Sign up for Jonathan Otto’s new eBook “Trauma as the Root Cause of Disease” and learn how trauma impacts not just your mental health, but also your physical health, and what you can do to reverse that damage.

We’ve been told that our gut problems come from bad food, stress, or maybe a stomach bug.

But what if we’ve been looking at all the wrong places? 

Your gut holds the memory of your trauma.

A recent PMC study on PTSD patients proved that trauma can elevate gut permeability markers like zonulin…

Every time you go through overwhelming stress, your nervous system sends danger signals to your digestive system. 

Over time, these signals weaken your gut’s protective lining.

When that lining is damaged, tiny gaps form… 

Which means that undigested food particles, toxins, and microbes escape into your bloodstream.

Triggering a wave of inflammation that can quietly attack your:

• Immune system
• Joints
• Skin
• And even your brain

Could this be the root cause of those “mystery symptoms” that never seem to go away?

Investigative journalist, humanitarian, and filmmaker, Jonathan Otto, put everything you need to know (and the steps to repair the damage) into his brand-new book:

Beyond the Symptom: Trauma as the Root Cause of Dis-ease

Download your FREE copy of Beyond the Symptom: Trauma as the Root Cause of Dis-ease HERE!

Inside this great document, you’ll discover:

• How unresolved trauma rewires your nervous system and fuels chronic illness
• The hidden link between early life stress, autoimmunity, and “mystery” symptoms
• Step-by-step protocols to calm your body, repair your gut, and restore balance

You’ll also get F.REE access to a groundbreaking 12-part docuseries…

Featuring 50+ experts: Regenesis (launching August 25th).

 Click here to download your F.REE copy + get access Joanathan Otto’s latest docuseries

To your health and peacefulness

Paul at ChangeThatMind.com

(Note that ChangeThatMind is an affiliate of Health Secret and thereby may receive a payment on any services purchased via this website)

p.s. For some more detail on the impact of trauma on health- read below…

Trauma: The Hidden Driver of Chronic Ill-Health

We rarely think of a frightening childhood, a violent relationship, or a single catastrophic accident as a *medical* problem—yet a growing mountain of evidence shows that trauma is one of the most powerful, and overlooked, causes of long-term ill-health.

From Wound to Diagnosis

Trauma is not “just” a memory; it is a biological event. When the brain perceives overwhelming threat, the body floods with adrenaline and cortisol. If the danger passes quickly, stress hormones return to baseline. But when threat is severe or repeated—especially in early life—the survival switch can get stuck in the “on” position. This *toxic stress* literally reshapes the developing brain, shortens telomeres, accelerates inflammation and lays the groundwork for disease decades later.

The Numbers Speak

– People with four or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are twice as likely to have heart disease or stroke, three times as likely to smoke or have chronic lung disease, and 37 times as likely to attempt suicide – Childhood trauma predicts seven of the ten leading causes of adult death in the U.S., including cancer, hypertension and liver disease .
– Auto-immune illnesses such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and type-1 diabetes are significantly more common among trauma survivors, probably because early-life stress derails immune regulation .

Mind-Body Highway

The mechanism is the mind-body highway: chronic hyper-arousal keeps blood pressure high, stomach acid flowing, arteries inflamed and visceral nerves hypersensitive. The result can be anything from migraine and irritable bowel syndrome to pulmonary embolism and early-onset dementia . Even visceral hypersensitivity —a poorly understood pain syndrome—is now traced to trauma-induced rewiring of the brain-gut axis .

Beyond Genetics

Importantly, these effects remain strong after researchers adjust for genes, adult income or lifestyle. In other words, trauma is an *independent risk factor*—as predictive as cholesterol for heart disease, or asbestos for mesothelioma .

Hope is Evidence-Based

The good news: trauma-related illness is *preventable* and *treatable*. Safe relationships, trauma-focused therapy, community support and policies that reduce family violence all lower the biological toll. “This is treatable. This is beatable,” says California’s former Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris. “We need the courage to look this problem in the face and say, *this is real, and this is all of us*” .

Key Take-aways for Readers

1. If you carry a heavy story from the past and your body hurts in mysterious ways, the two may be connected.
2. Ask your clinician about ACE or trauma screening; it can change your treatment plan.
3. Healing practices—EMDR, somatic therapy, mindful movement, even choir singing—can reverse stress-hormone patterns .
4. Social connection is medicine: support groups literally calm the nervous system and reduce inflammatory markers.

Remember that trauma is not a life sentence,but ignoring it can be. Recognising its role in illness opens the door to both compassionate care and better health.

____________________

References
UCSF Center to Advance Trauma-Informed Health Care – [https://cthc.ucsf.edu/why-trauma/](https://cthc.ucsf.edu/why-trauma/)

NIH / PMC article on childhood trauma and chronic illness – [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3153850/](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3153850/)

Center for Health Care Strategies fact-sheet (PDF) – [https://www.chcs.org/media/Fact-Sheet-Understanding-Effects-of-Trauma-1.pdf](https://www.chcs.org/media/Fact-Sheet-Understanding-Effects-of-Trauma-1.pdf)

Ranch Hands Rescue summary of trauma-related diseases – [https://ranchhandsrescue.org/childhood-trauma-and-chronic-illness/](https://ranchhandsrescue.org/childhood-trauma-and-chronic-illness/)

Harvard T.H. Chan School news feature – [https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/childhood-traumas-devastating-impact-on-health/](https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/childhood-traumas-devastating-impact-on-health/)

WebMD “Emotional Trauma and the Mind-Body Connection” – [https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/emotional-trauma-mind-body-connection](https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/emotional-trauma-mind-body-connection)

Center for Health Care Strategies blog – [https://www.chcs.org/understanding-trauma-affects-health-health-care/](https://www.chcs.org/understanding-trauma-affects-health-health-care/)

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