The Brain & Gut Institute

The Brain & Gut Institute Specializing in the Brain & Gut communication via the Vagus nerve for complete healing. BG Mancini, AP, has specialized in Natural Medicine since 1996.

She combines acupuncture, cold laser meridian therapy, dietary consultation and Nutrition Response Testing to achieve optimal results. I love working with patients to both treat and educate they can make simple adjustments to achieve the quality of life they hope for and is truly possible. Life is meant to be filled with joy, vitality and possibility! Doing More Than Treating Symptoms: This is th

e foundation of my practice, a core belief: Addressing the underlying dysfunction that is causing your unwanted symptoms is of utmost importance to prevent recurrence. By treating the root of the problem we are stopping the constant inflammation cycle in the body that eventually leads to degenerative issues. Remember...the body is always trying to heal...that is it's primary mission!

✨Therapists and clinicians across disciplines are silently circling the unnamed shifts that clients are experiencing tha...
05/15/2026

✨Therapists and clinicians across disciplines are silently circling the unnamed shifts that clients are experiencing that often pause, plateau or undermine their safety, regulation and sustained progress.

The nervous system’s available capacity when immune and inflammatory load remains high.

‼️ Chronic inflammatory signaling does not stay in the body.

🧠 Through the brain–gut–immune axis and ✨sensory input - it directly shapes vagal tone, neurotransmitter balance, and stress physiology, determining whether regulation is biologically accessible in the moment.

📈 When this load persists, anxiety, depression, fatigue, insomnia, and cognitive fog become more prevalent and often create fear physiology.

🔬 🔎 This view incorporates the physiological basis for the chemical cocktail we live each moment.

🙌🏻✨We all require interdisciplinary support based on the whole system experience.

🫶This supports the therapeutic relationship, the clinicians nervous system and by clarifying when additional physiological scaffolding may be required👉🏼this creates agency for clients and patients by naming their experience and giving them a roadmap for supportive changes in between therapy sessions.

📣 Public Service Announcement: ANXIETY, mystery illnesses, missed diagnoses, and unexplained symptoms!🚨 Mast Cell Activa...
05/13/2026

📣 Public Service Announcement: ANXIETY, mystery illnesses, missed diagnoses, and unexplained symptoms!

🚨 Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) is affecting Women and Children at a disproportionate rate and is less likely to be diagnosed in men.

Read the image. Do these sound familiar?

The image only shows the outside symptoms and doesn’t speak to the internal:
‼️ Inflammation
🧠 Microglial activation
😵‍💫 Behavioral changes
😦 Anxiety and 😞 Depression

My favorite support product is DHist by Orthomolecular, it can be a game changer!

Tips to modulate exposure:

🏠 1. Environmental irritants
Mold, VOCs, fragrances, and poor ventilation increase mast cell reactivity.
💡 Run a HEPA purifier, keep humidity 40-50%.

🍗 2. High histamine foods
Aged, fermented, cured, and long-stored foods raise histamine fast.
💡 Cook smaller batches and freeze instead of refrigerating for days.

🌳 3. Chronic sympathetic activation
Stress, sensory load, and poor sleep increase histamine release.
💡 Add short MicroResets: a visual reset, slow exhale cycles, or fresh air.

🥵 4. Hormonal fluctuations
Rising estrogen increases mast cell sensitivity and cyclical histamine spikes.
💡 Track your symptom patterns.

🦠 5. Infections or chronic inflammation
Tick borne infections, viral reactivations, and mold prime mast cells.
💡 Regular meals, gentle movement, hydration, and targeted Functional testing.

🍭 6. Additives and preservatives
Sulfites, dyes, and packaging chemicals can trigger histamine release.
💡 Choose simple ingredient lists and rotate brands to find hidden irritants.

💩 7. Histamine producing gut bacteria

Helpful options:
Low histamine probiotics:
• Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG
• Lactobacillus plantarum (non histamine producing strains only)
• Bifidobacterium infantis
• Bifidobacterium longum
• Spore based blends like Bacillus coagulans or Bacillus subtilis (well tolerated in many people)

Calming fibers:
Start with a sprinkle… and then wait a day add in more as you tolerate.
PHGG, Acacia, Psyllium husk, or cooked and cooled root vegetables

💡 Start slow, pair fibers with hydration, and choose strains known to stabilize rather than stimulate the gut immune system.

04/29/2026

💃🏻I had the pleasure of sitting with Emma Stapleton of Masters Events Ltd to discuss the foundation of change, safety, and including the body in supporting trauma, mental health, and understanding how we can use our understanding of the body to create more agency.

📊The amount of input we are processing beneath our conscious awareness is unfathomable; it's creating metabolic and biological changes within us that are the drivers of our emotions, reactions, and external expression that we call behavior.

🌱Therapists and clinicians have started to share these drivers and plant seeds for their patients, and it's very exciting!

💞As clients begin to understand what else might be contributing to how they feel in the moment, agency is restored, and more choices are available!

The threat physiology we experience can be reduced when we know what's impacting us.
ie: Inflammation, lights, sound, fascia, Brain-gut signaling, and more~ It's all connected.

In today's firehouse of information that is constantly eroding our safety through MicroTraumas, putting easy buffers in to reduce the drain on metabolic reserves supports everything from anxiety to brain fog to sleep quality.

🌍When we feel "safe enough," as Dr. Porges says, we can stay more present within a therapeutic relationship, and then! Can connect more deeply with oneself, loved ones, and the world around us.

The lens of Polyvagal Theory has informed so much of my work~ it's a lens I looked back over 30 years of clinical work and understood things differently.

Whether the tool is neuro-integrative medicine, supplements, movement, therapy, red light, cold plunge- the goal is to find what the nervous system will find creates more safety- in order to utilize the therapies being presented.

🎧Listen to the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4z55w7L6oH0PFwSWtbmWlu?si=i0AdOV33Rj2V7MPeLww3Xg

01/20/2026

✨ Final week to register! Get usable tools to help guide the brain, body, and nervous system back to safety: For individuals, parents, and clinicians✨

💓 I’m deeply grateful for the feedback from the first cohort. Many shared that this information gave them language for experiences they’ve lived with for years, without understanding why their system responded the way it did.

I truly believe this is a roadmap we should have been given as children. How to understand our inner and outer worlds in a way that supports agency, safety, and choice.

Recovering autonomic health sits at the center of everything I share, both personally and professionally. Our relationship with self, like all relationships, includes moments of disconnection and reconnection, unfolding through the body in real time.

As sensory overload, gut microbiome strain, food stressors, inflammation, relational tension, and environmental input accumulate, the nervous system often adapts by protecting. Checking out is not a flaw. It’s physiology responding to load.

If this resonates with you as an individual, a parent supporting a child, or a clinician working at a systems level, the 2nd cohort with the Polyvagal Institute begins 1/28 and is still enrolling. I look forward to being a part of your continued learning.

✨ Link in bio

🧠✨This was an incredible event! I’m truly grateful to have been a speaker here, and sharing the connection of safety t...
11/08/2025

🧠✨This was an incredible event! I’m truly grateful to have been a speaker here, and sharing the connection of safety through the lens.

I was deeply inspired by all of the other speakers!
🙏I can’t wait for Spain next year! #2026

Polyvagal Institute International conference this weekend was a haven of warmth, connection and coregulation with important tools on how to support ourselves, our families and clients to feel better now.

Hugs and heart-felt connections abound when you put heart-centered humans together 😊.
💕 for creating safety in presence with self and others, and always with you. 😘
✨ Michael Allison seeing & bringing connection and healing in moments we might otherwise miss✨
🙏 💕Arielle Schwartz for giving our collective cues of safety through the understandable physiology of our experience & movement (that HU HA breath was amazing!)
🤗 Sue Carter- clinical tip! We need for oxytocin to bind- and 80% of us are deficient!)
🧘 Donnalea Van Vleet Goelz PhD for sharing the ease and joy 🤩 of breath and movement.
🥰 Elisa Song, MD delivered a difficult to hear message that managed to land gently because of her warmth and deep kindness/care for children and families!
for her presence, breathwork & joy!

I have used light and sound for over 20 years to help restore safety in the nervous system.
It was restorative to listen to 🎶 Anthony Gorry for illuminating the incredible healing power of Sonocea®

✨💕And of course Stephen Porges , for his presence and generosity of spirit, he gave a new and exciting talk that had me, and everyone filled with more questions and inspiration for what comes next!

🚀 Keira Barr, MD was really special to spend time with you and see how people responded to your important Poster!

🧠AUTOIMMUNE/ANS DYSREGULATION: Vagus Nerve Support: Why this matters for everyone! Cues of safety to the nervous system...
08/25/2025

🧠AUTOIMMUNE/ANS DYSREGULATION: Vagus Nerve Support: Why this matters for everyone! Cues of safety to the nervous system are changing symptoms! Less self-attacking antibodies in autoimmunity condition = safety in the body and brain = higher quality of life, play, joy. ✨

Article published in the NYT shows: SetPoint, has been approved after rigorous trials and proven to help modulate autoimmune symptoms. See comments for article link

**Autoimmune patients experience a unique additional trauma to those diagnosed with illnesses that aren’t: They are told their own body is attacking them, their “home” their body, is not safe and is the cause of their distress.

Vagus nerve stimulation has been the subject of research for years, including benefits for:
Better sleep, cognition, a calmer mind, and improved mood.
I’ve also seen better digestion, muscle tone relaxed, reduced anxiety and the list goes on.

Pro Tip below ⬇ WHY children may self-select down to a few foods which further impair their:💩Gut Health: Limited food va...
03/19/2025

Pro Tip below ⬇ WHY children may self-select down to a few foods which further impair their:

💩Gut Health: Limited food variety means limited fuel for good gut bacteria, impacting digestion and nutrient absorption.

🧠Neurology: The gut-brain connection is real! A struggling gut can hinder brain development and function.

😡Behavior: Mood swings, tantrums, and even hyperactivity can sometimes be linked to gut issues.

😃Digestion: A lack of diverse gut bacteria can lead to digestive discomfort and issues like constipation or diarrhea.

🕳Leaky Gut Status:** Constant exposure to the same limited foods may irritate the gut lining, potentially contributing to leaky gut.

😎Here's the surprising twist! Your child's gut is constantly talking to their body, influencing these very things.

Intestinal epithelial cells, like tiny gatekeepers, line your digestive system and chat with your body about the food you eat!

😲💥 WAIT? WHAT'S THAT? 😲💥

The gut microbiome makeup can influence our textural and taste choices!

This explains what I've seen clinically for YEARS. Children with certain 3 & 4 letter diagnoses choose only a few foods that are often similar in texture and taste and always inflammatory, unfortunately. (Think chicken nuggets, soft sugar-based desserts etc.)

These cells deal with a constant flow of food components, good gut bacteria (microbiota), and even foreign invaders. They use this intel to adjust how your body absorbs nutrients, fights off bad stuff, and keeps things balanced.

🏆PRO TIP: Add in a small sprinkle of mixed fibers into any food they are eating or google "microbiome mashup video" and get even a tsp a day into their (and YOUR food) you gut, brain, immune and nervous system will thank you! 🥰

🥴Where on the pyramid are you, your children, or your Pediatric patients struggling? Tips to strengthen the foundation b...
03/17/2025

🥴Where on the pyramid are you, your children, or your Pediatric patients struggling? Tips to strengthen the foundation below. ⬇

📝Please make note, learning is at the very tippy top of the pyramid.🔺

The Central Nervous System (CNS) is the foundation for pediatric and adult wellbeing.

What does this have to do with children and their emotional and neurological development?

Everything! The CNS is directly informing the vagus nerve and our ability to feel safe and connect. 🤗 this is our starting point as humans.

🤿Let’s dive into what impacts a child’s CNS and what we can do with the 5% rule to help them experience things differently which leads to different outcomes and behaviors!

🤨Change what goes in and you WILL change what comes out!

- stress from all sensory input
- 5% change: are there sounds, lights, scents that can be made to be more comfortable and can you add in proprioception- connection to self through body signals.

Reducing overstimulation improves unwanted reactivity in exchange for responsiveness in our body and behavior ✨🤗🚀

- 5% change: add in any vestibular exercise improves the network of communication in the brain 🧠

🔑 🔐 📣
Key is also making sure that food sensitivities, chemical exposures, mold and all of the other big components (Harvard agrees!) are mitigated.

💪🏻 These are STRONGLY increasing overall physical and neurological inflammation and impacting our gut which directly informs our emotional states, resilience and the ability to switch between regulation and dysregulation.

🚀 Be ahead of the times! ⏰Eventually, everyone will see the truth: We must stop over-pathologizing children and start ad...
03/16/2025

🚀 Be ahead of the times! ⏰

Eventually, everyone will see the truth: We must stop over-pathologizing children and start addressing their real needs.

(Quick intro if we haven't met: 27 years working with kids, inflammation, neuroplasticity, the gut, and beyond—alongside top experts in each field.)

🍕🍦 Kids are eating the same inflammatory foods as adults—why wouldn’t they develop the same neuroinflammation, brain fog, and discomfort?

📱💡 Add in digital overload, nonstop sensory input, and a sedentary lifestyle, and we have a recipe for impaired neurological, emotional, and physical development. (Harvard research agrees.)

🔎 But we’re missing the signs because we view children through outdated diagnostic lenses.

🙌🏼🎉 The most effective therapies and interventions acknowledge how sensory consumption and microtraumas shape a child’s external expression.

🖊💻 Join the next cohort to dive deeper into the root causes!

Whether you're an LMHC, OT/PT, Social Worker, Pediatrician, Parent, or Educator, learn how to guide families when kids present with:
⚡ Anxiety, tics, learning delays, retained reflexes
⚡ Sleep issues, behavioral challenges, rage, emotional lability
⚡ Non-bilateral movement patterns

Too often, these are labeled as “ADHD, ODD, Tourette’s, or ‘I don’t know.’”

💔 This creates heartbreak for parents, dysregulation at home, and burnout for providers.

👁👂🏼 It all comes down to sensory input + processing—across the five senses, neuroception, vestibular, proprioception, and interoception—shaping external behaviors that get diagnosed.

🙀 At its core, this is an input/output equation:
Too much. Too little. A brain wired in threat due to chronic inflammation (which I see daily in neurological antibodies and blood markers).

💡 Children's health is worse than most realize. Now is the time to shift the narrative and change the tide—together.

🤜🏼🤛🏼 Wondertwin powers, activate!

📚🏃🏼‍♂️ A truly interdisciplinary approach to children’s health makes us ALL more effective in supporting kids and families. Let’s get to work!

It is needs based, it is also reaction to a combination of stimuli overriding choice sometimes. 👦 👧🏾 Children are bei...
03/14/2025



It is needs based, it is also reaction to a combination of stimuli overriding choice sometimes.

👦 👧🏾 Children are being unnecessarily pathologized without fully understanding all of the contributing factors to their external expression.

🙈 We can no longer ignore the research supporting the following. Regardless of what field or scope, if we work with children, having the understanding of what we are truly seeing, beneath the diagnosis, the external expressions, the emotional need, there is also

ALWAYS

contributing factors from the following:

🍕 Inflammation and food sensitivities/nutritional deficiencies.

👁️ Sensory overwhelm or misperception through inflammed pathways cuing danger.

🏋🏾 Lack of proprioception cuing disconnection to their body/brain.

No interocepetion from repeated lack of safety signals eminating from INSIDE saying escape, get away.

👂 Vestibular dysregulation where every movement needs accommodation and is exhausting for the child’s brain
🧠

🔬 In my research and clinical practice I see the incredible inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Gut Dysfunction, Blood Brain Barrier impairments and Neurological inflammation occurring in children.

😞 ALL research on mental health through the 🌍 worlds’ most prestigious institutions confirms the following:

1) gut dysbiosis impacts mental and behavioral health and increases Blood Brain Barrier dysfunction.

2) blood brain barrier impairment increases neurological inflammation

3) neurological inflammation changes “behavior,” mental health status, sleep, safety, connection ability, learning, AND through the Brain Gut Axis further dysregulated the gut in an endless feedback loop.

Let’s look together at what’s really happening for children, Brain & Gut Movement
Let’s create therapeutic connections where every child can feel better ❤️‍🩹 in their brain and body, in order to more deeply connect with themselves, their loved ones and the world 🌎 around them.

03/13/2025

🧘 🌞 Polyvagal Theory & Daily Life:
How To Effectively Clear The Road For Deeper Connection To Self & Others = Create More Safety In The ANS In Our Daily Lives. 🌞 🏔️ 🌸

📢 Dr. Stephen Porges, "Trauma compromises our ability to engage with others by replacing patterns of connection with patterns of protection."

🔎 Let's look with curiosity through a different lens, as this is true for Children & Adults & Neuroscientists at agree!

🔥 We are constantly experiencing Microtraumas on a moment-to-moment basis that are eroding our potential to find balance and recover from the patterns of protection.

Essentially, we are always being cued for threat in our modern world, however! We CAN learn how our body truly digests our inner and outer environment in order to help shift ourselves into more comfortable physiological states.

😖Our bodies were not designed to find homeostasis in the face of the following:

👎🏼 Constant Fight/Flight
👎🏼Loss of to self & others (How can we stay present in our body to connect with others, when it is constantly cuing us that we are unsafe?)
👎🏼A Firehose of Daily Information
👎🏼
👎🏼 to screens and substances for coping techniques
👎🏼Barraging Stimuli
👎🏼Late Night Schedules disturbing cortisol
👎🏼Ultra Processed Foods
👎🏼Sedentary Lifestyle which creates reduced which brain needs for safety
👎🏼Increasing Challenges
👎🏼Chemicals in the Air & Water
👎🏼Lack of Sunshine & Fresh Air

Whether for ourselves, our children or patients/clients, we need to understand what is presenting to us through ALL of our sensory systems in order to truly support the needs of anyone.

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