Neighbor News
4 Factors That Affect Your Digestion — Other Than Food
It's not just what you eat that affects your digestive health. It's how you live.
Emily Wyckoff, PhD, a health psychology fellow with Hartford Hospital’s Digestive Health Center, said quality of life components such as sleep, exercise, mental health and social support all play roles in your gut health.
Mental health in general affects a person’s immune and nervous systems, Wyckoff said.
“Research shows that people who have a good social support system have a stronger immune system, so – for example – they respond better to cancer treatment and their wounds heal faster,” she said. “And the opposite, those who have few or superficial social connections as opposed to deep and meaningful ones, that’s not good for their immune function or nervous system.”
