In a world first, Love Your Gut is releasing 'The Digestive Track' - a music track made up of sounds that people with poor digestive health felt could reduce their anxiety or soothe their symptoms. The track is available now and can be downloaded here: www.loveyourgut.com/gut-week.
With studies showing that our external environment plays a huge part in how we feel internally, 'The Digestive Track', produced for Gut Week by musician and producer Rick Tipton, combines samples of the sounds sufferers found least stressful including birds singing, children playing, football commentary and ocean waves. In contrast, the sounds which caused them the most stress were omitted from the track, including chomping and chewing, cutlery clinking, restaurant chatter and the clinking of glasses.
With recent research revealing that gut health related sick days are costing British businesses nearly £3billion in lost wages, the track has been developed as a way of helping sufferers identify the situations where they felt uncomfortable as well as those that made them feel less stressed.
Patrick Fagan, a behavioural expert at Goldsmiths University, explored the anxiety levels of more than 100 participants when they listened to 16 sounds - identified from a survey conducted for Love Your Gut involving 2,000 UK adults. The results of his research found the sounds which made sufferers feel most and least stressed were:
Spokesperson Hiroaki Yoshimura says: "It's fascinating to gain an insight into the sounds that make those who suffer from digestive health feel most and least stressed. We're pleased to release The Digestive Track as part of our Gut Week 2016 campaign which aims to raise awareness of digestive health issues and chronic conditions which affect so many Brits."
Patrick Fagan says: "It's understandable that people with gastric or gut health issues experience more anxiety towards food related sounds such as chewing or restaurant chatter; however it was also interesting to see that friends laughing, a fun environment for most people was a source of discomfort for some sufferers - though it didn't make it into the top five. This is possibly due to an embarrassment factor, which is taken away when you're in the comfort of your home or garden - hence sounds such as football commentary and birds singing proving less stressful."
