The Gut-Brain Connection: Testing for Brain Fog, Anxiety, and Fatigue

Have you ever felt so tired that you cannot think straight, or experienced a heavy cloud of anxiety that just will not lift? Many people drink endless cups of coffee or try different stress treatments without much luck. A possible reason for your cloudy head, low mood, or exhaustion might not be in your brain at all. Surprisingly, the secret to better focus and energy is often found inside your stomach.

A gut health test checks your gut bacteria to find the hidden imbalances that may be causing mental exhaustion, anxiety, and brain fog, helping you eat the right foods to clear your mind.

• How does my stomach talk to my brain? They talk through a superhighway called the vagus nerve, sending messages about your mood and energy levels all day long.

• Can bad bacteria make me feel anxious or tired? Yes, an imbalance in your digestive system can stop your body from making happy chemicals like serotonin, leaving you feeling stressed and completely drained of energy.

• How can testing my gut help my mind? A test may show patterns in your gut microbiome that could be relevant to mood and cognitive symptoms, helping experts create a food plan to support gut and brain health.

The gut-brain axis is the two-way biochemical communication network connecting the enteric nervous system of your gastrointestinal tract with your central nervous system, primarily travelling via the vagus nerve. This means your stomach and your mind are in constant conversation with each other.

Messages zip back and forth between your gut and your brain every single second. If your gut is upset or has an abundance of dysbiotic, pathogenic, or inflammatory bacteria, it may send stress signals to your brain.

This is exactly why you might feel sick to your stomach when you are nervous about a big test or a presentation at work. The two are permanently linked.

Yes, gut bacteria may play a role in brain fog and chronic fatigue when imbalances in the gut microbiome contribute to inflammation and affect communication between the gut and brain. When the digestive system is out of balance, some people may experience changes in mental clarity and energy levels.

When bad microbes take over your stomach, they may influence the immune system and contribute to inflammation. This may affect how you feel, making it harder to concentrate, remember things, or maintain energy even after a full night of sleep.

Furthermore, scientists have found that high levels of a specific bacterium called Alistipes are often linked to fatigue, stress and depression [1]. 

Gut microbes affect anxiety by influencing vital neurotransmitters, such as the happiness chemical Serotonin and the motivation chemical Dopamine, which dictate how calm or stressed you feel. Without the right bacteria, your brain starves of these positive chemicals.

The gut is involved in producing much of the body’s serotonin, about 90%, and gut microbes may play a role in this process. Changes in the gut microbiome may influence mood and stress responses.

For example, researchers have discovered that people with lower anxiety and better mental health often have high levels of a friendly bacterium called Coprococcus[2]. If a gut test shows you are missing this helpful microbe, you might feel much more anxious than usual.

A comprehensive gut test may help support mental focus and energy by using advanced DNA analysis to identify gut microbiome patterns, allowing experts to build a personalised food plan. It may reduce some of the guesswork around supporting your mental well-being.

Stop guessing why you feel so tired and anxious. The Vivere gut microbiome test uses the best science available to look deep inside your digestive system.

Once your results are ready, a nutritionist will talk to you one-to-one. They will tell you which foods can help to feed your good bugs, may help to clear your brain fog, and boost your energy levels naturally.

Everyone is different, but some people may notice improvements in mental clarity and energy within a few weeks, while for others it may take longer. Diet can play a role, but progress also depends on factors such as sleep, stress, overall health, and the underlying cause of symptoms.

Yes. Eating lots of sugar feeds the harmful bacteria in your stomach. This may make anxiety and brain fog worse for some people. High-sugar diets may affect energy levels, inflammation, and blood sugar balance, which can influence how you feel.

No, a stool test cannot diagnose conditions such as clinical depression or anxiety. However, it may provide useful information about gut health that could be relevant to overall well-being and support decisions about diet and lifestyle.

"When clients explain that they are exhausted, anxious, and struggling to focus, they are often surprised to learn that diet may play a role. The gut-brain axis is an important area of research. Changes in gut microbes, including lower levels of bacteria such as Coprococcus, may be associated with mood and cognitive symptoms. By using an advanced gut test, we can look for gut microbiome patterns that may be relevant to chronic fatigue and brain fog. We can then use this information to guide a targeted, personalised nutrition plan to support the microbiome and overall mental well-being.”

[1] Parker, B. J., Wearsch, P. A., Veloo, A. C. M., & Rodriguez-Palacios, A. (2020). The Genus Alistipes: Gut Bacteria With Emerging Implications to Inflammation, Cancer, and Mental Health. Frontiers in immunology, 11, 906. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00906

[2] Valles-Colomer, M., Falony, G., Darzi, Y. et al. The neuroactive potential of the human gut microbiota in quality of life and depression. Nat Microbiol 4, 623–632 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-018-0337-x