Is Your Gut Health Impacting Your Mental Health?
Photo by Thais Varela
Welcome to Part 2 of my Mental Health Awareness Month series! If you missed Part 1 on how nutrition influences your brain chemistry, you can check that out here.
This week, we're going one layer deeper: digestion.
Because even the best nutrition can’t support your mental health if your body isn’t actually digesting food properly.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, "You are what you eat."
But a more accurate version?
👉🏼 You are what you digest.
It’s easy to think of digestion as just "what happens to your food," but it's so much more than that. Your digestive system is responsible for breaking down and absorbing the nutrients your brain needs to function — including the building blocks for your feel-good neurotransmitters.
And another major player in that process? Your microbiome: the trillions of microbes living in your gut that influence how you feel, think, and respond to stress.
Are You Actually Digesting Food Well?
Digestion is one of the first places I look when supporting both physical and mental health. Because if you're not digesting food properly, your brain isn't getting the nutrients it needs to function. (We covered some of those brain-supportive nutrients in Part 1.)
There are many steps involved in digestion — and if even one of them isn’t working well, it can ripple into how you feel mentally and emotionally.
Here are a few examples:
Low stomach acid? You might not be breaking down protein or absorbing key minerals like zinc and magnesium — both essential for serotonin, dopamine, and GABA production.
Low pancreatic enzymes? You may be dealing with bloating, inflammation, or undigested food sitting in your gut (which your microbiome won’t appreciate, by the way).
A compromised gut lining (aka "leaky gut")? That can impair nutrient absorption (especially iron, essential for dopamine production) and lead to systemic inflammation. And that inflammation doesn't stay local — it can travel to your brain, contributing to neuroinflammation, which is increasingly linked to anxiety, fatigue, and brain fog.
Do You Have Enough Good Gut Bugs? 🦠
Your microbiome — especially the beneficial bacteria in your gut — plays a major role in how you feel emotionally, mentally, and even socially.
Certain strains of bacteria have been shown to help your body produce neurotransmitters, improve resilience to stress, and modulate inflammation in both the gut and the brain.
Some key players linked to mental health include:
Lactobacillus rhamnosus: supports GABA production and stress regulation
Bifidobacterium longum: linked to better mood and reduced anxiety and depression
Lactobacillus helveticus: may lower cortisol and support emotional balance
Other strains like Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus plantarum have also shown promise in early research, particularly for their roles in reducing anxiety and depression, lowering inflammation, and improving cognitive function.
If these beneficial bacteria are low, your mood and cognitive function can take a hit — even if you feel like your digestion is "normal."
Do You Have Any Pathogens Wreaking Havoc? ⚠️
When your gut is out of balance, it’s not just about what’s missing — it’s also about what’s overgrowing.
Certain opportunistic bacteria and pathogens can release lipopolysaccharides (LPS): inflammatory compounds that irritate the gut lining, trigger the immune system, and even cross the blood-brain barrier to contribute to neuroinflammation (which is increasingly linked to mental health challenges).
What can that feel like?
Irritability or low mood
Brain fog
Poor stress tolerance
Digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, or constipation
Even without obvious gut symptoms, pathogens can quietly drive inflammation that affects how you think, feel, and cope day to day.
What If Your Gut Is Silently Driving Your Mental Health Symptoms?
I’ve worked with so many clients who didn’t have obvious digestive symptoms. No major bloating. No frustrating bathroom trips. No “red flag” foods.
But when we ran a stool test to assess their microbiome, digestive function, and pathogen load... the results told a very different story.
Here are just a few patterns we’ve uncovered:
⚠️ Weak digestive function — low pancreatic enzyme activity, poor protein breakdown, and signs of leaky gut
📉 Low levels of beneficial bacteria — meaning less support for mood, stress resilience, and immune regulation
🧫 High levels of opportunistic pathogens — including strains that produce LPS and contribute to neuroinflammation
These imbalances don’t always show up as dramatic symptoms. But they can quietly chip away at your energy, focus, mood stability, and sense of wellbeing — until it becomes your new normal.
If you’ve been working on your mental health but still feel "off" — tired, foggy, anxious, or unmotivated — it might be time to look below the surface and investigate:
How well you're digesting and absorbing nutrients
Whether you have enough beneficial bacteria
If hidden pathogens could be fueling inflammation
Because the truth is: you don’t really know if your digestion and microbiome are "healthy" until you test.
👉🏼 Apply here to work with me 1:1 and let’s find out whether your gut could be the missing link in your mental health journey.
This information is for educational and informational purposes only and solely as a self-help tool for your own use. I am not providing medical, psychological, or nutrition therapy advice. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting your own medical practitioner. Always seek the advice of your own medical practitioner and/or mental health provider about your specific health situation. For my full Disclaimer, please visit www.alisonkeiper.com/disclaimer.