We’ve all heard the warning that stress causes ulcers. But is that true? Can stress cause acid reflux, ulcers, and an upset stomach?

It’s true! Your grandpa was right!

Today’s research demonstrates that people experiencing chronic stress are almost twice as likely to experience GERD symptoms. But how does it happen?

How Stress Impacts the Body

Stress has a huge physiological impact on the body.

In previous blog posts, I explained how stress affects heart rate, heart rate variability, and blood pressure. These indicators are functions of the autonomic nervous system, which comprises the sympathetic nervous system. This system mediates the fight-or-flight responses.

We also have a parasympathetic nervous system that mediates our rest and digest responses. To stay healthy, we need to keep these responses balanced. If these systems fall out of balance, disease is likely.

For example, in stressful situations, the sympathetic nervous system overwhelms the parasympathetic nervous system, impairing the digestive system. The result is that digestion slows down, and food backs up in the stomach and reverses direction.

Additionally, stress enhances our sensation of belching, bloating, and digestive discomfort due to hypersensitization of the nervous system. Stress increases the amount of acid produced in the stomach, which changes the content of the gut microbiome. This can cause or add to gastronomic symptoms.

This leads to a logical question: Why doesn’t all this excess acid digest our stomach lining?

While our stomach ordinarily contains a host of protective mechanisms, such as prostacyclin signaling, stress impairs their production. As a result, prolonged stress increases the risk of damage to the stomach lining, including ulcers and other gastrointestinal symptoms.

Other Ways Stress Can Cause Acid Reflux

Beyond the ways stress directly affects the body and causes gastrointestinal upset, there are plenty of indirect ways it encourages those symptoms, worsening our acid reflux, GERD, and upset stomachs.

Stress alters our behavior, and people under stress often make bad choices. They drink more alcohol, smoke more nicotine, and eat more “comfort food,” which usually contains more sugar and unhealthy fats. All these choices increase the risk of acid reflux, GERD, and stomach upset.

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Are There Risk Factors for Acid Reflux?

Yes. Certain lifestyle choices increase your risk of acid reflux. These include:

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Nicotine use

Also, consider these other risk factors:

How to Manage Stress and Acid Reflux

Since stress has a direct biological impact on the digestive tract, it’s worth reducing it as much as possible. Focus on the most impacted aspects of your life, such as your sleep and exercise routines. Improving these is often the best way to reduce stress fast.

Sometimes, professional help is required, too. Stress’s impact often manifests as physical symptoms, such as stomach pain. If you can’t resolve these symptoms alone, don’t hesitate to seek help from a professional, whether that be your physician or a therapist.

Your mental health and your physical health operate hand in hand.

Infographic: Can Stress Cause Acid Reflux?

Today’s Takeaways

If you remember nothing else from this blog post, remember this:

You asked, “Can stress cause acid reflux?”

The answer is, “Yes. It does.”

The best thing you can do to improve your acid reflux is to manage your stress level. I’ve written about this extensively, but here are some quick tips:

As always, we’re here to help if you need us, and our blog is full of tips for improving your health and well-being.