The Gut-Brain Connection: How Your Digestive Health Affects Your Mental Health

By Brian Mears, DNAP, APRN, CRNA, PMHNP-BC

We often think of mental health as something that starts and ends in the brain. But more and more research is revealing what we at Alleviant have known for years: the gut and brain are deeply connected — and when your gut isn’t healthy, your mental well-being can suffer.

This relationship is more than just “a gut feeling.” It’s a two-way communication system that affects your mood, focus, energy, sleep, and even your response to stress.

Understanding and healing this connection can unlock powerful improvements in mental wellness — without relying solely on medication.

The Gut as the “Second Brain”

Your gastrointestinal system is lined with over 100 million nerve cells. It produces more than 90% of your body’s serotonin — a key neurotransmitter that regulates mood, sleep, and emotion.

This vast network of neurons is often called the enteric nervous system, and it sends signals to your brain through what’s known as the gut-brain axis. When this system is imbalanced — due to inflammation, poor diet, or microbiome disruption — your mental health is often the first to feel it.

Symptoms may include:

If your gut is inflamed, your brain likely is too.

What Causes Gut-Brain Dysregulation?

Several factors can impair gut health and throw the nervous system out of balance, including:

  • Poor diet (low fiber, high sugar, processed foods)

  • Food intolerances or sensitivities

  • Antibiotic use or chronic medications

  • Environmental toxins (mold, heavy metals, chemicals)

  • Chronic stress or trauma

  • Lack of sleep or movement

  • Deficiencies in essential nutrients (B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, omega-3s)

At Alleviant, we recognize that mental illness may sometimes be a symptom of internal imbalance — not a chemical deficiency in the brain alone.

How We Treat the Gut-Brain Axis at Alleviant

Because we believe in whole-person, brain-first care, we integrate support for gut health into every patient’s mental health plan. Here’s how:

  • Spectral EEG (sEEG) to identify how gut dysfunction may be affecting brain activity

  • NeuroSync™ to help rebalance brainwave communication and regulate the nervous system

  • Health coaching to support digestion, detoxification, and dietary choices

  • Nutritional testing and supplementation for common deficiencies

  • Education on reducing exposure to gut disruptors like pesticides, artificial additives, and inflammatory foods

  • Trauma-informed therapy for stress-related digestive symptoms

This isn’t just integrative medicine — it’s effective medicine.

The Brain Follows the Body. Treat Both.

Your gut is not separate from your mental health. In many cases, healing the body is the key to freeing the mind.

If you’ve been dealing with anxiety, depression, or brain fog — and nothing seems to help — it might be time to look below the surface.

You don’t have to choose between physical and mental care. At Alleviant, we treat both — because we believe lasting healing requires both.

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How Nutrition and Deficiencies Impact Brain Function