When Your Brain Takes a Hit...
What You Do Next Matters.
Optimize your recovery in the right order so that you're not spinning your wheels.
Cavin Balaster, CFNC
The Brain Doesn't Exist in Isolation
The brain affects digestion.
Digestion affects the brain.
Both affect your entire organism.
Our brains depend on the rest of our biology, and one of the most important relationships is between the brain and the digestive system.
In the scientific literature this relationship is referred to as the gut-brain axis.
I created the Gut-Brain Blueprint to walk you through the same foundational tools I used to rebuild my brain after a severe traumatic brain injury.
From Coma to Clarity
Brain Recovery, Protection, and Resilience
I survived a severe traumatic brain injury. For months, I couldn't eat, walk, or talk, and I depended on tubes to breathe and to eat. But I retained enough cognitive capacity to learn how to recover.
I studied like my life depended on it... because it did.
I took college courses in physiology, neurology, and biochemistry, then trained in functional health and systems biology to turn that knowledge into practical tools to help others to recover and protect their brains.
When We Optimize Our Brain, We Optimize Everything
Clear Mind
Sharper focus, steadier mood, and a memory you can trust. When your brain gets the nourishment and protection it needs, thinking feels clear and effortless again.
Balanced Hormones
Steady energy, calmer moods, and deeper sleep as your hormones move back into rhythm. In balance, your whole body runs more efficiently, with clearer thinking and steadier emotions.
Resilient Immunity
Fewer setbacks and faster recovery when your defenses are strong. Roughly 70% of your immune system lives in your gut, so supporting digestion is one of the most direct ways to protect your whole body.
Support Your Brains Resilience and Recovery
For survivors, athletes, those in their golden years, and the people walking beside them.
Brain Recovery:
Stroke, TBI, Concussion, Long COVID
If you or someone you love is navigating a brain injury or complex neurological condition, you don't have to do it alone.
I bring lived experience and steady guidance through overwhelming systems, so you can make informed, empowered decisions.
Brain Protection:
Athletes, Military, Parents, Contact Sports
If you're an athlete or facing repeated head impact, what you do now shapes how your brain holds up later.
I focus on metabolic resilience, smart recovery, and proactive protection, so you can reduce the toll of injury and keep performing at your best.
Optimization & Longevity
Memory, Vitality, Preventive Brain Health
If you're doing okay but know you could feel sharper, clearer, and more energized, this is where we go deeper.
Together we support focus, resilience, mental clarity, and long-term brain health, so you can thrive, not just get by.
Get the Book
How to Feed a Brain: A Science-Backed Path to Better Brain Health
What experts are saying
An easy-to-implement road map of nutritional changes to support your brain function and repair… a welcome tool for people with neurological conditions and anyone who wants to optimize their brain performance.
How to Feed a Brain will change your life… If you have a brain injury or brain disease, or simply want to avoid early memory loss, and want a step-by-step guide for making meals that will nourish and repair your brain, this book is for you.
Ten years ago most health professionals would have scoffed at the notion that what we eat, how we sleep, and how we move could have profound impacts on our health… How To Feed A Brain will be a key piece of this change.
If you’re dealing with any kind of brain injury and trying to regain your footing and restore some balance to your life, read this book.
A veritable treasure trove of cutting edge nutritional wisdom and research, readily accessible and immediately applicable… I predict this book will be a lifesaver for many.
It should be a resource book for anyone trying to optimize their brain health with improved nutrition… remarkable that he has used his own traumatic experience to learn how to help himself as well as others.
Reading How to Feed a Brain will educate and benefit not only those recovering from a traumatic brain injury, but anyone facing cognitive decline or attention issues, as well as anyone looking to achieve and maintain maximum brain health.
Supporters and Allies
Success in Parterning with Cavin
I started working with Cavin 2 1/2 months ago, struggling with food restrictions, fatigue, and low energy. My quality of life was so poor I felt like I was just waiting to die. Now, I’m eating a variety of foods, digesting better, and have much more energy. I recently went on vacation with my family and could keep up all day. My life has changed drastically in a short time, and I’m finally moving in a positive direction. Thank you so much
Cavin you continue to amaze me! From the little things to the major ones… You took a 15 minute struggle down to a 2 minute easy process. Nobody does what you do to make lives better for the caregivers and improve the life of their loved one! You see the whole picture and have helped us so much not only with nutrition, but also with where to focus and prioritize. We have made so much progress since partnering with you. Thank you!
I feel a camaraderie while working with Cavin. I've been around a lot of healthcare professionals who don't seem to have a heart for people. Cavin does.
Cavin helped me to regain control of my life. He taught me how to ground my nervous system, to visualize the future I want, and to align my actions with that future me. I am now 6 months sober and I’m on the right path! Thank you, Cavin.
You're my food professor, Cavin. You were the first person who... not theoretically, who practically set me on the right path, with my son's feeding. You directed my attention to the fact that the body is designed naturally and showed me how to help it heal itself through what we eat and supplement. And the difference was so, so, so, so clear. It's not like he gained his healthy weight back overnight, but you could see his demeanor, you could see the freshness come back.
Cavin is helping me and my parents focus so I'm not spinning my wheels. He is helping me get things in proper priority. We are on track now and the burden I've been carrying is easing up. I cannot explain the relief I'm starting to feel.
Support Your Brain. Empower Your Life.
Brain health is about enjoying your life in ways that help you keep enjoying it.
Whether you’re recovering from a concussion or neurological challenge, or you’re looking to optimize focus, clarity, and resilience, I meet you where you are and find simple tools to bring your brain, body, and nervous system back into balance, function, and forward momentum.
My experience from coma to functional health practitioner specializing in neuroscience led me to train in physiology, systems biology, neurology, and functional health so I could understand labs, nutraceuticals, medications, food, and lifestyle to empower brain and body health for myself and my clients.
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