Holiday Stress & Digestion: How to Keep Your Gut Calm During the Busiest Season of the Year with Dr. Navidi
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Why do holiday routine changes trigger gut symptoms like bloating and irregular bowel habits?
During the holidays, what I see over and over again is that it's not just the food that causes gut issues. It's the changes in your rhythm and your routine. Your gut likes predictability. It's very pattern-driven. And when you travel, stay up later, or out of your normal schedule, skip meals, eat at different times, that rhythm gets disrupted. And when the body doesn't know what's coming next, motility can slow down or change. You can get more bloating. Your bowel habits can become less predictable. Hi there, and welcome to the Gut Health Dialogues. I'm Alyssa Simpson, a registered dietitian specializing in digestive health and one of the first board-certified specialists in digestive health in the country.
And I'll be your guide as we unpack what's really going on beneath gut symptoms. Here, we focus on building a healthy, resilient gut in a way that keeps food enjoyable and life livable. You won't find fear-based restrictions or overwhelming science dumps here. Just practical, evidence-based strategies we use every day in our GI-focused dietitian practice to help people feel better.
Who is Dr. Ali Navidi and what expertise does he bring to gut–brain disorders?
And if you're ready to go a little deeper, I'd love for you to check out my on-demand gut health masterclass. Inside, I walk you through the real reasons gut symptoms linger and the proven root cause approach I use every day in my work. It's free, it's available anytime, and it's the perfect next step if you're ready to finally understand what your gut has been trying to tell you. You'll find the link in the show notes. All right, let's dive into the episode. Before we dive into the episode, I want to remind you that the information discussed in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider for any health-related concerns.
If you're looking for personalized support, we offer free 15-minute consultation calls. You can find the booking link in the show notes. All right, guys, I'm super excited about this talk today.
What is the gut–brain axis and how does hypervigilance drive symptom flares?
I'm so excited to be joined by Dr. Ali Navidi. Dr. Navidi is a licensed clinical psychologist and the co-founder of gipsychology.com, a multi-state center that specializes in the gut-brain connection, digestive disorders, and chronic pain. He's trained clinicians across the country. He's a hypnosis trainer, and he's spoken at places like UNC School of Medicine, Georgetown University, Grand Rounds, Inova. and multiple state Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics conferences. His work focuses on how the brain interprets digestive sensations and how tools like gut-focused hypnosis and cognitive behavioral therapy can reduce symptoms and improve quality of life. So I'm really grateful to be partnering with him today because the work we do really overlaps in a nice complementary way.
We're going to start by introducing the topic and kind of warming things up. So here's a quick look at what we're going to cover tonight. We're going to start with why stress shows up so strongly in the gut and connect the dots between stress and digestive symptoms. From there, we'll walk through the most common triggers we see during the holidays, why this time of year tends to flare things up for so many people. And then we'll share some really simple practical strategies you can start using right away, things around food, travel, routines, and just keeping your gut a little more steady. during this busy, crazy time of year. So these are tools you can use even if you're eating differently or your schedule is all over the place.
So now I'm going to let Dr. Navidi take it away and introduce the gut-brain axis.
Yeah, so what you're seeing here is something that I want most of my patients to understand. And when I'm talking about patients, I'm talking about patients with IBS, with functional dyspepsia. So these disorders that fall into the category of disorders of gut-brain interaction. And these are really frustrating disorders to have because you're going to get worked up, you're going to get all the medical checks, and they're not going to find anything.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why do holiday routine changes trigger gut symptoms like bloating and irregular bowel habits?
0:00–1:19
2
Who is Dr. Ali Navidi and what expertise does he bring to gut–brain disorders?
1:19–2:16
3
What is the gut–brain axis and how does hypervigilance drive symptom flares?
2:16–5:51
4
How does visceral hypersensitivity amplify normal digestive sensations into pain or nausea?
5:51–10:37
5
Which evidence-based treatments (CBT and gut-directed hypnotherapy) work for IBS and why do they fail if not specialized?
10:37–17:12
6
What common holiday triggers (food, sleep, dehydration, travel) most often make digestion worse?
17:12–21:47