Science now confirms what ancient healing systems knew all along: the gut and brain are in constant communication.

In fact, over 90% of serotonin (your feel-good, calming hormone) is made in the gut. When your gut is inflamed or imbalanced, your nervous system is too.

This connection, often called the gut-brain axis, means that your diet can either keep you in chronic stress symptoms or support your nervous system healing.

You’re not broken. You’re likely just inflamed, overstimulated, and undernourished.

Here’s a simple truth: food is either noise or nourishment.

Common nervous system irritants:

• Refined sugar
  
  

• Gluten and dairy (especially if you’re sensitive)
  
  

• Processed oils (canola, vegetable)
  
  

• Alcohol and caffeine (especially when anxious)
  
  

Nervous system calming foods:

• Steamed root veggies like sweet potato, squash, zucchini
  
  

• Warm broths, quinoa, and soaked oats
  
  

• Fruits like papaya, blueberries, and green apples (paired with healthy fats like tahini or nuts)
  
  

• Teas for anxiety and digestion: lemon balm, chamomile, dandelion, rose, ginger
  
  

These foods don’t just nourish your body, they signal to your nervous system that it’s safe to slow down.

My healing began long before I had a diagnosis. In 2007, I gave up red meat. Over the years, I removed all white meats, eventually living vegan for a time. But even with clean eating, I still felt off, bloating, fatigue, and anxiety followed me.

Later I learned I had candida, SIBO, and leaky gut. My body was inflamed, my gut was unbalanced, and survival mode was showing up through my food choices and stress response.

Healing came slowly. I worked with Traditional Chinese Medicine, brought in gentle Ayurvedic practices, and began monthly detox rituals like water fasting. These reset my gut, cleared inflammation, and calmed my nervous system in ways nothing else had.

Today, I eat to nourish my nervous system, not restrict it. My journey taught me that gut health isn’t just physical, it’s emotional and energetic too.

You don’t need to overhaul your diet—you need to come back to the basics.

Here are a few of my go-to healing combinations:

• Breakfast: Papaya + chia + cinnamon or quinoa with steamed apples and a dash of cardamom
  
  

• Lunch: Steamed zucchini, carrots, and quinoa with olive oil and lemon
  
  

• Dinner: Wild rice, sweet potato, avocado, and steamed greens
  
  

• Daily teas: Lemon balm in the morning, dandelion midday, and rose or chamomile at night
  
  

When you pair grounding foods with body-based healing for anxiety, your system begins to regulate. Not because you forced it, but because you fed it safety.

You’re allowed to feel energized. You’re allowed to feel calm after meals. You’re allowed to stop micromanaging your symptoms and start listening to your body.

Your healing doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be consistent.

And it can begin on your plate.