Why Healing Your Gut Requires Healing Your Mind, From A Gut Doctor
Throughout my career, I've had dozens of patients whom even my best medicine failed. I had the perfect plan, the right drugs, the nutrition, sleep, exercise, and other lifestyle factors locked in. Over the course of multiple visits, we progressed in our plan, but it just wasn't working. For some patients, it can feel like they've hit a dead end, and it's time to find a new doctor.
The mind-body connection in healing
But often we've just hit the line that exists between the body and the mind. We've reached the furthest limit of what we can do to heal the physical body, and we must now step into the realm of the nonconscious mind and the core self. Unfortunately, most doctors are not trained to do this.
Doctors are taught that there is a diagnosis and a pill or a procedure to treat it. That would work if we were just a physical edifice. But we are so much more. We have a mind that conjures thoughts, memories, and emotions and processes information in ways that are both apparent in our conscious mind, and shrouded, implicit, and behind the scenes in our nonconscious mind. We also have a soul, which is the essence of who we are. It gives us purpose, meaning, and connection to something greater than ourselves. This is our core self.
Finding the root cause of illness
My goal with each patient is to identify the root of their illness and address it. Sometimes our illnesses originate in our physical bodies, and sometimes our physical symptoms come from unwellness in our minds and souls—the relationship between them is intertwined.
So far, I've covered nutrition and lifestyle changes, but that's not where our journey to heal your immune system by way of your gut ends. I want to take you beyond the body and into the opportunity for healing that exists in the mind and soul because in my experience, that's often where the greatest opportunity for healing exists.
A revolutionary approach to gastroenterology
I first learned this in 2010 when I was—reluctantly—assigned to work in the clinic of Dr. Douglass Drossman, Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina. Interesting combination, right? Medicine and psychiatry.
Dr. Drossman is a pioneer in gastroenterology, known for founding the Rome Foundation and advancing our understanding of IBS through the mind-body connection, emphasizing holistic care that addresses both physical and psychological aspects of gut disorders. Without a doubt, his work has transformed the way we diagnose and treat IBS, making him an internationally recognized leader in functional GI medicine.
Discovering healing beyond the physical body
In his clinic, I had the opportunity, for the first time, to see that there was a world beyond for healing the physical body when we focus on the nonconscious mind and the core self. In Dr. Drossman's clinic, we spent multiple hours with every patient.
This was partly because people were flying internationally to see us and partly to facilitate accelerated bonding and maturation of the doctor–patient relationship so that we could discuss sensitive issues like chronic pain, mental health, interpersonal relationships, childhood experiences, trauma, and abuse. I worked with many patients during this time who showed me the power of the mind, soul, and body connections within the gut and the immune system.
Miraculous transformations through emotional healing
In that clinic, I witnessed transformations that were borderline miraculous and that went beyond traditional medicine. I saw patients who had spent years trapped in cycles of chronic pain, digestive distress, and autoimmune flare-ups finally break free—not just through medications but through deep emotional work and a reconnection to their core selves. Lifelong conditions that had defied conventional treatment began to shift as we addressed the underlying trauma, stress, and subconscious patterns driving their symptoms.
It was healing at the deepest level, where mind, body, and gut came together in ways that modern medicine rarely acknowledges.
An MD’s personal health journey
As I sat in that clinic, witnessing profound healing unfold before me, I began to see my own story with greater clarity. Each time a patient unloaded bottled-up emotions, frustrations, and past struggles, I couldn't help but think that I should be the one in that seat.
As I've shared in my other books, this was a time in my life when I was struggling deeply—with gut issues, food intolerances, weight gain, metabolic dysfunction, anxiety, depression, and crushingly low self-esteem. Changing my diet was essential for improving my health. But in order to truly be well and thriving, I needed to address other issues.
Working in Dr. Drossman's clinic opened my mind in ways I hadn't expected. I began to revisit my own childhood, uncovering and processing experiences that were still shaping me in ways I hadn't fully understood. I realized that to truly heal, I had to look beyond what I was eating and address what I was holding on to.
Understanding the gut-brain axis
In the conventional medical model, my digestive and mental health struggles would be treated as separate and distinct issues by a gastroenterologist and psychiatrist. But this fragmented approach overlooks a fundamental truth: The gut and brain are not isolated entities but are deeply intertwined through what we call the gut-brain axis.
The hours upon hours I spent day after day with my patients at this clinic made it increasingly clear to me that there was more going on for me than just "physical health issues" that were separate from "mental health issues."
Excerpted from the new book, Plant Powered Plus: Activate the Power of Your Gut to Tame Inflammation and Reclaim Your Health, by Will Bulsiewicz, M.D., published by Penguin Random House.