t consider.

In my case, being anxious and stressed was a regular state of being. It was my normal, how my motor ran, a regular state of affairs for most of my life. Well, I’ve learned you can’t run a car at top speed in first gear and expect it not to blow up at some point.

Without going into too much detail, I survived a difficult marriage, divorce, raised three teenage daughters alone, aided in the care of aging parents, switched careers in mid-life. (Choosing stress-filled real estate as that career – what was I thinking?!) You know, the stuff of Life!

Add to this having an anxious personality and an attitude, positive though it may seem, that I can get through this. I didn’t want to burden friends and family by asking for help. Asking for help was difficult.

There were many upsets, painful moments, and tears but I rationalized and minimized what I was going through for many years, looking on the bright side of things. It was my way of coping.  The burden of responsibility was often overwhelming, but what can you do but hang in there? I didn’t want to let anyone down. One of my favourite quotes at the time was ‘When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.’ By Franklin D. Roosevelt.

When I first came across that quote, I began to laugh hysterically. That reaction should have given me some insight into my emotional state of affairs. Nope, I counted my blessings, was thankful I could laugh at the way things were (that was another one of my favourite sayings, ‘If all else fails, laugh!’) and continued in usual fashion.

Though I was well aware that stress affects our well being, the degree to which this chronic and ‘normalized’ stressful way of life can have on your health did not hit home for me until reading “When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress” by Gabor Mate, a book my youngest daughter gifted me earlier this year.

There is so much information on the mind-body connection here. It led me to learn a thing or two about myself and how certain attributes of my personality and ways of coping (or not) have likely contributed to my current state of health.


“A major contributor to the genesis of many diseases-… is an overload of stress induced by unconscious beliefs.”

Gabor Mate

You likely have heard of the Type A and Type B personality. Apparently, there is also a Type C, which I knew nothing about until now.

Let me fill you in on who these personalities are. They are cooperative and patient to a fault, passive, not too assertive and overly accepting. Unlike Type B personalities that are easygoing but comfortable with expressing emotions, Type C people have difficulty expressing negative emotions, especially anger, avoid disagreements, and make every effort to upkeep a strong and happy façade. They are often overly responsible perfectionists and feel they need to be strong and independent. Guilty as charged.

As you might guess, these Type C’s are more prone to chronic disease and illness.

Then there is that ‘being positive’ thing. Mostly good and I don’t intend to change my sunny outlook on life. I must admit though the comfort I felt upon reading the title of the eighteenth chapter in the book – ‘The Power of Negative Thinking’. It was as if a massive weight was lifted – relief. You mean I don’t need to be persistently positive? Joy!!!

“In order to heal, it is essential to gather the strength to think negatively. Negative thinking is not a doleful, pessimistic view that masquerades as ‘realism.’ Rather, it is a willingness to consider what is not working. What is not in balance? What have I ignored? What is my body saying no to? Without these questions, the stresses responsible for our lack of balance will remain hidden.

Even more fundamentally, not posing those questions is itself a source of stress. First, ‘positive thinking’ is based on an unconscious belief that we are not strong enough to handle reality…”

Gabor Mate

Looking back, I feel if I didn’t keep thinking positively, it just all might fall apart. That’s a lot of pressure – and stress, – which led to things falling apart anyway.

And now, even though at times I feel like I am closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, I am striving to master new ways in handling all that life sends my way. Understanding the impact of subconscious stress on our well being has made me more mindful of how I react to and deal with it.

Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. I do receive a small commission for any sales made from these links at no extra cost to you. These commissions support the running of A Troubled Gut. Thank you for your support.

Food Anxiety: What Can I Eat?

It used to be that I didn’t need to consider what I could or couldn’t eat, aside of course, from those times when I chose to go on a diet. I was hungry, I purchased and/or prepared food, and I ate food. And for the most part, without any adverse effects. Pretty simple. Now though, what I consume is of constant concern, always wondering if what I eat will aggravate my insides.

Hoping to heal my digestive tract by changing my diet, I began to investigate what might work. There is so much information out there, it’s fantastic and at times overwhelming. My food quest had begun!

The first step was removing gluten, followed by learning about the Paleo diet, I eliminated all grains too. I could also no longer eat eggs unless of course, I wanted to sprint to the toilet. Not the most pleasant way to get your cardio in. Coffee suddenly had the same and almost immediate effect. I discovered too through my naturopath dairy was no longer a friend to me.

These are foods that I have enjoyed throughout my life and now they are causing me pain and discomfort.  Gluten, dairy, and eggs are on the shortlist of what my body has become sensitive to. There are so many other foods also – it is daunting.

So much to give up! It was difficult to switch my thinking from what I can’t have to what I can have. I’m still working on that by the way! There are moments when I crave an old favourite. Yes, there are so many recipes now that are Paleo, vegan, gluten-free and they’re delicious – of this I am thankful – but…

…let’s just say, I’m still adjusting.

Over the last handful of years, this food quest has also led me to try the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, Total Elimination Diet, FODMAP, and Food Combining Diet. These dietary changes bring about relief and remission for some people diagnosed with Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and celiac disease. Unfortunately not the case for me.

I am in a perpetual flare up regardless of what I eat. Removing dairy, eggs, and gluten has reduced the urgency and number of sprints to the toilet in a given day but it has not healed my digestive tract enough to be able to get through the day without the aid of medications. I found too being completely grain-free made things worse so I have reintroduced rice into my life.

I feel somehow that I have failed, which of course, adds to the anxiety wrapped around food. Sometimes, I’m just afraid to eat. Or perhaps it’s not so much failing but coming to the realization that despite all the information available and my best efforts, I have little if any control over this disease.

I am aware that food is but one of many aspects to any gastrointestinal disorder, so I do let myself off the hook for not being able to fix this most of the time. So little is known still about the causes of inflammatory bowel disease let alone how to cure it.

But they’re working on it! According to Guilia Enders, author of Gut-The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ in recent decades so much knowledge has been accumulated about our microbiome, the trillions of bacteria that live in our intestines and how they impact the connections between the brain and the gut. These microorganisms can affect how we feel and how we feel can affect our microbiome.

She goes on to explain each of us has an individualized microbiome – a unique fingerprint so to speak, depending on if you were breastfed, were born by cesarean or vaginal birth, have taken antibiotics, ate dirt as a toddler, had pets growing up… hence one diet does not fit all, nor can it cure-all I would think.

So I will let myself off the hook a little more for not being able to put this collagenous sprue into remission through lifestyle and dietary adjustments. That doesn’t mean though that I will give up trying! I have learned much through trying these diets, about what works for me personally and I do feel better in general through the dietary changes I have made.

At this point, I feel I need to chill about food, try to not become quite so anxious about ‘doing it right’ with regards to healing my body through what I consume. It’s a part of the puzzle, but not the entire picture. After all, stress does exacerbate things too.

Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. I do receive a small commission for any sales made from these links at no extra cost to you. These commissions support the running of A Troubled Gut. Thank you for your support.