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Have you ever had a “gut feeling” about something or felt butterflies in your stomach when you were nervous? It turns out those aren’t just concepts or figures of speech.
Your gut and brain are in constant conversation, which plays a huge role in how you feel—from your mood to your mental clarity to your emotional stability. The reality is your gut health and mental stability depend on each other to help you survive.
A growing body of research shows that imbalances in the gut microbiome may contribute to anxiety, depression, brain fog, and more. On the flip side, taking care of your gut may produce noticeable improvements in your mental health.
In this blog, we’ll explore the science behind the gut-brain connection and uncover practical ways to support both your digestive and emotional well-being.
Imbalances in the gut microbiome may contribute to anxiety, depression, brain fog, and more. On the flip side, taking care of your gut may produce noticeable improvements in your mental health.
Your gut and brain are linked through a complex communication network called the gut-brain connection. This includes:
Roughly 90% of serotonin—a key brain chemical that influences mood and anxiety—is produced in the gut. When the gut is out of balance, it directly impacts your brain chemistry and leads to emotional and cognitive challenges.
One of the most powerful aspects of the gut-brain connection relationship is your microbiome—essentially, the ecosystem of trillions of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms living in your digestive tract.
Why is this important for mental health?
When your microbiome is thrown off by poor diet, stress, antibiotics, or illness, it affects your mood, sleep, and focus. In other words, there is a clear link between your microbiome and mood so take it seriously.
Another critical factor in your gut health and brain function is inflammation. When the lining of your gut becomes compromised (often referred to as “leaky gut”), harmful substances can pass into the bloodstream and trigger immune responses.
Related: How Do I Know If Inflammation is Killing My Brain?
This chronic inflammation is increasingly being linked to mental health issues. In fact, studies show a strong relationship between inflammation and mental illness, particularly in cases of:
It’s important to know that inflammation in your gut doesn’t just stay there. It often causes neuroinflammation, which affects how your brain functions and how stable your mood feels day to day.
You might not immediately connect that your gut is a big reason why you’re feeling disconnected emotionally. Here are some signs that poor gut health could be at the root of your mental instability:
If these symptoms sound familiar, it’s worth exploring the link between your gut health and mental stability with an integrative mental health professional. Amen Clinics takes a “whole person” approach to mental health that includes investigating potential gut-brain imbalances.
If you want to improve your gut-brain connection, it starts with what’s on your plate. Certain foods can nourish your microbiome and reduce inflammation, which benefits your mood and mental clarity. Here are some gut healthy foods the specialists at Amen Clinics recommend:
Eating a whole-foods, anti-inflammatory diet is one of the most accessible and effective gut health strategies you can adopt to improve your mental well-being.
Press Play to Discover Foods That Fuel Gut Health
In this video, Tana Amen reveals her favorite gut-healing foods.
Click below to tune in:
You may have heard of probiotics for mental health, but not all probiotic strains are created equal. Research highlights specific strains—sometimes called “psychobiotics”—that support emotional regulation and reduce stress.
Some of the most promising strains include:
Ask a mental health professional how to incorporate targeted probiotics in a personalized care plans.
The field of nutritional psychiatry is helping to bridge that gap between your mental health and digestion, so they work together. More practitioners are using food as a first-line approach to mood disorders, focusing on how dietary changes impact brain function. This includes:
If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or brain fog, your fork might be one of your most powerful tools for change.
Related: What Is Nutritional Psychiatry?
To be clear, your diet is only one piece of the puzzle. Here are some additional gut health strategies you can make into habits that benefit your mental stability:
Creating a gut-friendly lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. The goal is to make small, consistent steps toward a better lifestyle to feel better from the inside out.
Never underestimate the power of a conversation with your healthcare provider. Seek help if you’re experiencing:
To determine if gut issues are contributing to mental health conditions, it’s a good idea to get help from a functional mental health physician. Integrative or functional psychiatry specialists use comprehensive brain-body evaluations to uncover root causes and tailor treatment plans to address your emotional and physical symptoms.
Unlike conventional approaches that treat symptoms in isolation, functional medicine addresses the body as an interconnected system. A functional medicine approach to gut health and mental stability might include:
By identifying and treating the underlying issues, functional medicine can help mental stability.
If you’ve been struggling with emotional ups and downs and can’t figure out why, don’t overlook your digestive health. Through simple gut health strategies, targeted probiotics, and a personalized treatment plan, you can begin to heal from the inside out.
At Amen Clinics, we recognize that the gut and brain are in constant communication through the vagus nerve and chemical messengers like serotonin. When your gut microbiome is imbalanced or inflamed, it can disrupt mood, focus, and overall mental clarity. Addressing gut health is often a key part of restoring emotional balance and cognitive function.
If you’re experiencing symptoms like brain fog, chronic fatigue, mood swings, anxiety, or unexplained depression especially alongside digestive issues like bloating or food sensitivities, it may be a sign that gut-brain imbalance at play. Our comprehensive evaluations help identify whether your symptoms may stem from the inside out.
Research has shown that certain probiotic strains known as “psychobiotics” can influence mood, lower anxiety, and support emotional regulation. At Amen Clinics, we often incorporate targeted probiotic and nutritional protocols as part of a personalized care plan.
Anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we provide personalized, science-backed treatment plans designed to target the root causes of your symptoms. Our 360-approach includes brain SPECT imaging, clinical evaluations, innovative therapeutic techniques, medications (when necessary), and holistic lifestyle recommendations to promote the health of your brain, body, and mind. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
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Braga, J.D., Thongngam, M. & Kumrungsee, T. Gamma-aminobutyric acid as a potential postbiotic mediator in the gut–brain axis. npj Sci Food 8, 16 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-024-00253-2
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Often referred to as the “sunshine vitamin,” vitamin D is actually a hormone that should be called the “immunity vitamin” thanks to its positive effects on the immune system. It also plays an essential role in overall brain health, mood, memory, weight, and other important bodily processes.
Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with approximately 200 conditions, including brain health/mental health issues (depression, autism, and psychosis), autoimmune diseases (MS, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes), as well as heart disease, cancer, and obesity. The link between vitamin D and mental health is strong, and over half of psychiatric inpatients are deficient in vitamin D. Low vitamin D has also been associated with memory problems and dementia.
A growing body of research supports the possible role of vitamin D in protecting against autoimmune diseases, depression, cognitive function, and more. A 2008 study followed 441 overweight and obese adults with depression for one year. The individuals who took vitamin D (20,000 IU or 40,000 IU per week) reported a significant decrease in their symptoms, but those who took a placebo did not see such improvement. In a Swiss study, people who took vitamin D over a month had a significant drop in fatigue.
At Amen Clinics, we test the vitamin D levels of all of our patients, and a staggering number of them have low levels. A report that looked at vitamin D levels for American adults in 1988-1994 compared with 2001-2004 showed that our levels are dropping. The percentage of people with levels of 30 ng/mL or more fell from 45% to 23%.
This means that 3 out of 4 Americans have low levels of this important vitamin. In part, this is due to the fact that we are spending more time indoors and using more sunscreen when we’re outdoors. The following groups are more likely to experience vitamin D deficiency:
Excerpted from “The End of Mental Illness” by Daniel G. Amen, MD. At Amen Clinics, our psychiatrists and Integrative and Functional Medicine physicians treat a wide range of conditions and make recommendations for pro-active therapies to enhance or restore the immune system. For more information, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
We recently got a frantic call from a patient. From her ragged breathing and racing dialog, it was clear that she was close to having a panic attack. After she was instructed to take a few deep breaths, she calmed down somewhat and got to the reason for her call. She had just learned that 3 children at her daughter’s school in Southern California had visited China, and she wanted to know if she should rush over there immediately and pull her own child out of school.
She isn’t the only one freaking out about the coronavirus. On January 31, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the virus a public health emergency here in the states.
So what should you do?
Coronaviruses are a common group of viruses that can cause an infection in the nose, sinuses, or throat. Some coronaviruses are mild and simply produce symptoms often seen in the common cold, such as a runny nose, sore throat, and fever. Other types are far more severe and can lead to pneumonia and early death. You may remember the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses that killed hundreds of people.
In early 2020, the World Health Organization identified a deadly new strain of the virus, the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), also referred to as the Wuhan coronavirus. To date, over 560 people have perished and over 28,000 have contracted the disease, mainly in China where the government has ordered a lockdown on about 60 million people. The illness has already spread to 25 countries, including the U.S. where at least a dozen cases have been confirmed so far.
The new coronavirus is transmitted from human to human and symptoms can appear within a couple of days or up to 14 days from the time of exposure. The symptoms of this coronavirus include the typical cold-like symptoms, and can also include shortness of breath, cough, and fever. Most people experience mild symptoms and recover, but others develop lethal complications.
Whenever there’s a potential pandemic, it’s a good idea to know the basics of preventive measures you can take. Here are 3 strategies that can shore up your immune system to help you fight off the virus in case you are exposed to it.
Freaking out about a potential pandemic raises stress levels, which actually hurts your immune system and makes you more vulnerable to infections. Techniques to soothe stress include laughter, diaphragmatic breathing, prayer or meditation, listening to calming music, warming your hands with your mind, hypnosis and guided imagery, and flooding your 5 senses with positivity.
Foods that are natural immunity boosters include onions, mushrooms (shiitake, white button, portabella), garlic, vitamin C-rich foods (oranges, berries, peppers, dark leafy green vegetables), vitamin D-rich foods (fatty fish, eggs, tuna), zinc-rich foods (oysters, beef, lamb, spinach, asparagus, sesame and pumpkin seeds), and selenium-rich foods (Brazil nuts, seeds, grass-fed meats).
In general, everyone should start taking a multivitamin, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin D whether you are healthy or not. Only about 25% of the U.S. population has healthy levels of vitamin D. Get yours checked and optimize your levels if necessary.
Work with an integrative practitioner to determine other supplements and nutrients from the following list that enhance immunity:
See an integrative medicine, also known as functional medicine, doctor immediately if you develop symptoms and suspect you may have been exposed to the virus. Experts are currently working on a vaccine, but as of yet, there is no known treatment for coronaviruses. Most people recover on their own. To treat symptoms, drink lots of water, rest, and take pain or fever reducers if necessary.
At Amen Clinics, our Integrative Medicine physicians treat complex conditions and make recommendations for pro-active therapies to enhance the immune system. If you are having physical or psychiatric symptoms that aren’t improving with traditional treatment, it’s important to get a comprehensive evaluation that includes brain imaging and sophisticated lab testing to identify any underlying infections. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
A growing body of evidence is finding a link between vitamin D levels and autism. New research in a 2019 edition of Molecular Psychiatry found that mothers with low levels of vitamin D at 11 weeks of pregnancy were associated with 1.58 greater odds of their child developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). For this study, vitamin D insufficiency was defined as 25-<50 mmol/L on a blood test called 25-hydroxy vitamin D.
Similarly, in this same study, infants with vitamin D levels under 25 mmol/L were 1.33 times as likely to have ASD as newborns with vitamin D levels of 50 mmol/L or higher. When both the mother and baby had low levels, the odds were even higher—1.75 times increased risk of autism.
These findings are consistent with a 2017 study in British Journal of Psychiatry Open, which found that children born to mothers with mid-pregnancy vitamin D deficiency had more than twice the risk of developing ASD.
Another study from 2018 that focused on 3-year-old children found that those in the bottom 25% of vitamin D levels were at a 260% increased risk of ASD.
The exact mechanism of how vitamin D deficiency impacts the risk of autism remains unclear, but the important nutrient plays a vital role in overall brain development.
On the flip side, newborns with high levels of vitamin D have reduced odds of autism compared with infants with low levels, according to the largest study to explore the connection between the vitamin and ASD. This study, presented at the 2018 International Society for Autism Research involved a blood analysis of 3,370 infants.
Vitamin D has many other neuroprotective qualities. Called the “sunshine vitamin,” it is actually a steroid hormone, and it activates receptors on neurons in regions important to the regulation of behavior. It also protects the brain by acting in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity.
The sunshine vitamin also plays a critical role in the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is involved in mood control, shifting attention, and cognitive flexibility. And it has a powerful influence on cognitive and mental health, in addition to physical health. Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with depression, cognitive impairment, and psychosis, as well as heart disease, cancer, obesity, and all causes of mortality.
A report in JAMA Internal Medicine that looked at vitamin D levels for American adults in 1988-1994 compared with 2001-2004 showed that our levels are dropping. The percentage of people with levels of 30 ng/mL or more fell from 45% to 23%. This means that 3 out of 4 Americans have low levels of this important vitamin.
Some of the reasons for the dramatic rise in vitamin D deficiency include the fact that people are wearing more sunscreen when outside and spending more time inside while working or sitting in front of the television or computer.
The following groups are more likely to experience vitamin D deficiency:
Optimizing vitamin D levels (especially vitamin D3) has been associated with improvements in a number of areas. If you are pregnant or trying to conceive, you may want to get your vitamin D level checked and optimize it if it is low.
Similarly, if you have a child with autism, have their vitamin D level tested and optimize it if necessary. One study in Pediatrics found that supplementation with vitamin D improved symptoms of autism. In addition, here are some other things you can do for your autistic child.
At Amen Clinics, we have seen more than 1,000 people with ASD and have used brain imaging in combination with blood tests and lab work as part of a comprehensive evaluation to get an accurate diagnosis and provide targeted treatments that minimize symptoms. If you want your child to join the many others who have improved their autism symptoms at Amen Clinics, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
Are you getting enough vitamin D? If you’re like most people, you probably aren’t. Vitamin D deficiencies are becoming more common, affecting about half of the people on planet Earth. According to one study, 70% of adults and 67% of kids ages 1-11 have insufficient levels of vitamin D. It’s no wonder when you consider the increasing amount of time we spend indoors and all that sunscreen we slather on our bodies when we’re outside. (Known as the “sunshine vitamin,” vitamin D is activated when sunlight hits the skin.)
Vitamin D deficiency, or even just less-than-optimal levels of the sunshine vitamin, can spell trouble for your memory and moods. Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with depression, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and cognitive decline, as well as psychosis, autism, heart disease, and about 200 other conditions.
Anyone can have sub-optimal levels of the sunshine vitamin, but certain groups are at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, including:
Receptors for vitamin D are found throughout the brain and play a critical role in making memories. A team of researchers at Tufts University in Boston analyzed vitamin D blood levels in over 1,000 people over the age of 65 to determine its relationship to cognitive function. Out of the 1,000 study participants, 65% had “insufficient” or “deficient” levels of the sunshine vitamin. These people performed worse on tests of executive function (such as reasoning, flexibility, and perceptual complexity), attention, and processing speed compared with those who had optimal levels of vitamin D.
Other research appearing in a 2015 issue of JAMA Neurology showed that older adults with low levels of the sunshine vitamin experienced memory loss faster than those with healthy levels. The study included seniors with dementia, with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and with normal cognitive function. The MCI group had lower levels of vitamin D than the cognitively healthy people, and those with dementia had even lower levels than the MCI group. The older adults with insufficient or deficient levels of vitamin D experienced accelerated rates of decline in terms of executive function and episodic memory (remembering your own life history) compared with those who had normal levels.
The lower your vitamin D, the more likely you are to experience the blues. A 2013 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Psychiatry looked at research involving a total of 31,424 people and found that having low levels of vitamin D increased the risk for depression. On the flip side, individuals with depressive disorders were more likely to have lower vitamin D levels. Vitamin D receptors are present in areas of the brain associated with depression, which researchers suggest may explain the connection.
Boosting vitamin D levels has been shown to promote better moods and appears to be neuroprotective. Here are 3 simple ways to achieve healthy levels.
If you’re suffering from symptoms of depression or memory loss, Amen Clinics can help. The Amen Clinics Method takes a unique brain-body approach to assessment that includes lab tests (including vitamin D levels) to determine if biological factors are contributing to symptoms, as well as brain SPECT imaging to evaluate brain health. With this valuable information, our physicians are better able to personalize treatment for your specific needs.
To find out how we can help you, call us today at 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit online.
Being overweight can make you feel bad about the way you look and feel like a failure if you can’t stick to a healthy diet. But can it actually contribute to depression?
A growing body of evidence shows that obesity and depression go hand in hand and can feed off each other. Weight problems increase the risk of developing depression. Likewise, people who are depressed are more likely to be overweight and experience a faster rise in body mass index (BMI) than people who are not depressed. Which came first—the weight problem or the depression—remains to be seen.
Fat tissue can contribute to the problem. Fat cells secrete substances called cytokines that cause inflammation. Chronic inflammation of the brain, which is often found in people who are obese, is also found in those struggling with depression.
Brain imaging studies show that the areas of the brain that are most impacted by obesity tend to be the ones involved in self-control and the regulation of appetite. When these brain regions aren’t functioning at optimal levels, it can make you more vulnerable to overeating and to giving in to cravings for unhealthy foods, which compounds the problem.
People who are depressed also tend to have markedly increased activity in the limbic areas of the brain, which are involved in setting a person’s emotional tone.
Losing the extra pounds can help alleviate depressive symptoms and vice versa, getting your depression under control can help you manage your weight. Making minor tweaks to your food, nutritional supplements, exercise, and even your thinking patterns can help you do it.
Not all people who are overweight and depressed are the same. Knowing your brain type is the first step into learning more about how your unique brain functions. Brain imaging studies show that there are 5 types of overeaters and 7 types of depression:
Type 1: Pure Anxiety
Type 2: Pure Depression
Type 3: Mixed Depression
Type 4: Over-focused Depression
Type 5: Temporal Lobe Depression
Type 6: Cyclic Depression
Type 7: Unfocused Depression
Knowing your type can help you find the best solutions for your needs.
Low levels of omega-3 fatty acids have been associated with depression and obesity. There is also evidence that low levels of these fatty acids play a role in substance abuse, and it can be argued that overeating is a form of substance abuse. Boosting omega-3 levels is one of the best things you can do for your weight and moods. Research shows it decreases body fat, appetite, and cravings, in addition to reducing symptoms of depression. Unlike what we have been told in the past, good fats are not the enemy of a healthy diet. To increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, eat more:
Having low levels of vitamin D, also known as the “sunshine vitamin,” has been associated with both depression and obesity. Some researchers believe that nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population suffers from a vitamin D deficiency. Get your levels tested and supplement with vitamin D if needed.
It’s no secret that exercise revs your metabolism, but it is also a powerful mood booster. In fact, several studies have found it to be as effective as antidepressant medication. How does it do it? Physical exercise stimulates neurotransmitter activity, especially dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, which elevates mood. One of the ways it helps is by boosting a substance called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is involved in growing new brain cells and has been found to be instrumental in putting the brakes on depression.
The best exercises for people who are both depressed and overweight include those that combine aerobic coordination activities and a social aspect. The aerobic activity boosts blood flow and neurotransmitter activity, and social bonding can help calm overactivity in the brain’s limbic system to boost your mood. Try these activities:
Automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) can infest your mind and keep you chained to unhealthy habits that cause weight gain and mired in the negativity that contributes to depression. You may be familiar with ANTs like these:
“I have no control over my eating.”
“I don’t like foods that are healthy for me.”
“I have to eat to comfort myself.”
These ANTs play a major role in making you fat and stealing your happiness. Learning to challenge your thoughts is critical to winning the battle of the bulge and enhancing your moods.
A helpful treatment for emotional overeaters is the natural supplement SAMe in dosages of 400-1,600 mg. It is involved in the production of several neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, epinephrine) that affect mood. The brain normally produces, all the same, it needs from the amino acid methionine. When a person is depressed, however, it impairs the synthesis of SAMe. Taking SAMe has been found to promote positive moods and also suppress appetite.
With the world’s largest database of functional brain scans — 150,000 and growing —Amen Clinics physicians are able to more accurately diagnose and more effectively treat the 7 types of depression than any other healthcare professionals. We also take a unique brain-body approach to treatment that includes brain health nutrition coaching to help you feed your body and fuel your brain so you can achieve and maintain a healthy weight and healthy moods.
Find out how we can help you today at 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit online.
In 2008, 4-year-old Joey was diagnosed with autism. His mom Jacqueline was very pro-active and began a variety of therapies and counseling to help her son. Despite all the treatments, Jacqueline couldn’t help but think she could be doing more for him. She used to joke, saying, “If we could just look inside his head, we could figure out our Joey.” About 10 years after his initial diagnosis, she took Joey for a brain scan using a technology called SPECT, which helped doctors target his treatment more effectively. As Jacqueline knows, having a child with autism can be frustrating. You want to help but may not be sure what you can do. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is considered the fastest-growing developmental disability, with an estimated 1 in 59 births affected. The condition is characterized by communication problems, abnormal social skills, learning disabilities, and behavioral problems—all ranging from mild to severe.