---
title: "The Hidden Cause of Indigestion: It's Not Always What You Eat"
entity: "blog"
canonical_url: "https://www.drdanwool.com/blog/stressandacidreflux"
markdown_url: "https://www.drdanwool.com/llms/blog/stressandacidreflux"
lastmod: "2024-07-16T07:00:00.000Z"
---

[video transcript]  Often, the cause of indigestion is not something that we ate, if you can believe that. What it is, is a mismatch of how we handle our stress.

We have two nervous systems: we have a parasympathetic "rest and digest" nervous system, and we have a sympathetic "fight or flight" nervous system. Well, when you're running from a predator in that "fight or flight" nervous system, guess what the body's not doing? It's not digesting food. You're not in your ordinary state to "rest and digest."

So what does that do when you eat? Everything is tight. Instead of being in these nice waves, everything is tight, and so when things go down, they don't get digested because the body thinks you're doing something else – you're running away from a predator. So you need to get in that parasympathetic state. You need to reset the way that you eat and retrain how you eat so that you can nail the basics and have a nice, peaceful, restful digestion that doesn't cause burping, bloating, or acid reflux.

 

## Simple Steps for "Rest and Digest" Eating

So what are some things that you can do to get into that "rest and digest" state?

The Setting: Be in a peaceful, calm environment. No phones, no screens, no MSNBC or Fox News on the TV. Get all that stuff set aside and turned off. You want to be restful and peaceful and focused only on the act of eating.

Smell Your Food: You can also do a second thing: pick up your food and smell it. I know that sounds really silly, but one trick that you'll realize happens that the body does is when you smell that food, your parotid glands, your saliva glands, open up, and you will feel it come down. That's a signal to predigest the food in your mouth.

Go Slow: Third is you want to go slow. It's a lunch hour, not a lunch five minutes. You need to eat more slowly. A trick you can do to eat more slowly is to put your fork down between bites and don't pick it back up until you've completely chewed your food. If you really want to do an experiment with this, you can chew the food about 30 times. You'll notice it'll change consistency in your mouth. Well, you're predigesting that food up high so that it can digest easily down low, and that's the way that you're supposed to eat; we're not designed to wolf it all down.

So if you can get a nice, peaceful setting, slow down, and do these things, you will digest better, and the downstream problems that you have from digestion will go away.

 

## Need a Digestion Quarterback?

If you're having trouble with digestion and need more tips and solutions and a quarterback for your health, set up a free 15-minute discovery call with me. No one ever leaves that call without direction. We also have more information available to you at [drdanwool.com](http://www.drdanwool.com/booking) . See you next time.

## Oh...one more thing

🔔Don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube Channel for more updates!

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About the Author

## Dr. Dan Wool, NMD

Dr. Dan Wool is a naturopathic doctor who specializes in gastroenterology, hormones and men's health in Scottsdale, Arizona. [Set up a free 15-minute discovery call with Dr. Wool today! ](https://drdanwool.com/booking)

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