Feeling like an emotional mess lately? What if the secret to calming your anxiety and depression isn't in your head—it’s actually in your gut. This episode breaks down why your digestive system might be calling the shots on your mood, and the simple supplements for emotional vitality that actually work.

Jenn Trepeck is joined by natural health educator Jared St. Clair on Salad With a Side of Fries to get real about the brain-gut connection. They're dishing on everything from spore-based probiotics to why your gut microbiome might be eating all your serotonin before it reaches your brain. Plus, Jared shares which magnesium and omega-3s are worth your money, and why your self-talk matters more than you think. 

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

✅ Why gut health and mental health issues are connected and how fixing your leaky gut and microbiome first (before your brain) can dramatically reduce anxiety and depression—plus the specific spore-based probiotics that actually rebuild your gut long-term

✅ The five essential supplements everyone should consider: a great multivitamin, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium bisglycinate, probiotics, and digestive enzymes—and why these support neurotransmitter production and brain-gut connection

✅ How ATP energy production in your brain affects mental clarity and mood, plus why creatine isn't just for athletes but is actually a "no-brainer" for preventing brain fog and supporting mental wellness

✅ The power of mindset work and your reticular activating system (RAS)—why what you tell yourself matters more than any supplement, and how to stop sabotaging your health with negative self-talk

The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast, hosted by Jenn Trepeck, explores real-life wellness and weight-loss topics, debunking myths, misinformation, and flawed science surrounding nutrition and the food industry. Let’s dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store.

TIMESTAMPS:  

00:00 Jared St. Clair introduces the gut health mental health connection and why he always starts in the gut when addressing anxiety and depression

04:59 Jared shares how early exposure to health concerns shaped his passion for natural wellness and supplements

09:58 The origin of Vitality Radio and how Jared transitioned from local radio to podcasting after 12 years, building a platform for health education and supplement formulation

13:33 What emotional vitality means and Jared's wife's journey from five medical diagnoses, including bipolar disorder and IBS, to finding hope through gut health transformation

20:09 The Vital Five supplements everyone should consider: a great multivitamin, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, probiotics, and digestive enzymes for filling nutritional gaps

23:11 Spore-based probiotics explained: why soil-based strains like Bacillus coagulans survive stomach acid, rebuild microbiome diversity, and create permanent change 

27:12 Healing leaky gut and the gut barrier with L-glutamine, marshmallow, slippery elm, and holy aloe vera juice to support neurotransmitter production

29:04 Why creatine is essential for brain health: supporting ATP energy production, preventing Alzheimer's, reducing brain fog, and helping with mental health issues

35:36 The power of mindset and the reticular activating system: how self-talk and subconscious beliefs matter more than any supplement you can take for achieving vitality

37:29 Placebo and nocebo effects explained: why believing a treatment will work (or won't) directly impacts outcomes, including medical procedures and supplement effectiveness

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

💎 The vagus nerve carries more traffic from gut to brain than any other pathway in the body, which is why addressing gut dysbiosis and leaky gut must come before treating mental health issues—when your microbiome is out of balance, your neurotransmitters like serotonin and GABA can't reach your brain properly

💎 Magnesium bisglycinate is the single most important supplement if you can only take one, because nearly everyone is deficient due to depleted soil and high stress levels that burn through magnesium—it calms the central nervous system, reduces anxiety, and supports overall emotional vitality

💎 Traditional probiotics only provide temporary relief because they die at room temperature and in stomach acid, but spore-forming probiotics like Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus coagulans survive digestion, eliminate pathogens, and rebuild microbiome diversity for permanent change within 30 days

💎 Your self-talk and reticular activating system determine health outcomes more than any supplement—telling yourself "I am fat" or "I am bipolar" creates confirmation bias where your brain proves you right, so shifting from "I am" to "I have" language is critical for healing and creating change

ABOUT THE GUEST: 

Jared St. Clair is a natural health educator, supplement formulator, and host of Vitality Radio. With over 30 years of experience, he has dedicated his career to educating people on natural wellness, helping them achieve vitality through lifestyle changes and the use of supplements. As the owner of Vitality Nutrition, a family business founded in 1977, Jared continues to lead in providing personalized health solutions. His podcast, Vitality Radio, further extends his reach in promoting natural healing and wellness education to a broader audience.

RESOURCES: 

Become a Happy Healthy Hub Member

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A Salad With a Side of Fries

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About Uncomplicating Wellness

Text ‘Book’ to 833-801-0500

Aloe & Chronic Disease (Feat. Dr. John Lewis)

Nutrition Nugget: "I Am" vs. "I Have"

GUEST RESOURCES: 

Vitality Nutrition - Website

Vitality Nutrition | Bountiful, UT - Facebook

Vitality Radio - Facebook

Vitality Nutrition (@vitalitynutritionbountiful) Instagram

Vitality Radio - Podcast

The Mindset of Healthy Eating - Jenn Trepeck

QUOTES: 

17:45 "None of us have a Xanax deficiency." - Jenn Trepeck

18:28 "We can't supplement our weight out of our daily choices, right?" - Jenn Trepeck

22:50 "People can be making serotonin, and then the gut bugs are eating it, and it's never even getting to the brain." - Jenn Trepeck

26:49 "When we look at things like leaky gut, IBS, Crohn's or ulcerative colitis or mental health, because that's the first place I go when somebody says, I'm dealing with anxiety or depression or OCD, I always start gut first, not brain first, because that's just where it starts." - Jared St. Clair

28:54 "The brain is mostly fat. These tools are so important and helpful when it comes to our mental and emotional state?" - Jenn Trepeck

SEO KEYWORDS: 

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