There have been an influx of patients in our office with constipation issues lately. It's gotten me thinking...why? Here are some of my thoughts:
1) Sloppy Diets
My main thought is that diets are getting sloppy during this time. Working from home tends to allow for more snacking. Usually those snacks are highly processed, full of carbs and sugar, and lacking fiber. This leads to more snacking, more blood sugar spikes, and in turn more poor snacking!
If you are finding yourself working from home and always making trips to the kitchen, make sure you are prepared with high fiber snacks like: fruits, chia pudding, cut veggies, smoothies, hummus, avocados, and nuts.
2) Sloppy Posture
When you are sitting in a chair, you are collapsing the spinal bones onto the nerves in your low back. These precious nerves coordinate our gut movements. Therefore they control how fast things move in and out of the digestive tract. Sitting with poor posture day after day takes a toll on these nerves and your gut.
Make sure to use lumbar support at your desk chair. Every hour get up and move! Stretch your spine daily and find that your gut will speed itself up!
3) Too Much Stress
Stress releases the hormone Cortisol. When there is an influx of cortisol in your bloodstream, your brain perceives danger and immediately shuts down your gut. Because when your body senses danger it prioritizes things like increasing pupil size, increasing blood pressure, and increasing heart rate. Which means that digesting that cheeseburger you ate 10 minutes ago is not a high priority. With digestion taking a back seat to more important bodily functions, digestive issues can arise.
Work on daily stress reduction techniques. Most of the time, we can't change the stress around us. But we can change the way our body handles and adapts to it. Even the simplest breathing techniques or small breaks for meditation can immediately change blood pressure and heart rates. Giving your digestion a chance to function again!
4) Nerve Compression
As stated above about posture... The nerves of our low back need to stimulate the gut in order for digestion and elimination (poop) to happen. The best and most powerful way to stimulate these nerves is to get a chiropractic adjustment from one of our doctors at Thrive Family Chiropractic. There are specific techniques used to stimulate the Vagus nerve and the surrounding nerves of the gut. Even babies who experience irregular bowel movements can be greatly helped by a gentle adjustment!
The best compliment a patient can give us, is that they can poop everyday! Parents report that their baby has poop filled diapers everyday since starting chiropractic care. That gets us even more excited!
Monday 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Tuesday 8:00am - 11:00am & 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Wednesday 2:00pm - 6:30pm
Thursday 8:00am - 11:00am & 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Friday, Saturday, Sunday CLOSED
Serving the communities of Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Westminster, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach, Garden Grove, Santa Ana
Thrive Family Chiropractic
18141 Beach Blvd Ste 150, Huntington Beach, California 92648