The Gut–Brain Connection
Where Stress Meets the Body
You’ve probably heard the phrase “the gut is our second brain”. But what most people don’t realise is that this connection runs much deeper than hormones or digestion - it is a reflection of how we feel, how we cope, and how we’ve learned to survive.
The Science of the Gut–Brain Axis
The gut and the brain are in constant conversation through a network called the gut–brain axis.
Your enteric nervous system (the “gut brain”) and your central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) communicate through millions of nerve cells, neurotransmitters, and hormones.
When you feel stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, your body doesn’t just register that mentally, it translates it into your digestive system.
Digestion can slow down or speed up. You may experience bloating, pain, or changes in appetite. This is the body’s intelligent way of saying, “I don’t feel safe right now.”
Our gut bacteria, the trillions of microbes that live within us, are also part of this conversation. When chronic stress persists, these microbes shift.
Beneficial species decline, gut inflammation rises, and our immune system becomes dysregulated.
This isn’t just biology; it’s the physical echo of emotional strain.
The Emotional Dimension: What Gabor Maté Teaches Us
Through Compassionate Inquiry, a therapeutic approach developed by Dr. Gabor Maté, we begin to see that stress isn’t just what happens to us, it’s what happens within us when we’re unable to express or process what we feel.
Many of us learned early on that being “good,” “calm,” or “strong” meant suppressing our emotions. We internalised the message that anger, sadness, or fear were unsafe to show. Over time, that suppression doesn’t disappear, it moves inward. The gut becomes the place where unfelt emotions live.
From this lens, gut symptoms like IBS, reflux, bloating, diarrhoea, pain, are not just malfunctions to fix, but messages from the body.
They invite curiosity, not control.
They ask, “What part of me has not yet felt safe to be seen?”
When Stress Becomes the Norm
Physiologically, long-term stress activates pathways like the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, flooding the body with cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones are helpful in short bursts, they keep us alive, but when they remain high, they alter our gut permeability, microbial balance, and immune function.
Emotionally, chronic stress creates disconnection: from our needs, our body, and often from others.
We stop hearing the body’s signals until they become loud, through pain, fatigue, or inflammation.
Healing Through Connection, Not Control
In my practice, I see again and again that gut healing begins not just with food, though food matters deeply, but with relationship:
Relationship with the body
Relationship with emotion
Relationship with nourishment
We start with nutrition that supports regulation: steady blood sugar, diverse fibres, anti-inflammatory foods, and targeted probiotics to restore balance. But we also invite presence, slowing down to eat, noticing the body’s cues, and gently exploring what sensations arise when you feel stressed, restricted, or unsafe.
This is where Compassionate Inquiry weaves into nutrition: we look at what the gut is saying beyond digestion.
We bring curiosity rather than judgment to our patterns, “Why do I reach for food when anxious?” “Why do I lose my appetite when sad?”
Each reaction is a doorway to understanding the body’s wisdom.
The Way Forward
The gut–brain axis is more than a pathway of nerves and hormones, it’s a mirror of how we live.
By working with both physiology and emotion, we begin to restore true regulation: safety in the body, balance in the gut, and clarity in the mind.
Healing, then, is not just about eliminating symptoms, it’s about coming home to yourself.
Takeaway Reflections
Listen to your body. Gut symptoms are communication, not punishment.
Soften around your stress. Ask what it’s trying to protect you from, not how to make it go away.
Nourish connection. Food, rest, and presence are forms of safety.
Seek support. Working with a practitioner who understands both the biology and the emotional roots of stress can help you restore balance more deeply than diet alone.