The Gut–Brain Connection: Healing Neurological Symptoms with Food as Medicine

Foggy brain. Anxiety. Irritability. If you’ve lived with any kind of neurological dysregulation—post-concussive syndrome, panic attacks, brain fog, dizziness—you know how disorienting it can feel. I’ve been there. After multiple concussions and years of “do less, rest more” advice, my biggest breakthrough didn’t come from another gadget or neurotherapy session. It came from food—specifically a gut-first, GAPS-style approach that rebuilt my brain from the inside out.

This article pulls together the most important lessons from my last three YouTube videos:

1. B-vitamins for the nervous system (and how to actually get them in therapeutic amounts)
2. The microbiome–mental health connection (why your mood changes when your diet does)
3. My concussion recovery story (and the three pillars I now use with every client: gut health, detox, nervous system)

Whether you’re walking through concussion rehab, mood challenges, or neurological “mystery” symptoms, this is your field guide.

Essentials:

• Your gut and brain talk constantly via nerves (vagus), hormones, immune messengers, and microbial metabolites. If the gut is inflamed or “leaky,” the brain gets inflamed too.
• Dysbiosis (imbalance of gut microbes) increases endotoxins and reduces protective metabolites—driving brain fog, anxiety, irritability, sleep issues, and fatigue.
• A GAPS-style, food-first approach (meat stock, fermented foods, animal fats, organ meats) can seal the gut lining, rebalance microbes, and replete the nutrient building blocks your nervous system is begging for.
• Three pillars heal most chronic patterns: gut repair, safe detox, and nervous system regulation. Ignore any one of them and progress stalls.

B-Vitamins—Fuel for a Frayed Nervous System

Your brain demands B-vitamins. They power mitochondrial energy, neurotransmitter synthesis (think serotonin/dopamine/GABA), and myelin maintenance (the insulation on your nerves). While a healthy microbiome makes many B’s, most of us need dietary repletion during recovery.

My top three therapeutic food sources

1. Pork
• Naturally rich in B1 (thiamine), B3 (niacin), B6 (pyridoxine) and also contributes B2, B5, and B12.
• For clients recovering from neurological challenges, I often encourage regular pork intake (quality matters: regenerative/pastured when possible).
• Concerned about parasites? GAPS focuses on strengthening the terrain (stomach acid, bile flow, beneficial flora) rather than avoiding nutrient-dense foods. If sourcing is uncertain, long/slow cooking or traditional fermenting can further reduce risk.
2. Nutritional Yeast
• A simple way to sprinkle in a broad spectrum of B’s (especially B2, B6).
• Add to soups, scrambled eggs, sautéed veggies, pâté, or meat dishes for an easy daily bump.
3. Liver
• Nature’s multivitamin: B-vitamins plus iron, copper, zinc, choline, vitamin A.
• For therapeutic phases, Dr. Natasha (GAPS) encourages daily liver (palm-size for active healing; more if acutely depleted and well-tolerated).
• Hate the taste? Try frozen raw liver “caps”: chop, freeze, and swallow like pills. (Be sure your source is high-quality and you’re comfortable with raw ancestral prep.)

Why this matters for the brain: B-vitamins restore mitochondrial throughput, stabilize neurotransmitter production, and support remyelination—the difference between wired-and-tired and calm-and-focused.

When Food Changes Your Mood (The Gut–Brain Axis Explained)

If you’ve ever cut starches and felt your brain “switch on” in days, here’s why.

What “dysbiosis” actually does

• Increases intestinal permeability → endotoxins (like LPS) cross into blood → systemic inflammation → neuroinflammation.
• Lowers beneficial metabolites (e.g., short-chain fatty acids) that normally protect neurons and modulate mood.
• Activates immune signaling (cytokines) that disrupt cognition, sleep, and emotional regulation.
• Weakens the blood-brain barrier, making the brain more sensitive to everyday stressors.

Why removing starches can help (for a time)

For an inflamed or dysbiotic gut, even “healthy” carbs (nuts, fruits, potatoes) can overfeed opportunists, worsening endotoxin load. A lower-starch, GAPS-style phase calms things down, cuts fuel to the overgrowth, and lets repair outrun damage. (This is a phase, not forever.)

“Die-off” is real—and manageable

Introducing ferments or changing your diet can trigger Herxheimer reactions: headaches, fatigue, irritability, skin flare-ups, sleep changes. That’s microbial turnover plus mobilized toxins. The answer isn’t quitting—it’s pacing:

• Start tiny (teaspoons of sauerkraut brine, sips of kefir, dilutions).
• Increase slowly and one ferment at a time.
• Layer meat stock and bowel support (hydration, gentle binders if appropriate) so your body can eliminate what’s being stirred up.

My Post-Concussive Story (and the Turning Point)

I’ve had multiple head injuries—one from surfing, another from a trampoline park incident with delayed onset symptoms, and a severe banana-boat hit that left me bed-bound, light-sensitive, dizzy, and cognitively limited for long stretches.

What helped (and what didn’t)

• Acute rest mattered at first, but months of “stay in the dark” created a brain that couldn’t tolerate stimulus.
• Functional neurology (chiropractic neurology, vestibular therapy, eye-tracking drills, oxygen therapy) gave me rapid improvements in dizziness and light sensitivity.
• Neurofeedback felt calming even when my EEG didn’t “look” perfect—lifestyle rhythm and nervous-system safety cues were equally powerful.
• The final 20–30% didn’t budge until I rebuilt my gut.

The gut–brain loop after concussion

Head injuries can disrupt the autonomic nervous system and stress the gut lining, increasing permeability. That means more endotoxins reach the brain, feeding a cycle of inflammation, fatigue, migraines, and mood symptoms. When I shifted to a GAPS-style, animal-based template, the lingering migraines, brain fog, and digestive chaos finally resolved.

The GAPS-Style Playbook I Use with Clients

These are the exact foundations I teach inside Whole Health Blueprint—customized to history, tolerance, and pace.

1) Seal & Soothe the Gut Lining

• Meat Stock (not bone broth): Aim for 3–8 cups/day in acute phases. Short-cooked with meaty joints/skin for maximum gelatin, glycine, proline, and minerals—think “spackle for the gut.”
• Easy-to-digest meals: Slow-cooked meats, well-cooked veggies, egg yolks, animal fats, and no industrial seed oils.
• Stomach acid support: Protein first at breakfast, chew thoroughly, avoid chugging water with meals. (Work with a coach/practitioner if considering supplements.)

2) Rebalance the Microbiome (Low & Slow)

• Fermented foods (sugar-free finished): sauerkraut brine, 24-hour yogurt/kefir, cultured cream. Start with drops/teaspoons.
• Introduce one ferment at a time; increase every few days if stable.
• Expect die-off; support bowels, hydration, electrolytes, mineral-rich stock.

3) Replete the Brain’s Building Blocks

• Daily liver (or frozen caps) + regular pork + nutritional yeast for B’s.
• Emphasize animal fats (butter, tallow, yolks) for myelin and hormone balance.
• Protein at breakfast to signal safety and stabilize blood sugar.

4) Nervous System Safety & Circadian Repair

• Prioritize sleep (early wind-down, morning light, consistent meals—this is not the time for fasting).
• Gentle vagal toning: nasal breathing, humming/gargling, cold face splashes, co-regulating conversations, prayer.
• Titrate exposure back to screens/lighting with functional-neuro style graded challenge—not all at once, not forever in the dark.

5) Detox—Later, Not First

• Once stools, sleep, and food tolerance stabilize, we add gentle detox supports (sweat, mineral baths, targeted binders if indicated).
• The order matters: repair → rebalance → replete → regulate → release.

FAQs (What You’re Probably Wondering)

“Do I have to avoid pork?”
No—on GAPS we focus on building a terrain (acid, bile, flora) that resists pathogens. Quality matters; proper cooking/fermenting helps. The B-vitamin payoff is huge.

“How long do I stay low-starch?”
Short-term for most. The goal is to calm dysbiosis, then expand carbs you tolerate (ripe fruit, properly prepared roots) as resilience returns.

“Why meat stock and not bone broth?”
Stock is short-cooked and higher in the amino acids that directly seal the gut lining; bone broth is longer-cooked, higher in free glutamates, and can be stimulating for sensitive brains.

“I tried ferments and felt worse.”
That’s common—and fixable. Use brines first, in drops. Increase every few days. If symptoms spike, pause, support elimination, then resume at a lower dose.

A Simple Starter Week (Therapeutic Phase)

• Daily: 3–8 cups meat stock, 1–2 servings ferment brine (teaspoons), egg yolks, animal fats, slow-cooked meats
• 3–5x/week: Liver (or daily frozen caps)
• Most days: Pork (varied cuts), nutritional yeast sprinkled on meals
• Always: Early bedtime, morning sunlight, no fasting, steady meals
• Avoid for now: Grains, refined sugars, high-starch sides, alcohol, seed oils