The Hidden Effects Of Long COVID On Your Gut, Brain & Energy
A few months ago, I got my routine lab work back, and one number stopped me in my tracks. My neuroinflammation marker was off the charts. Which made no sense. I felt great. I was training regularly, sleeping well, and eating clean. But my doctor, Frank Lipman, M.D., told me it could be a lingering sign of Long COVID, even though I hadn’t had symptoms in months.
That revelation led me to Robin Rose, D.O., a double board-certified gastroenterologist and internal medicine specialist, and founder of Terrain Health, where she practices next-generation precision medicine.
On the mindbodygreen podcast, we dug into how viral remnants can linger long after an infection clears, silently impacting the gut, brain, and immune system. I found the conversation incredibly insightful, not just scientifically, but personally, as it helped me make sense of my own experience and gain a deeper understanding of post-viral health.
The unseen aftermath: How Long COVID hides in plain sight
According to Rose, what we call “Long COVID” isn’t always about fatigue or brain fog; it can also manifest as subtle inflammation, digestive shifts, or hormonal changes that fly under the radar. Many people feel totally fine on the surface, yet have ongoing biological stress beneath it.
The culprit, she explained, often lies in persistent spike proteins that linger in the body long after infection. These proteins can trigger immune dysregulation, oxidative stress, and inflammation that quietly wear down systems like the gut and brain. Over time, that chronic stress can accelerate biological aging and increase vulnerability to chronic disease.
Through advanced blood testing, Rose and her team can now identify these lingering viral signatures and assess their impact on different body systems. This is where her approach diverges from conventional medicine.
Her framework integrates systems biology, meaning she looks at the entire terrain of the body: genetics, lifestyle, environmental toxins, nutrition, and microbiome health. It’s an approach built on precision, but also personalization, because the path to recovery looks different for everyone.
The gut-brain-immune connection
Roughly 70% of the immune system1 lives in the gut, and Long COVID can directly disrupt that delicate ecosystem. When the gut lining becomes permeable, inflammation spills into the bloodstream, affecting not just digestion but also brain function, energy production, and detoxification.
She described it as a vicious cycle: viral remnants drive inflammation, which damages the gut lining, which then fuels even more inflammation. Breaking that loop requires supporting the gut’s structural integrity and microbiome diversity, something that can’t be achieved through a quick fix.
Instead, Rose focuses on mitochondrial support, detoxification pathways, and anti-inflammatory nutrition to help the body clear residual viral debris.
What recovery looks like in practice
Healing from Long COVID, or any form of post-viral inflammation, isn’t about a quick fix. It’s a layered, step-by-step process that starts with understanding what’s actually going on inside your body.
According to Rose, this begins with comprehensive testing, including inflammatory markers, mitochondrial function, microbiome analysis, and viral persistence panels, to pinpoint the systems that need support.
Once those imbalances are identified, treatment focuses on restoring balance at the cellular level. That means supporting the body’s natural detox pathways, nourishing the mitochondria, and rebalancing the gut microbiome to strengthen immune and metabolic resilience. Rather than simply masking symptoms, this approach aims to rebuild health from the ground up.
In her practice, Rose often incorporates homeopathic detox protocols designed to open up the kidney, liver, and lymphatic pathways so the body can effectively eliminate lingering toxins and viral debris. She explains that true detoxification only works when the body’s core systems are functioning optimally, meaning adequate sleep, nutrient-rich food, and regular sweating and respiration are essential parts of the process.
The takeaway
As someone who thought he was doing everything right, this experience was humbling. I had no symptoms, yet my body was quietly signaling that something wasn’t quite right.
Long COVID, in many ways, is a wake-up call for all of us. It reminds us that viruses don’t just come and go; they can reshape how our cells function, how our immune system communicates, and how well we age. But the good news is, there’s a path forward.
By understanding our unique biology, supporting our mitochondria, and restoring the gut-immune connection, we can help our bodies recover fully and stay stronger, longer.
