1. Dysbiosis: You can either have an overgrowth (too much) or a lack of particular bacteria that can present with similar symptoms. Granted, overgrowths that can cause anxiety are opportunistic.
   .

2. Parasites: Most people contract them through handling animals (pets), eating undercooked meat/fish, contaminated produce or even swimming in something as simple as a lake or walking barefoot. They use one’s organism to feed off the material in the body and reproduce. Keep in mind that we live with parasites inside of us, but there are some that are more detrimental than others.

3. High serotonin: An elevation of serotonin production can impair glucose control (which can be stressful on the body and cause anxiety), blunt our ability to experience pleasure and slow metabolic function which can directly influence our cells from utilizing energy properly. If we lack the ability to make energy, our body gets stressed, and boom, anxiety.
.

4. Lack of digestive enzymes: If one suffers from poor digestion and production of pancreatic enzymes, this can directly result in nutrient imbalances that can affect our mood and blood sugar. For instance, if one isn’t capable of breaking down carbs in producing adequate amylase, one is at risk of not lowering stress levels when the body needs the energy to do so, for carbs help lower cortisol. An inability to digest food and produce enzymes isusually linked to a mineral imbalance.

5. Poor vagal tone: Our vagus nerve is a nerve linking our brain and bowels, connecting to other systems in the middle. It plays a pivotal role in influencing our nervous system, for it helps to signal to our bodies when it should shift to a more “rest and digest” state to a “fight or flight”. Poor vagal tone is a term in which we use to identify a poor connection gut-brain connection, which can show as anxiety.