Are you burdened by brain fog and feeling blue? Do you have anxiety and beat yourself up because you can’t get through your workload on time like you used to? Do you feel like you are suffering from symptoms of ADD, and nervous that something more serious could be going on? What you may not realize is that these symptoms are a sign that something IS OFF and it’s probably not your BRAIN that is broken. The issues are most likely related to your gut and hormone balance.
When people are dealing with brain fog or have trouble focusing, they try to “power through” – by adding more coffee and sugary treats to give them a temporary boost of energy. But what they don’t realize is that they are draining their energy reserves even more and aren’t doing their gut any favors.
There are a lot of misconceptions about where “balanced energy” comes from. While emotions and mindset play a role, most balanced energy and the ability for our brains to function optimally actually comes from the gut-hormone-brain connection.
Your brain doesn’t operate in a vacuum or as a separate entity as most people think. Instead, there is a sophisticated network between your gut flora (often referred to as the microbiome) and your endocrine system (adrenals, thyroid, ETC).
If I were to use a computer as an example, it’s like the connection between your computer screen, the motherboard, your keyboard, and your power source. If one of those things is off, you can’t use your computer, and the same holds for the brain. If there are imbalances in either the gut or your hormones, your brain will shut down!
So what I see in my practice is that patients are dealing with brain fog, issues with focus, anxiety, and stress overload because they have imbalances or “dysbiosis” in the gut. It may sound strange, but when you realize that most of our serotonin and even some of our hormones are produced by gut cells in partnership with gut bugs, it makes a lot of sense.
If you have bacterial or yeast infections in your gut, this can cause fatigue and focus issues as these critters release high levels of toxins AND mess with your insulin levels. They also “crowd out” the good flora that protects your immunity.
This also holds for conditions like Leaky Gut when your intestinal barrier is compromised – which can also compromise your blood-brain barrier (think brain fog and ADD symptoms). Some studies show a connection between gut issues and food sensitivities and how that escalates ADHD in children!
On the hormone side, if you have gut imbalances – your insulin, stress hormones like cortisol, and even estrogen can be thrown off balance. This happens because gut dysbiosis can massively increase your inflammation OR when helpful gut flora is harmed, their ability to produce hormones like your thyroid hormones, is hampered.
So now you see… that what is happening to your brain isn’t that it’s “broken” per se… it’s just time to do a gut and hormone reboot!
Next Steps
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To help you get started on your health journey, I have created a special guide: It contains tips about what to do to get started on your journey to better hormones and gut, and busts a few myths about chronic illnesses. Simply click here to download the interactive guide!