The Missing Link Between Mental and Metabolic Health
By Heather Freed, LCSW | Freed Minds Holistic Therapy in Illinois & Missouri
Have you ever felt exhausted for no reason? Foggy-headed, emotionally drained, or easily overwhelmed—no matter how hard you try to “get it together”?
I’ve been there. For most of my twenties, I lived in a cycle of wired fatigue. I was foggy, irritable, and deeply disconnected from myself. Traditional approaches helped, but it wasn’t until I began healing holistically—cleaning up my diet, moving daily, meditating, and reducing toxins in my home—that everything started to shift. Slowly, I regained energy, clarity, calm, and—most importantly—I felt like me again.
What I didn’t know then was that I was restoring the energy system of my brain. And that changed everything.
What Is Brain Energy?
Your brain is like a high-powered machine—it makes up only 2% of your body weight but uses 20–25% of your body’s total energy. Every emotion, memory, behavior, or decision depends on your brain’s ability to generate and use energy efficiently.
“Mental disorders are not distinct diseases. They are symptoms of underlying metabolic dysfunction in brain cells.”
— Dr. Chris Palmer, Harvard Psychiatrist and author of Brain Energy
When brain cells don’t get the energy they need, communication breaks down. This may look like:
Chronic depression or low mood
Anxiety that loops, even after years of therapy
Brain fog or cognitive fatigue
Emotional outbursts, numbness, or burnout
Symptoms that don’t improve with medication alone
Your Brain Is a City—Powered by a Grid
Think of your brain like a vibrant, complex city.
Everything—the lights, communication systems, trains, and traffic—runs on electricity. In this analogy, your brain’s metabolic system is the power grid.
When the grid is working, everything flows: you think clearly, feel emotionally regulated, and connect with others. But when the grid shorts out—due to inflammation, toxins, nutrient gaps, or stress—your brain flickers, crashes, and misfires. It’s not that the city is broken. It’s that the power system needs repair.
This is what’s happening in many cases of mental illness: the emotional symptoms are real—but they’re often signs of deeper metabolic dysfunction.
What’s Draining Your Brain Energy?
Many of us are unknowingly overloading our brain's power grid. Here are common energy leaks:
📱 Too much screen time → disrupts circadian rhythm and sleep
🪑 Sitting all day → lowers oxygen flow and blood sugar regulation
🧃 Processed foods + sugar → cause inflammation and energy crashes
🧴 Toxins in water, air, food, and products → burden your detox pathways
😔 Chronic stress or unresolved trauma → locks the brain in survival mode
💤 Poor sleep routines → impair memory, mood, and resilience
🍷 Substance use (alcohol, cannabis, stimulants, even meds) → disrupts dopamine, gut health, and mitochondrial energy
🌿 Nutrient deficiencies → affect neurotransmitter production and focus
These aren’t just lifestyle annoyances—they are neurochemical stressors that damage your brain’s mitochondria (the power plants inside each cell).
Wellness Practice: A Gentle Metabolic Reset
Start small. Here's one powerful way to begin restoring your grid:
Try a 12-Hour Overnight Fast
Stop eating after dinner (e.g., 7 p.m.) and wait until breakfast (7 a.m.) to eat again. This gives your cells time to reset, reduce inflammation, and restore energy.
Bonus: Stack it with morning sunlight and movement—even a short walk—to activate your circadian rhythm and get your energy system online.
Why It Works:
🧠 Boosts BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), supporting learning, focus, and mood
🔄 Stimulates autophagy, your body’s cellular cleanup system
💪 Improves insulin sensitivity, helping you avoid mood crashes
🔥 Lowers inflammation, a root cause of many mood and mental health issues
You’re Not Broken—You’re Burned Out
If you’ve tried everything—talk therapy, medications, mindset work—but still feel stuck, you’re not alone. For many people, what’s missing isn’t more willpower or positive thinking—it’s energy. The fuel to function. The spark to heal.
At Freed Minds Holistic Therapy, I help clients in Illinois and Missouri reconnect with that spark—through evidence-based therapy, brain-body practices, and practical lifestyle change.
You were born with the power to feel clear, calm, connected, and alive. And that power can be restored.
🌀 Let’s bring the lights back on.