What Constipation, Anxiety, and Low Energy All Have in Common
- Brainz Magazine
- Aug 22, 2025
- 4 min read
Chelsea Caler is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner specializing in helping high-performing women overcome low energy, chronic gut and hormone issues, and burnout. She combines personalized functional lab work with holistic lifestyle strategies to rebuild resilience and support whole-body wellness so that you can find your zest again.
If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “Why do I always feel off in multiple areas of my health?” You’re not alone. Maybe you’ve struggled with constipation for years. Or maybe anxiety has crept in, seemingly out of nowhere. Or perhaps no matter how much you sleep, you wake up dragging, feeling like caffeine is the only way to function.
Most women in their 30s and 40s tell me they’ve tried to solve these problems one at a time:
A magnesium powder to “get things moving.”
A prescription or meditation app for anxiety.
A new workout or supplement to boost energy.
But here’s the catch: these issues aren’t separate. They’re connected, deeply. And chasing fixes for each individual symptom can leave you exhausted, overwhelmed and wondering why nothing sticks.
The truth? Constipation, anxiety and low energy often trace back to the same root causes: gut health and mineral imbalances.
The gut-brain-energy connection
Let’s start with your gut.
Your digestive system isn’t just about breaking down food. It’s a hub for your immune system, hormone balance and neurotransmitter production (yes, the very chemicals that regulate mood and anxiety). Roughly 90% of serotonin, your “feel-good” neurotransmitter, is made in the gut. If your digestion is sluggish, inflamed or imbalanced, your mood will feel it too.
Now add minerals to the mix. These tiny spark plugs power almost every cellular function in your body: turning food into energy, supporting your nervous system and fueling your muscles (including the muscles in your gut that move waste along).
When minerals like magnesium, sodium, and potassium get depleted from stress, poor sleep, processed food, overexercising, or even birth control, your gut slows down, your nervous system struggles to regulate, and your energy production bottoms out.
In other words:
Constipation → often tied to low magnesium or sluggish bile flow.
Anxiety → often linked to imbalances in sodium/potassium ratios and poor gut signaling.
Low energy → tied to mitochondrial function, which depends heavily on mineral reserves.
See how they’re not separate problems? They’re symptoms of the same foundation.
What the research says
A study in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry highlighted the strong link between altered gut microbiota and anxiety disorders. (Cryan & Dinan, 2012)
Magnesium deficiency has been correlated with increased risk of both constipation and anxiety, since magnesium regulates smooth muscle contraction in the gut and calms the nervous system. (Nutrients, 2020)
Mitochondrial function, which generates your energy (ATP), is directly dependent on minerals like magnesium, iron, and copper. Without these, fatigue sets in no matter how much caffeine you drink. (Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2018)
The science backs what many of us intuitively feel. When the gut is off and minerals are depleted, everything feels harder.
Why quick fixes don’t last
Here’s the mistake so many women make: We compartmentalize.
We think constipation just needs fiber. Anxiety just needs therapy. Fatigue just needs more sleep.
But unless you rebuild your foundation, digestion + minerals, those fixes won’t hold. They’re like patching potholes on a crumbling road.
The simplicity of root-cause healing
The good news? You don’t need 27 different supplements, another diet or extreme restriction to feel better. You need to:
Replenish minerals → through nutrient-dense whole foods and personalized mineral support.
Support gut health → by identifying inflammation, balancing microbes and restoring motility.
Reduce stress on the system → learning how to downshift your nervous system so your body can actually absorb and use nutrients.
When we put these pieces together, constipation eases, anxiety softens and energy naturally comes back online.
A real-life shift
One of my clients came to me with years of “random” issues: bloating, restless sleep, panic attacks and feeling like she needed caffeine or any boost at 2pm just to survive the workday. She’d already seen GI specialists, tried antidepressants and cycled through diets.
After running functional labs, we uncovered depleted magnesium, sodium, calcium, potassium, sluggish bile flow, suppressed digestive function and low commensal gut bacteria. Instead of giving her yet another supplement for energy or anxiety, we rebuilt her foundation.
Within weeks, she was finally regular in the bathroom.
Within 2 months, her panic episodes stopped.
Her energy stabilized to the point where she no longer “needed” caffeine to function.
It wasn’t magic. It was simply filling the cracks in her foundation.
The takeaway
If you’re sitting there thinking your constipation, anxiety, and low energy are three separate battles, I want you to pause and ask: what if they’re all signals from the same place?
Your body isn’t failing you. It’s communicating. And when you restore gut health and minerals, the transformation ripples out into every part of your life.
Ready to simplify your health and get to the root of what’s really going on?
This is exactly the detective work I do with women in their 30s and 40s, guiding them through simple, step-by-step strategies to restore energy, calm, and digestion.
Make sure you follow me on Instagram and grab my free resources: @mindfulmonet
Apply here and let’s map out your first steps.
Read more from Chelsea Caler
Chelsea Caler, Functional Wellness Practitioner
Chelsea Caler is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner who pivoted from a successful career in commodity trading and consulting to functional wellness consulting after her own battle with burnout, chronic health challenges, and a profound identity shift. Her mission is to help high-performing women simplify and get intentional with their health and wellness journeys. By uncovering and addressing the cracks in the foundation, she supports her clients in rebuilding resilience from the ground up and inside out. Combining functional lab testing with personalized strategies, she makes complex concepts approachable, guiding her clients toward vibrant, sustainable health.
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