Anxiety From a Functional Perspective: What Your Body Might Be Telling You

Anxiety is exhausting. The racing thoughts, the tightness in your chest, the sense that something is wrong even when nothing specific is happening - it takes a toll on your quality of life and your health. If you struggle with anxiety, you have probably been told it is "just stress" or offered medication as the primary solution.

But what if anxiety is not simply a malfunction of your mind? What if your body is sending signals that something needs attention - and those signals are being expressed as anxiety?

This is the functional perspective: looking at anxiety not as something to suppress, but as information pointing toward underlying imbalances that, when addressed, can bring genuine relief.

Anxiety Is a Whole-Body Experience

Anxiety does not happen only in your head. It involves your nervous system, your hormones, your gut, and your blood sugar - all of which influence how you feel emotionally. This is why addressing anxiety solely through talk therapy or medication sometimes falls short. The physical contributors may still be there, driving the experience.

Some common physical factors that contribute to anxiety:

The Gut-Brain Connection

Your gut and brain are in constant communication through the vagus nerve and through chemical messengers. Your gut produces about 95 percent of your body's serotonin, a neurotransmitter essential for mood regulation. It also produces GABA, your calming neurotransmitter.

When gut health is compromised - due to dysbiosis, leaky gut, inflammation, or infections - this production is affected. Many people with chronic anxiety also have digestive issues, and this is not coincidence. Addressing gut health often improves anxiety, sometimes dramatically.

Blood Sugar Instability

When your blood sugar drops too low, your body perceives it as a threat and releases stress hormones - adrenaline and cortisol - to raise it back up. These are the same hormones released during a panic attack. If your blood sugar is on a rollercoaster throughout the day, you are essentially triggering your stress response repeatedly.

Many people with anxiety feel significantly better when they stabilise their blood sugar through eating patterns that include protein and fat with each meal and reduce refined carbohydrates.

Chronic Stress and Cortisol

Chronic stress keeps your nervous system in a state of heightened alert. Over time, your stress response can become dysregulated - either staying chronically elevated or becoming depleted. Either way, anxiety often accompanies this dysregulation.

Addressing chronic stress and supporting the nervous system's ability to shift into relaxation mode can help reset this pattern.

Thyroid Imbalance

Both overactive and underactive thyroid can cause or worsen anxiety. Hyperthyroidism often presents with anxiety, racing heart, and restlessness. Even subclinical thyroid issues can contribute to mood symptoms.

Hormonal Fluctuations

Many women notice anxiety worsening at certain points in their menstrual cycle, during perimenopause, or postpartum. Estrogen and progesterone affect neurotransmitter function, and hormonal shifts can trigger anxiety even in people who have never experienced it before.

Nutrient Deficiencies

Several nutrients are essential for calm nervous system function and neurotransmitter production. Deficiencies in magnesium, B vitamins, vitamin D, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids have all been linked to increased anxiety. These deficiencies are common and often overlooked.

Inflammation

Systemic inflammation affects brain function and has been linked to both anxiety and depression. Inflammation can come from gut issues, food sensitivities, chronic infections, blood sugar problems, or environmental toxins.

Caffeine and Stimulants

Caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline and can directly provoke or worsen anxiety. For sensitive individuals, even moderate amounts can be problematic. If you struggle with anxiety, examining your caffeine intake is worthwhile.

Working With Your Body

Addressing anxiety from a functional perspective means looking at all the factors that might be contributing and addressing them alongside - or sometimes before - conventional approaches.

Support your gut. If you have digestive issues, addressing them may help your anxiety. Consider an elimination diet to identify food sensitivities, support your microbiome with probiotic foods or supplements, and address any gut infections or imbalances.

Stabilize your blood sugar. Eat regular meals that include protein and healthy fat. Avoid starting your day with sugar or refined carbohydrates. Notice whether anxiety worsens before meals or when you have gone too long without eating.

Reduce caffeine. Try cutting back or eliminating caffeine for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference. This includes not just coffee but also tea, energy drinks, and chocolate.

Address nutrient deficiencies. Consider testing for common deficiencies, particularly magnesium, vitamin D, and B12. Magnesium in particular has calming effects, and many people find supplementation helpful for anxiety.

Support your nervous system. Practices that activate your parasympathetic nervous system can help shift you out of the chronic stress state. Deep breathing with extended exhales, meditation, gentle yoga, cold exposure, and vagus nerve exercises can all help.

Move your body. Regular exercise has strong evidence for reducing anxiety. It burns off stress hormones, releases endorphins, and helps regulate the nervous system. Find movement that feels good rather than stressful.

Prioritize sleep. Sleep deprivation significantly worsens anxiety. If sleep is a struggle, addressing it is essential. Good sleep hygiene, addressing blood sugar issues that cause night waking, and sometimes targeted supplements can help.

Examine thyroid and hormones. If anxiety appeared suddenly, worsened with age, or fluctuates with your cycle, hormones may be involved. Testing thyroid function (including a complete panel) and discussing hormonal factors with a knowledgeable practitioner can be valuable.

The Role of the Nervous System

Many people with chronic anxiety have nervous systems stuck in a pattern of hypervigilance. This is not something wrong with you - it is often an adaptation to past experiences or prolonged stress. But patterns can be changed.

Working with the nervous system directly - through breathwork, somatic practises, or therapies like EMDR - can help reset these patterns. This is different from just "calming down" or "relaxing" - it is actually rewiring how your nervous system responds to the world.

Both/And, Not Either/Or

Looking at anxiety functionally does not mean rejecting conventional approaches. Therapy can be invaluable for understanding patterns and developing coping strategies. Medication can be necessary and helpful for some people, especially when anxiety is severe.

But adding the functional lens - asking what physical factors might be contributing - often reveals additional avenues for relief. Sometimes addressing a few underlying issues makes therapy more effective, or allows someone to eventually reduce medication.

Anxiety is real, and you deserve to feel better. If you have been struggling despite conventional treatment, or if you want to address root causes rather than just manage symptoms, exploring the physical contributors to anxiety is worth your time.

Your body and mind are not separate. What supports one supports the other.

Want to explore related topics? Learn about stress and cortisol, understand the gut-brain connection, or explore nervous system regulation.