Anxiety and the Gut: Evidence-Based Interventions to Calm the Mind

Welcome to The Perfect Stool: Understanding and Healing the Gut Microbiome. This is your host, Lindsey Parsons, and today I'm bringing you a podcast sponsored by Become, a mental wellness supplement company focusing on empowering individuals to regain control of their wellbeing through education, nutrition, and consultation. They formulated an all-natural supplement proven to alleviate anxiety and offer one-to-one nutritional consultations to promote integrative wellness. They strive to create a world where mental well-being is valued as core to the human experience and attainable for everyone. BECOM's Chief Clinical Officer, Camilla Smith, LCSW, will be talking to us in more detail about the gut-brain connection and how their supplement addresses it. Camilla is a licensed psychotherapist and anxiety expert with a doctorate in health sciences focusing on mental health and nutrition. She's a professional speaker, mindfulness facilitator at Copper Beach, and adjunct professor at the University of New Haven teaching undergraduate and graduate sociology and psychology courses. She is passionate about holistic wellness, social justice, and empowering individuals through education. But before our conversation, if you haven't yet followed or subscribed to the show, be sure to do so. And if you want to get transcripts of the podcast, pop over to my website, HighDesertHealthCoaching.com, and sign up for my newsletter. You'll also get my free ebook, Finding Your Root Cause Through Stool and Organic Acids Testing, when you sign up. And if you haven't yet done my quiz on which stool test would help you get to your root cause, you can find a link in the show notes and take that. Now onto the show. Welcome to the podcast, Camila.

Hi, thank you so much for having me.

Yeah, it's my pleasure. So why don't you start by telling us about your own journey with mental health and how that relates to your education and dissertation topic?

Absolutely. So for me, in 2012, I was in grad school, and it was the first time that I experienced what I could then relate as anxiety, right? A little bit beyond the normal anxiety that we might experience. And From then on, I started having panic attacks. And in 2012, what was happening was my dad was having a surgery and the surgery took 6 hours longer than expected. So during that time, I got nervous. And following that, I started to experience these panic attacks whenever I was in a hospital. It also didn't help that I was interning at a hospital. So I had to—

Oh, so you were there all the time. Yeah.

Every time I went in. I would start sweating and shaking. So really it was the first time that I had to— it was a really abrupt encounter with anxiety and panic disorder. So as it went on, I started finding ways to treat it and then started working as a therapist, decided to go back to school to get my doctorate in health sciences. And as I was going through it, I've always been very passionate about anxiety disorders. It makes sense to me. I love the science and given my own journey and all of my research, you know, I thought it was a great way to blend my personal quest to find ways to soothe my body along with the things that I love, which is the science part of it as well.

Great. So what was your dissertation topic?

My dissertation topic was on the use of nutraceuticals for the treatment of anxiety as a standalone and/or an adjunctive treatment. So what that means is I looked at amino acids, vitamins, and different herbs, then compared the research on them. I only looked at ingredients or vitamins that have been tested, that have randomized control trials. And then I looked at the treatment efficacy, you know, so how good were they compared to traditional medication and kind of did a side-by-side. And at the end came up with a recommendation as to whether or not botanicals, nutraceuticals, essentially could be used as standalone or adjunctive.

OK. And so what's the relationship between gut health and mental health?

Well, this is an interesting— let me backtrack a little to say that I was very surprised when I found out what that relationship was. After working in the field for about 5 years, I knew very little about the actual mind-body. We hear that term used a lot. Mind-body connection, but learning about it from the physiology part was extremely eye-opening for me. So when we talk about the mind-body or the gut-brain connection, it refers to the connection between our— so our brain, right, is what we consider our, let's say, our primary hub. And it's our central nervous system as well. It attaches to, but we also have a second brain, right? The ENS system. And that connection—

the enteric nervous system.

Yeah, exactly. Yes. Enteric nervous nervous system that has been referred to as our second brain, also has the ability to process information, stimuli, respond. So the gut-brain really impacts us, right? Because we have this whole other nervous system that has the ability to feel, to sense, to respond, to react, which then impacts our, especially with anxiety, because anxiety is such an instinctual response. It definitely has a direct correlation.

Haven't they done the experiments where they cut the vagus nerve, which is part of that enteric nervous system, and then they change out the bacteria and the bacteria doesn't have the influence it does on the brain when that vagus nerve is cut?

It's amazing. You know, I always refer to it as the highway, right? And the bacteria travels up the highway into our brain. And this is where probiotics are so helpful. At the same time though, every time that we have bacteria that's not good for us. It also travels. They actually did a study not too long ago and found a specific bacteria in the brain of individuals with dementia. So this was one of the first times that we were able to prove. And also in the oral flora, they found bacteria that usually doesn't exist there. And now we're starting to be able to prove that this bacteria not only travels, but also colonizes in our brain tissue. Which is why it's so important to have this like healthy balance of bacteria in our body.

Yeah. So how did you become involved with BECOM and what's the company's mission?

I became involved with BECOM end of last year, but the way that it occurred is actually, I think, a beautiful synchronicity and everything coming together. I, I was on a board for a nonprofit organization with one of the co-founders, Vanessa. Many years ago. And from then until now, I went to school, got my dissertation, and last year I put on a vision board that I wanted to get started on a— or launch a nutraceutical company. I got a call from Vanessa, and at the end of last year, stating that she was looking to start a nutraceutical company and thought that I would be a good addition. So we reunited And it just was perfect timing because at that time I had already done all the research and was ready to go with pretty much a formulation or at least recommendation. And our mission really is to, to make mental health care more accessible for everyone and to really target a full and integrative approach. So we're looking at targeting nutrition, mental health, and also just lowering inflammation. So it's aside from the nutrition and the supplementation part, we also— our mission is to educate and personalize treatment. So we offer consultations, we offer one-on-ones. I recently ran a webinar. So our, our goal really is to provide a community where people can feel informed about the choices that they're making. So some of the things that I think are, are really important for, for us as, as company and our personal mission is to also dispel some of the stigma around mental health. And I think for so long, our field has separated mental health from physical health, right? That it's created this stigma. And what we're trying to do is find realignment between it. In my professional experiences, what I found working at— I used to work at a clinic— was that we would get referrals from primary care. And then there would be almost this big split where there wasn't as much collaboration. And this is when I really started to feel that I needed to, to be more informed. I also felt as though we didn't, you know, in the field, in our field, mental health, have many specialists, right? So if we think about primary care or just physical health, we have cardiology, gastroenterology, right? We have a Tons of different specialists, but in mental health, there are people that specialize in training, but there isn't really too much crossover between the physical aspects and the science, let's say, of anxiety and the mental health. So this is where we came in. And that's really one of the huge things that we're trying to do is not only make mental health more accessible for people, but also really destigmatize it and start viewing mental health as, A, it could be preventative care, right? So we can, it can be maintenance, it can be a a lot of different things and we want to make it a part of our day-to-day. And if we tie that along with nutrition, I think that this really magnifies the outcomes that we can potentially get.

That's great. So tell me about the ingredients in BECOM's Peace of Mind Daily Packs and how you selected each ingredient. Yeah.

So when looking to select them, I brought in some of my, my clinical knowledge and experience as well as personal. And in the treatment of anxiety disorders, we primarily use SSRIs, sometimes beta blockers, and there's also some people use benzodiazepines, right? So these are more fast-acting. So we almost have daily medication that helps to keep the symptoms at bay, and then we have the as-needed. So when I was thinking about the ingredients, I, I thought it was really important to also provide this sort of flexibility with our ingredients, meaning we wanted ingredients that were helpful, you know, as over time, but also something that provided an immediate effect. So that was one of the, the main parts that we considered when looking at ingredients. The ingredients that we have included are vitamins, we have amino acids, and botanicals. The vitamins that we chose were magnesium and B6, and these were specifically chosen because they are necessary for the production or the synthesis of serotonin, which is our mood food, pain, and sleep neurotransmitter. And as well as B— so B6 and magnesium. We also chose L-theanine. So L-theanine is an amino acid that's naturally found. The highest content is in green tea, and L-theanine has been shown to provide relaxation, increase focus. Studies have actually found that when individuals take L-theanine, there is a change in brainwaves. So it activates alpha, which is a relaxed state. So we looked for something that when taken in the morning would provide us with that energy, that calm, that focus. And as we transition, we also added in passionflower. Passionflower is a, it's a calming botanical. So it helps to relax the body and the way that we there's flexibility with the pack. So we do recommend for some people, for example, that they take the passionflower and perhaps magnesium at night to ease into the night in a more relaxed way. And the last ingredient is our probiotic. And this was because we really wanted to, as I said earlier, target the gut-brain connection. And probiotics are, are known to really help balance out that bacteria, decrease inflammation. So we chose ingredients that help to synthesize serotonin, induce relaxation, and just promote overall mind-body or brain and gut health.

Great. So tell me, why did you choose not to include 5-HTP or tryptophan in the formulation?

When we were thinking about creating a supplement, one of the really important parts for us was to make this accessible. And what I mean by that is that a majority of people would be able to take it and that it had minimal side effects or risk. We also were very intentional about selecting ingredients that could be used alongside with medications, traditional SSRIs or medication for anxiety. And there's great research on 5-HTP. It's, you know, it's wonderful. However, there are contraindications with SSRIs and because a lot of individuals with anxiety disorders do take SSRIs, we, we wanted to keep it as open as possible and really reduce the risk of any side effects. So it was primarily because of the contraindications that FAF HCP has.

Excuse this brief interruption, but I wanted to remind you that if you've been struggling with IBS, IBD, reflux, gastritis, SIBO, dysbiosis, Candida, diarrhea, constipation, and all that gut health stuff, that's my specialty. So I work with clients not just here in Tucson, Arizona, where I live, but also virtually on video chat. I offer single appointments as well as a 5-session gut health program for people with tougher gut health issues or mental health or autoimmune challenges that go along with that, who likely require testing and longer-term follow-up, as well as 12-week programs for weight loss. If you think that a 5-session or longer course of health coaching might help you meet your health goals, you can set up a free 30-minute breakthrough session with me to talk about what you've been going through, and I'll listen and hear if it sounds like I have something in my toolkit that you haven't already tried and let you know if I think that health coaching would be appropriate for you. You can find a link for that in the show notes, and I hope to hear from you. Right. Just to spell it out to the listeners. So SSRIs are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. They basically increase the serotonin in the brain. And 5-HTP is a precursor to serotonin, as is tryptophan. So either one of those would also increase. And then you can have something called serotonin syndrome where you have like a racing heart and such, and it's can be dangerous. So that's why it would double up, right?

Exactly. Absolutely. Yes. And this is where we added, for example, the magnesium and the B6 are necessary for that, that breakdown from tryptophan to 5-HTP to serotonin. So we, we did think about adding ingredients, vitamins that would aid and make the process of us creating serotonin more flow, I guess, easier in a way, but Absolutely. We try to be very mindful of serotonin syndrome.

Yeah. I have a lot of clients who show up. I mean, pretty much everybody. I wonder if it's an artifact of the test, but on an organic acids test, they show up with low B6 and often comes alongside these mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

Yeah. B12 has been found to mimic depression and sometimes manic episodes. They're pretty similar. So if you put them side by side, B12 B12 deficiency looks exactly like major depressive disorder. The only real difference that we find is that a B12 deficiency does not tend to cause harmful thoughts, but they, there are some mirroring side effects or symptoms between them.

Hmm, interesting. So I know that you offer consults in addition to the supplements to potential customers. Are those free? And tell me what's involved in those consults.

Yes, there's two consults. One is a 15-minute consultation and the other one is a 30-minute consultation. The 15-minute consultation is available to anyone that wants to— maybe they're on the fence about the supplements, perhaps they have questions. So what that 15 minutes does is it allows us an opportunity to connect one-on-one. Again, one of our primary goals is to provide personalized care and also to educate. And so the 15-minute can be booked at any time, no purchase necessary whatsoever. Then the 30-minute consultation is included with the 28-day or the subscription. And what this allows us to do is a little bit— so essentially, ideally, we would have the 15-minute either at the start of or prior to starting, and then the 30-minute really allows us to do a little bit more of a deep dive. And during this consultation, we check in, in regards to progress, any barriers that somebody might be having, and also offer guidance for individuals. So whether that means that they— some individuals might have questions regarding their nutrition, or I've also worked a bit around sleep. So talked about sleep hygiene. So it provides an open format where we can really get down to what are the obstacles, what are the barriers, and what can we we do as collaboratively to help people feel better.

And so those are free as part of the service, or—

yes, yep, they, they come included. Um, okay, the 50-minute is free and then the 30-minute is also, but that is the 28th. So with the month supply, then there's that additional 30-minute one that's included, right?

Okay, so tell me about how you selected the strains for the probiotic that's included in your daily packs.

So again, with— there's so many probiotics, there's tons of different bacteria and they all have their own benefits. One of the things that I did similar to the other ingredients was research specifically the information, the data on the usefulness, the benefits of it with mental health. So we particularly focused on anxiety disorders and really looked at the best ones and then went along that way. I created a list of the top ones that we, you know, we wanted to definitely include and then ended up selecting a blend that has multitude of different strains.

Okay. And so what future plans does the company have with regard to the products?

We have a lot of exciting things in store currently right now. And we're in the early phases of starting to think about adding different packs. So for example, we're looking at anxiety and sleep. So these can be add-ons. Somebody that is having trouble with sleep, we would, in addition to the primary pack, there would be additional ingredients to help with sleep. So we're looking at sleep, we're looking at mood, focus, also a pregnancy pack. So that's one area we're looking to continue to expand and we'll, We're also considering adding what we will kind of think about as the SOS pack, right? So that's kind of like the fast-acting things that we can take in the moment if we are feeling really stressed. Hopefully in the future, we'd like to personalize even more. There's a lot of different ideas that we have. One is creating an app for customers to go in, enter their symptoms, and that gives us a better picture. And we would then personalize a blend of different ingredients specifically for that person. So we're hoping to, in the future, work even get more and more personalized, even considering adding in different testing so that we can see where people's levels are, whether it's organic acids, enzymes, right? So really looking at all the different facets that impact mental health.

So digging a little more into the details, like what type of magnesium is in them and how many milligrams?

So we have magnesium glycinate and it's at 225 right now. We wanted to leave— and the research shows that it really can go anywhere and even up to 400 milligrams. We wanted to start at a dose that is well tolerated for a majority of people. And we chose magnesium glycinate particularly because of the bioabsorption of it. We wanted to be mindful of selecting a kind of magnesium that they didn't leave the body as quickly.

Right. Because of course the magnesium oxide and the magnesium citrate both will promote bowel movements and you don't want to overdo that for people who are, for whom that's not an issue. Right. Okay. And then what about the B6?

The dosage that we have for the B6, we actually tried to keep it. So there's research that shows that a 10:1 ratio So 10 magnesium to 1 B6 has had really great results. They synergize really well together. And when taken at that ratio, it's known to improve the efficacy of it. So when selecting the dosage, we try to keep it at that 10 to 1 to really optimize both ingredients.

And in your studies, did you look at all at nutritional interventions for mental health issues?

Yeah, so when I was with my dissertation, there were several kind of dietary interventions, nutritional, that we looked at and that I formulated that we have actually on our website if anybody is interested. Under the blogs, um, there is a whole document that's included on the blog that has all of the recommendations for different foods that are, you know, high in magnesium, high in tryptophan, right? We talked about tryptophan and earlier, there's certain foods that we can eat that are natural that will increase, right, that are mood boosters. So we do offer that again on the website. And it is something that through our consultations, we also check in and see how everyone's doing in terms of their diet, offer recommendations as needed. But we definitely did include that in our approach.

Great. Well, if you give me a link for that, I'll put it directly in the show notes.

Perfect. That's great.

Yeah, because I know that depression in particular is thought of to be in large part a result of inflammation, and obviously a very pro-inflammatory diet with lots of sugar and processed food and omega-6 fatty acids and white carbs is probably pretty detrimental to mental health.

Absolutely. And, you know, anxiety. So there's actually 12 different subsets of anxiety. We tend to group it together, right? But we have generalized anxiety, we have panic, we have social. Another form of anxiety is what we'd call anxiety secondary to medical conditions. So what this means is that somebody might have, let's say, a, maybe a cardiac condition, and these changes that the body experiences will then offset a stress response, right? Because the body is experiencing these fluctuations. So when we're thinking about the importance of balancing out, right, the body through nutrition, through supplementation, it's really important because anxiety can be, let's say, triggered not just by mental stressors, but also physical and the foods that we eat. There's all, you know, our stress response can also be activated by, for example, changes in our histamine levels, right? So if we're having reaction to our, our environment. It can be anxiety, can be offset by changes in temperature. Pretty much anything that throws our body off can trigger anxiety.

Yeah, no, I know years ago I started to have some panic attacks and it always started where I got a little bit short of breath and then all of a sudden I was like, am I having a heart attack? And then it just started snowballing. And one time I actually went to the hospital and got them to test my heart. And then I realized it was panic attacks and it was all around, you know, I had health issues and I had just moved to a new place. I didn't have a doctor and I'm a little bit of a hypochondriac. So I thought I had cancer as I have on numerous occasions in my life. And so once I got all that sorted out and went through the cycle of the different, the different anti-anxiety medications one could take, ultimately Once I resolved the health issue, it was not an issue, but I know what it feels like to be in that panic attack cycle.

Yeah, definitely. Our body reacts, right? When there's any changes, when anything catches us by surprise, it, or even something like a stomachache, right? A headache. If we have something for a sustained period of time, our body reacts to that. And humans, we have this incredible ability for metacognition. So what this means is we have the ability to think about our thoughts. And that sounds tricky, but let's say that I'm like, I have a stomachache. Well, I can think— I have the ability to think about having a stomachache, right? And then I can come up with a narrative or I can come up— I mean, this is where fear kicks in, right? And then anxiety kicks in. So there is, there is a huge connection with our body, our physical state and anxiety. And also, you know, anxiety is an evolutionary response. It's what's kept us alive as a species, and we are all, we will all experience anxiety at some point. Anxiety is natural, and having that, almost like building a relationship with our anxiety, understanding its purpose, and then also finding ways to soothe and calm our body and establish safety is really important.

Yeah. So have you yourself taken this, this Daily Pack?

Yes, I do actually. I'm currently taking it and I was actually, so I had recent significant life stressors, life changes, car accident, and it really changed my life. It changed a lot of my day to day. In a few months, well, maybe around May, I started taking an SSRI and initially it was helpful, but I started having really, really difficult side effects, really distressing. I started having nightmares, but the nightmares were really scary to the point where I was not wanting to go to sleep, where I would wake up, fall asleep, and kind of go back into these nightmares. I would also experience B-withdrawal symptoms rather fast of it. So if I was late with a dose or even missed a day, I would start to get really dizzy and nauseous. So the side effects side effects were a bit much. So what I did was I started to working up with my provider, titrate down and added in the pack. And I have to say that it really made a difference. I don't have the side effects. I feel good. There was about 3 weeks where I was coming down. I was titrating down before I started the pack. There was a period in time where I wasn't taking the supplements And as soon as I started taking them, within, I would say, 2 weeks, I felt different. And not only that, but there was also notable changes from an outside perspective. I had someone in my life say, "You seem to be doing really well. Like you're, you're in good spirits and you're focused." And it was really awesome. Sometimes it's hard to gauge our own progress at times. It might take a little bit of time to see, but Yeah, definitely. I take it every day and it has been really a blessing for me.

Yeah. And I know you've got a Facebook community group. Have you got a good conversation going in there with the people who've been trying it?

So we just started with the Facebook about 2 weeks ago or maybe, yeah, like 2 or 3 weeks ago. And this was right after I ran a webinar, which is actually, it is available on YouTube. A 30-minute webinar on the, you know, kind of that overlap between nutrition and mental health. And following the webinar, we created the Facebook community to start having a central place. We also do put out content on Instagram and on TikTok is, as of right now, some of our primary sources, but we are looking to build our community. We're in the earlier stages, but it's also a very exciting time because we're, we're building.

Awesome. And where can people find your website and try out the Peace of Mind Daily Packs?

Yeah, so one way would be to go on either on any of the sources on Instagram. Our handle is Join Bekome, and Bekome is with a K. So Join is J-O-I-N-B-E-K-O-M-E. It's the same handle for Facebook. So if you go on Facebook and type in Join Bekome, and our website is also Join Bekome. Joimbecome.co. So instead of .com, it would be joimbecome.co. And all of these sources will have— will redirect to the website. And currently we are offering, which is really exciting. So we have the 7-day pack. We have— initially we only had the 28-day, but we've started offering a 7-day trial. We have a 14-day, we have a 28-day, and then we have a subscription. And this, it's been really great to see, you know, how many people are willing to try it and are returning after the 7-day pack. And again, with the 7-day pack, there is a complimentary 15-minute consultation. So whether this consultation, whether somebody decides to take the consultation before they start or maybe halfway through it, that's, there's wiggle room there. Every customer can choose when they sign up for it.

And I understand that there is a discount for my listeners for 20% off.

Yeah, actually we're gonna go ahead and up that to 30% off.

Wow.

Yeah, so for the 30%, what we're going to do is actually we will call it Lindsey 30.

Okay, perfect.

Anybody that goes in and types in your name with the number 30 at the end, that will give them a 30% off.

Okay, beautiful. So that's just for my people?

Yes, just for you.

Okay. And will— how long will that last?

So we will have this going, you know, we don't necessarily have an end date. So hoping that, you know, assuming that people listen to podcasts at different times, we want to be able to offer it.

Yeah.

Yes.

Awesome. Well, I appreciate you doing that for them.

You're very welcome. We are We're happy to, we're very excited to have different people try it. And more than anything, it's when we put the product out there, we're also passionate about the bigger picture of this, that it wasn't our intention was not by any means to just put out a pack, right. But that really, we really want to build connections, to educate, to support, and however we can get people to feel comfortable. So we're definitely here to do that.

That's awesome. I appreciate that mission. Any final thoughts before we go?

No, just again reiterating how— what an exciting time this is in a way in science, in mental health. At the same time, it can be really overwhelming because we have so many resources available. And sometimes having too many resources, it's hard to know where to go. So I think this is where having trusted sources, and this might be working with a clinician, taking supplements, working with a doctor, but really finding that support can be really, really helpful. So I'd really encourage anyone that is on a journey to mental health to really utilize and access whatever resources are available, because the more educated we are, the more resources we have, the more confident and comfortable we're going to feel in our ability to, to manage our, you know, whatever it is that we're experiencing.

Well, I did appreciate the fact that you had— this was the topic of your dissertation— that you looked at the scientific evidence and the weight of it for each of these ingredients, because, you know, I like everything that I recommend to be evidence-based, which is why I was happy to have you sponsor the podcast and come talk about this. So, so I'm glad to share this with my listeners.

Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, that was, that was so key for me. I think even as a consumer, there's been many times where I might go on, let's say, Amazon, right? And there's so many different supplements, and it's, it's hard to do all of that, that work ourselves, right? To go in and understand. And even if we do all the research, we may not have— there's a little bit of a deeper layer when it comes to to, let's say, the dosages or how ingredients synergize together, right? Like which ingredients work with which ones, which ones do not, contraindications. So there's a lot of little or big nuances that also go into formulation. So for me, I— we wanted to take that, that pressure away and offer something that is evidence-based, that works. Our results also show— so we ran a trial prior to launching And we found that within the first week, there was a 91% improvement, which was really amazing to see that. And the overall was 41% reduction in symptoms. This was measured by a scale. So what we did was we used current scales and we did a baseline prior to starting the supplements. We did, and then we did weekly and at the end. Then we compared the data using the scores and looked across the board to see how individuals were progressing. And we measured a variety of different symptoms, including the physical, maybe palpitations, muscle tightness, but we also looked at mood, feelings of hopefulness. We looked at sleep, at gastrointestinal. So we really tried to look at all of the different buckets of anxiety so that we could see firsthand how it was impacting individuals. And, you know, we were really happy to see that it was very positive.

Great.

Yeah.

Okay. Well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing about this. Thank you. And yeah, I look forward to hearing from some of my listeners who try it and please let me know how it goes.

Absolutely. Thank you so much. I really appreciate everyone listening and thank you for your time, Lindsey Parsons.

Thank you. I'll put all of those links and discount codes in the show notes and hope you'll check it out if you're suffering from anxiety. And if you'd like to connect with me online, you can follow my High Desert Health Facebook page, join my gut healing Facebook group, or join my newsletter list at highdeserthealthcoaching.com, as well as check me out on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Links for all of those are in the show notes. Thanks for joining me today, and here's wishing you all the perfect stool.