02 Apr I changed the name. Here’s why.

Something shifted for me recently.

Four months ago, standing barefoot on a deck in the rainforest with mountains behind me, my nervous system felt completely restored for the first time in longer than I could remember. My spirit spoke to the wind. My heart felt alive.
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​That moment felt like the whole point of my life.​
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Not the career. Not the credentials. Not the output. The restoration. The presence. The feeling of being fully alive in a body that has been given what it truly needs.
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After years of writing Healthy Housecalls, I realized the conversations I kept wanting to have — the ones about longevity, brain health, food as medicine, nature and what it actually means to design a life you love — deserved a bigger, more intentional home. So I built one.

Welcome to Seva Living. This first issue is about a connection that changed the way I practice medicine and the way I eat: the extraordinary conversation happening between your gut and your brain, right now, whether you know it or not.

Yours in good health,

Angel

BRAIN FIRST · The Basics · Issue 01

Your Gut Has a Mind of Its Own — And It’s Running Yours

Here’s something that surprised even me when I first encountered it in the research: your gut contains over 500 million neurons. That’s not a typo. Five hundred million nerve cells, forming what scientists now call the enteric nervous system — your “second brain.”

This second brain doesn’t just digest your lunch. It communicates constantly with the brain in your skull via a two-way superhighway called the vagus nerve. And what travels along that highway affects everything: your mood, your focus, your anxiety levels, your memory, and your risk for neurodegenerative disease.

“90% of the serotonin in your body (that feel-good neurotransmitter you’ve heard all about!) is produced in your gut, not your brain.”

Let that land for a moment. The very chemistry that determines whether you feel calm or anxious, clear or foggy, hopeful or depleted — most of it starts in your digestive system.

So what disrupts this system?

• A diet high in ultra-processed foods and refined sugar

• Chronic stress (which literally changes the composition of your gut bacteria)

• Antibiotics and certain medications taken over time

• Poor sleep: even one bad night alters your gut microbiome

• A sedentary lifestyle: movement feeds the good bacteria

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And what supports it?

• Fiber-rich whole foods (aim for 30 different plants per week….yes, 30!)

• Fermented foods: yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso

• Polyphenols: berries, olive oil, dark chocolate, green tea

• Stress management practices: breathwork, walks, anything that activates your parasympathetic nervous system

• Consistent sleep, ideally 7–9 hours

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Take the 30-Plant Challenge!

Researchers found that people who eat 30 or more different plant foods per week have significantly more diverse gut microbiomes than those who eat 10 or fewer. This doesn’t mean 30 servings — it means 30 different plants. Herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits, and vegetables all count. Start tracking this week and see where you land.

Need help with accountability? Click here to send me a note and I’ll send you my free 30-Plant Challenge Tracker.

04 · THE FUNCTIONAL LENS · Clinical Insight

“I just feel off.” This is a problem I hear constantly. Brain fog, low mood, inexplicable fatigue, digestive issues that come and go. These patients have often seen multiple providers and been told their labs are normal.

In functional medicine, “normal labs” is the beginning of the conversation, not the end. Here’s what I actually look at when I suspect the brain-gut axis is at the root of someone’s symptoms:

Tests Worth Asking About

• Comprehensive stool analysis — looks at microbiome diversity, inflammation markers, and intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”)

• Organic acids test — assesses metabolic byproducts that reveal gut bacterial imbalances and nutritional deficiencies

• hs-CRP — a more sensitive marker of systemic inflammation than standard CRP

• Zonulin — a protein marker for intestinal permeability

• Full thyroid panel (not just TSH) — gut dysfunction directly impairs thyroid conversion

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A Note on “Leaky Gut”

Intestinal permeability is a real, measurable phenomenon. When the tight junctions of your gut lining break down, bacterial byproducts and undigested food particles enter the bloodstream and trigger systemic inflammation. This inflammation crosses the blood-brain barrier. Brain fog, anxiety, and depression can all have roots here. It’s not a wellness trend. It’s gastroenterology.

04B · WHAT I’M READING · News You Can Use

Akkermansia muciniphila: A Next-Generation Probiotic Comes of Age — International Probiotics Association (IPA)

This one stopped me mid-scroll. Researchers found that Akkermansia. muciniphila is integral to brain function via the gut-brain axis. Its safeguarding the intestinal mucosal barrier, modulation of the immune system and production of metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids, amino acids, and amino acid derivatives suggests therapeutic potential in several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and multiple sclerosis (MS).

What it means for you:

• “Safeguarding the mucosal barrier” It keeps the gut “leak-proof” so toxins can’t reach the brain.
• “Modulation of the immune system” It keeps the body’s “internal fire” (inflammation) low, which is better for brain cells.
• “Production of metabolites” It turns fiber into “fuel” (like short-chain fatty acids) that travels to the brain to help it function properly.

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This post originally appeared in Seva Living — Angel Shannon’s free biweekly newsletter on brain health, longevity, and the science of the good life.

If the connection between your gut and your brain surprised you — there is so much more where this came from. Brain health, longevity, lifestyle medicine, and the science of living well, delivered free to your inbox every other week.

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