6 Hidden Root Causes of Anxiety

drkendrakautz
Jul 28
3 min read

1. Blood Sugar Imbalances

Most people don’t realize that a blood sugar crash can trigger the exact same physiological symptoms as anxiety:– Heart palpitations– Shakiness– Dizziness– Irritability– Racing thoughts

Your body perceives low blood sugar as an emergency. In response, your adrenal glands release cortisol and adrenaline to bring glucose back into the bloodstream.But here’s the problem: that cortisol/adrenaline surge feels exactly like a panic attack.

Common blood sugar mistakes that worsen anxiety:

Skipping meals or intermittent fasting while stressed
Living on caffeine

Functional solution: Focus on protein-forward meals, you might need to eat every 3-4 hours to avoid crashes and avoid caffeine.

2. Nutrient Deficiencies (The Biochemical Trigger Behind Mood Swings)

To make neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA (your calming brain chemicals), your body requires a very specific set of nutritional building blocks. Chronic stress, poor diet, birth control, and gut issues can all deplete them.

Here are the big ones to test:

Nutrient	Role in Anxiety	Common Causes of Depletion
Magnesium	Calms the nervous system; regulates cortisol	Stress, caffeine, sugar, poor soil
Vitamin B6/B12/Folate	Needed to make serotonin and GABA	Methylation issues, birth control
Zinc	Modulates stress and neurotransmitters	Gut issues, copper overload
Iron / Ferritin	Carries oxygen to the brain; low ferritin causes fatigue and restlessness	Heavy periods, poor absorption
Amino Acids (like tryptophan)	Building blocks for neurotransmitters	Low protein diets, digestion issues
Omega-3s (EPA/DHA)	Reduces inflammation, improves receptor sensitivity	Low-fat diets, poor fish intake

Functional solution: Test, don’t guess. I run comprehensive nutrient panels to identify your personal deficiencies and correct them through diet + targeted supplementation.

3. HPA Axis Dysfunction & Cortisol Chaos

Your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is your stress control center. When it's dysregulated (often due to chronic stress, overexercising, or under-eating), you may feel:

– Wired but exhausted

– Jumpy or startled easily

– Morning anxiety

– Nighttime second wind

– Sleep disruptions at 2–4am

– Cravings for salt or sugar

This is the biology of burnout—not a mindset issue.

Functional solution: I use the DUTCH test or salivary cortisol panels to map your adrenal patterns, then support with adaptogens, minerals, and nervous system work.

4. Structural Tension (Especially in the Cranial and Vagal Systems)

From a chiropractic perspective, structural stress plays a massive role in the anxiety feedback loop.

Examples of structure-driven anxiety:

TMJ dysfunction → overstimulation of cranial nerves
Cranial or Sacral misalignments → restricted cerebrospinal fluid flow → brain fog + anxiety
Cervical subluxations → vagus nerve irritation → poor parasympathetic tone (i.e. you can't calm down)

You may have anxiety because your body literally can’t shift into safety mode.

In-office solution: I assess cranial patterns, jaw tension, and vagus nerve tone, using gentle techniques like craniosacral therapy, vagus nerve stimulation, and chiropractic adjustments.

5. Somatic Trauma Storage & Emotional Suppression

Research by Gabor Maté and Bessel van der Kolk shows that trauma lives in the body—not just the mind. When emotions like grief, fear, or shame don’t get processed, they embed in the fascia and nervous system, keeping the body in a state of perceived threat.

Common signs:

Anxiety with no known trigger
Panic attacks out of nowhere
Physical tension during emotional conversations
Holding your breath or clenching jaw

Emotional solution: I use tools like somatic release and RTT hypnotherapy to gently release trapped emotional patterns.

6. Nervous System Dysregulation

Your autonomic nervous system controls whether you feel calm, connected, and grounded (parasympathetic) or wired, panicked, and anxious (sympathetic).

Many people with anxiety are stuck in fight-or-flight—without even knowing it.

What can dysregulate the nervous system?

Chronic stress
Poor sleep
Nutrient depletion
Birth trauma (yes, even from infancy)
Lack of co-regulation in childhood
Poor vagal tone

Anxiety is never “just anxiety.” It’s a multi-layered survival response from a body that feels unsafe—biochemically, structurally, or emotionally.

That’s why another supplement or another mindset hack often doesn’t work. You need to assess the whole picture.

Anxiety is not a flaw. It’s not just in your head. It’s a message from your nervous system, asking for support.

Let’s Work Together:

✔ In-person care in Costa Mesa (structural + somatic + nervous system sessions)

✔ Virtual functional nutrition consults (labs, nutrition, hormone/adrenal analysis)

— Dr. Kendra Kautz Chiropractor | Holistic Health Consultant | Women’s Wellness Advocate

Costa Mesa, CA | Virtual Appointments Available

Call: 714-540-0555 to schedule or fill out the New Patient Intake Form