Functional medicine nutritionist Rachel Scheer joins Dr. Lipov to explore trauma, gut health, and the surprising science linking mental health to the microbiome.

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In this science-rich episode of Brain Hope Reality, Dr. Eugene Lipov sits down with Rachel Scheer, a functional medicine nutritionist, public speaker, and founder of Rachel Scheer Nutrition. A former competitive bodybuilder, Scheer shares how her personal health crisis — including chronic gut issues, hormone imbalance, and years of misdiagnosis — led her to reframe healing from the inside out. Their conversation explores the connections between trauma, sympathetic nervous system activation, and gut dysfunction, with a shared belief that mental health is deeply biological and profoundly treatable.

Scheer introduces the emerging field of psychobiotics — specific probiotics and microbial strains that can improve mood, sleep, anxiety, and even PTSD symptoms via the gut-brain axis. The two discuss candidiasis, SIBO, leaky gut, and how low-diversity gut flora can impair vagal tone and emotional resilience. As someone who’s both a patient and a practitioner, Scheer reflects on the healing power of integration — pairing nervous system regulation (like Dr. Lipov’s stellate ganglion block treatment) with gut-targeted protocols and root-cause nutrition. With clarity and conviction, this episode offers a new framework for recovery: one that respects physiology, empowers patients, and invites collaboration across medical disciplines.