Is Your Anxiety Really an Inflamed Brain Crying for Help?

By Dr. Greg Fors, Board-certified Chiropractic Neurologist
Clinic Director, Pain and Brain Healing Center | Chief Science Officer, Biospec Nutritionals

Series: Inflamed Brain Series
Category: Brain Health; Anxiety & Depression

Key Takeaways

• Neuroinflammation: Anxiety and depression are increasingly linked to inflammation inside the brain (neuroinflammation) rather than just simple chemical imbalances.
• The Microglia Connection: Activated immune cells in the brain, called microglia, can keep the brain in a state of high alert, mimicking a survival response.
• Environmental Triggers: Ultra-processed foods, microplastics, toxins, and nutrient deficiencies are modern "assaults" that trigger brain inflammation.
• Choline's Role: New research suggests that low levels of choline-containing compounds are associated with anxiety disorders and impaired emotional regulation.
• The Path to Healing: Real recovery involves testing for root-cause biological stressors like blood sugar instability, toxic load, and nutrient gaps.

Why this matters now

We are currently facing a global mental health crisis, with nearly 1.2 billion people struggling with mental disorders as of 2023. Most alarmingly, this burden is shifting toward teenagers and even children. When standard "chemical imbalance" explanations fail to provide relief, we must look deeper at the biological terrain: specifically how our modern environment is setting the brain on fire.

Something is happening to our brains.

Anxiety, depression, panic, insomnia, brain fog, emotional overwhelm, and loss of resilience are exploding. We see it in adults. We see it in teenagers. We now see it in children.

This is not normal.

And it is not simply because people are “more stressed” or “less tough” than they used to be. That explanation is too shallow. Something deeper is happening biologically.

We are living through a mental health crisis : but I believe we are also living through a brain inflammation crisis.

A major global analysis estimated that nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide were living with a mental disorder in 2023. Anxiety and depression are leading much of that rise. Even more alarming, the heaviest burden is now falling on teenagers, especially ages 15 to 19.

In pediatric primary care, anxiety-related visits have increased dramatically over the last decade. Parents know this is real. Teachers know this is real. Doctors know this is real.

The question is: why is this happening?

An Inflamed Brain Is Often an Anxious Brain

For years, anxiety and depression were mostly explained as “chemical imbalances.”

Low serotonin. Low dopamine. Low GABA. Low norepinephrine.

Those chemicals matter. But the deeper question is this:

Why is brain chemistry becoming unstable in the first place?

One major answer is neuroinflammation.

Neuroinflammation means inflammation inside the brain and nervous system. The key immune cells involved are called microglia. I like to describe microglia as the brain’s security guards. When there is danger, they activate. In the short term, this is protective.

But when microglia stay activated too long, they can become part of the problem.

Chronically activated microglia release inflammatory chemicals that can disrupt neurotransmitters, irritate brain circuits, interfere with sleep, impair memory, worsen brain fog, and make the emotional centers of the brain more reactive.

In simple terms:

The brain starts acting like it is under attack : even when there is no tiger in the room.

That is anxiety.

That is panic.

That is the wired, exhausted, overwhelmed brain.

That is the person who says, “I know I shouldn’t feel this way, but I can’t shut it off.”

The Modern Brain Is Under Assault

The human brain was not designed for the world we have created.

It was not designed for ultra-processed food, sugar drinks, constant blood sugar spikes, poor sleep, artificial light at night, social media addiction, loneliness, pesticides, plastics, toxic chemicals, and nutritional depletion.

Each one of these can push the brain toward inflammation.

Together, they become a storm.

Food Can Inflame the Brain

The standard American diet is not just bad for the waistline. It is bad for the brain.

Ultra-processed foods are loaded with refined carbohydrates, damaged oils, artificial sweeteners, additives, preservatives, emulsifiers, and flavor chemicals. These foods are designed to be addictive, not nourishing.

And the brain pays the price.

When a child starts the day with cereal, juice, waffles, or a sweetened drink, blood sugar spikes. Insulin spikes. Then blood sugar crashes. The body releases adrenaline and cortisol to rescue blood sugar.

The child feels shaky, irritable, foggy, emotional, or panicky.

The parent calls it anxiety.

The body calls it survival.

Many adults are living on that same roller coaster all day long : coffee, sugar, refined carbs, stress, skipped meals, more caffeine, more cravings, poor sleep, repeat.

A calmer blood sugar curve often means a calmer brain.

This is why I care so much about fasting glucose, fasting insulin, A1c, and HOMA-IR. I do not want to wait until someone becomes diabetic before we admit their brain is being injured by metabolic chaos.

Toxins and Plastics Are Not Innocent

We also have to talk honestly about toxic exposure.

We are exposed to pesticides, solvents, flame retardants, BPA, phthalates, heavy metals, air pollution, and thousands of industrial chemicals that previous generations never encountered at this level.

These chemicals can disrupt hormones, mitochondria, detoxification pathways, neurotransmitters, and immune signaling. They can also activate the brain’s inflammatory immune cells.

And now we have microplastics.

Recent research has confirmed microplastics and nanoplastics in human tissues, including the brain. In one study, the brain contained substantially more microplastic burden than liver or kidney tissue. (Read more on this in our deep dive: Plastic Has Entered the Human Brain).

That should stop us in our tracks.

The liver and kidneys are organs of elimination. Yet the brain appears to be accumulating these particles at high levels.

I am not saying microplastics are the only cause of anxiety or depression. That would be too simplistic.

But I am saying this:

If plastic particles are being found in human brain tissue, and if anxiety, depression, dementia, brain fog, and neuroinflammation are all rising, we had better start paying attention.

Nutritional Deficiency: A Starved Brain Cannot Calm Itself

The brain requires nutrients to build neurotransmitters, repair membranes, regulate inflammation, support mitochondria, and produce energy.

A malnourished brain is not a calm brain.

Key nutrients include omega-3 fats, magnesium, vitamin D, B vitamins, zinc, iron, antioxidants, and one nutrient that deserves far more attention:

Choline.

Choline is essential for brain cell membranes and for making acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in memory, attention, learning, and emotional regulation.

A 2025 brain imaging meta-analysis found that people with anxiety disorders had lower levels of choline-containing compounds in important brain regions involved in thinking, planning, focus, and emotional control. The reduction was about 8% in higher-quality studies.

That matters.

The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that helps you pause, think, regulate emotions, and calm the primitive fear centers.

When the prefrontal cortex is underpowered, the emotional brain takes over.

That is when a person knows they are overreacting but cannot stop.

That is when a child melts down and cannot recover.

That is when an adult lies awake at 2 a.m. with the same thought looping over and over again.

Choline is not a magic cure for anxiety. But low choline may be one more sign that the anxious brain is under biological stress.

Choline-rich foods include egg yolks, liver, fish, meats, soy foods, and cruciferous vegetables. In some patients, targeted forms such as citicoline or alpha-GPC may be considered, especially when brain fog, poor focus, cognitive fatigue, or inflammatory issues are present.

Children Are the Warning Signal

Children are not small adults.

Their brains are still developing. Their emotional regulation systems are still forming. Their microbiome, immune system, hormones, sleep rhythms, and detoxification systems are still maturing.

When we expose children to sugar, ultra-processed food, artificial dyes, poor sleep, screens, social isolation, toxic chemicals, and nutritional deficiency, we should not be surprised when their brains struggle.

We must stop blaming children for having overwhelmed brains in an overwhelming world.

The Good News: The Brain Can Heal

This article is not about fear.

It is about urgency.

The brain is living tissue. It can calm. It can repair. It can rewire. But we have to stop pouring gasoline on the fire.

That means asking better questions.

Clues Worth Looking For

At the Pain and Brain Healing Center, we look for clinical and lab clues that suggest the brain is under fire:

• Blood Sugar Stability: Fasting glucose, fasting insulin, A1c, and HOMA-IR.
• Inflammatory Markers: hs-CRP, ESR, and cytokine levels.
• Nutrient Gaps: Vitamin D, B12, folate, RBC magnesium, zinc, and iron status.
• Detoxification Load: Assessing for environmental toxins or heavy metals.
• The Gut-Brain Axis: Evaluating gut health, as it is a major source of systemic inflammation.

These are the questions we ask. Where do we start? We start by testing, not guessing.

Then we work to lower the load.

1. Remove the foods that inflame the brain.
2. Stabilize blood sugar.
3. Improve sleep.
4. Restore nutrient status.
5. Support the gut.
6. Reduce toxic exposure.
7. Move the body.
8. Rebuild human connection.
9. Calm the nervous system.

This is not a quick-fix model. It is a rebuild-the-brain model.

The Message I Want Every Patient to Hear

Anxiety and depression are real. They are not weakness. They are not moral failure. They are not simply bad thinking. They are often signs that the brain and body are under biological stress.

The brain may be inflamed. The immune system may be activated. The blood sugar system may be unstable. The nutrient tank may be empty. The mitochondria may be exhausted. The toxic load may be too high. The nervous system may be stuck in survival mode.

But that also means there is hope. Because if the terrain can be damaged, it can also be rebuilt.

You do not have to wait until anxiety takes over your life. You do not have to wait until depression deepens. You do not have to wait until your child is falling apart. You do not have to accept brain fog, insomnia, panic, and emotional exhaustion as “normal.”

The brain is speaking. The question is whether we are willing to listen.

Ready to Look Deeper?

At the Pain and Brain Healing Center, we look beyond symptoms and ask what may be driving the brain into inflammation, stress, and survival mode.

If you or someone you love is struggling with anxiety, depression, insomnia, brain fog, fatigue, or emotional overwhelm, it may be time to investigate the biological terrain underneath the symptoms.

Ready to stop guessing and get a real plan? book your free consultation/intake here: https://painandbrainhealingcenter.com/free-consultation-intake/ … and start addressing the root cause.

Healing begins when we stop guessing : and start listening to what the brain is trying to tell us.

References

• Global burden of mental disorders, 2023 Analysis.
• Pediatric anxiety trends in primary care (2014-2024).
• Brain imaging meta-analysis of anxiety disorders and choline-containing compounds (2025).
• Microplastics and nanoplastics in human brain tissue, Environmental Science & Technology (2024).

Educational only. This is not personal medical advice. If you or someone you love is in immediate danger or thinking about self-harm, seek emergency help immediately. In the United States, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call emergency services.