Xevi Verdaguer, psychoneuroimmunologist: "If you're going to eat and your mouth is dry, you don't even need to start."

Have you ever sat down at the table with no appetite, a dry mouth, and a knot in your stomach? For psychoneuroimmunologist Xevi Verdaguer, this seemingly everyday scene is a red alert: eating while stressed not only harms digestion, but can also trigger a bigger problem. Gastritis, an inflammation of the stomach lining, is closely linked to emotional and lifestyle factors, beyond the well-known bacterium Helicobacter pylori .

"Chronic stress also causes gastritis," warns Verdaguer , who insists that it's not just a question of what we eat, but how, when, and in what emotional state we do it . One of the signs that should draw the most attention is a lack of saliva. "If you're going to eat and your mouth is dry, there's no need to even start," he states emphatically. As he explains, stress hormones inhibit the production of fluid saliva, which complicates the digestive process from the very beginning.

Saliva, as this specialist points out, not only lubricates food, but also contains anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and gastric mucosal regenerating substances . Therefore, before taking the first bite, he suggests a simple gesture: drink one or two glasses of water and check if your mouth is hydrated again . If it isn't, it's best to wait, because your body isn't ready to digest properly.

In addition to hydration, nighttime rest is another key pillar in the prevention and treatment of gastritis. Verdaguer poses a question that many patients should ask themselves: "Do you sleep well at night?" If the answer is no, the digestive system is also suffering. Poor sleep weakens the body's ability to regenerate and keeps levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, elevated.

From psychoneuroimmunology, a discipline that studies the interaction between emotions, the nervous system and the immune system, it is emphasized that digestive disorders such as gastritis should not be addressed solely from a pharmacological perspective .

"You should be concerned if you're dehydrated, chronically stressed, or not getting enough rest," Verdaguer insists. These variables, often overlooked in medical consultations, play a huge role in the development and chronicity of gastric inflammation.

This perspective fits with numerous scientific studies that support the role of stress in digestive health. Recent research has shown that prolonged activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, responsible for the release of cortisol, increases stomach acidity and reduces blood flow in the gastric mucosa , facilitating the development of gastritis. Even in animal models, chronic stress has been observed to cause severe gastric inflammation, without the need for prior infections.

So what seems like an anecdotal recommendation—not to eat with a dry mouth— hides a powerful warning : the human body is designed to digest in calm, not alert, conditions. Eating in a hurry, without feeling hungry, or in the midst of constant worry puts our digestive system to the test .

Gastritis doesn't always present with obvious symptoms, but according to Verdaguer, "if you have heartburn or reflux, you know there's definitely trouble." When faced with these types of signs, she encourages you to pay attention not only to what medical tests, such as the Helicobacter pylori or Epstein-Barr virus test, indicate, but also to your overall emotional state.