hol+ with Dr. Taz MD | The Future of Medicine is Holistic

What if your fatigue, brain fog, poor sleep, and belly fat are actually signs of high cortisol, low cortisol, or chronic stress building up over time? In this episode, Dr. Taz explains how your cortisol levels shift and why learning how to lower cortisol levels starts with understanding the pattern your body is stuck in.

If you’re dealing with chronic stress, fatigue, or hormone imbalances and want to address the root cause, join the Circle and get support here:
👉 https://holplus.co/circle

Chronic stress often shows up as adrenal fatigue and hormone imbalances.
Learn more about conditions related to cortisol imbalance:
In this episode, Dr. Taz breaks down what she calls the cortisol loop - a chronic stress cycle where your body goes from high cortisol to low cortisol, leaving you feeling wired, exhausted, and unable to recover. You’ll learn how this loop affects your nervous system, hormones, gut health, and long-term well-being, even when your labs appear “normal.”
If you’ve been feeling off and can’t explain why, this may be the missing piece.

In this video, we cover:
  • What the cortisol loop actually is
  • The difference between high cortisol and low cortisol
  • How chronic stress keeps your body stuck in the cycle
  • 7 key signs your body is dysregulated
  • Why your symptoms aren’t random
  • Where to start to begin breaking the loop
This is not just about stress. It’s about understanding the cycle your body has been stuck in.

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Host & Production Team
Host: Dr. Taz; Produced by ClipGrowth.com (Producer: Pat Gostek)

Chapters
00:00 High Cortisol or Low Cortisol? Understanding the Cortisol Loop
00:50 What Is the Cortisol Loop? Chronic Stress Explained
01:42 Normal Labs but Still Feeling Bad? Cortisol Levels Explained
02:55 Acute vs Chronic Stress and Cortisol Response
05:00 High Cortisol Symptoms and Effects on the Body
06:50 Low Cortisol Symptoms: Burnout and Fatigue Explained
07:42 Chronic Stress, Cortisol Imbalance, and Disease Risk
09:29 Cortisol, Brain Health, and Inflammation
11:30 Cortisol in Women vs Men (Hormones and Stress Response)
14:20 Chronic Stress in Modern Life (Why It’s Getting Worse)
15:20 7 Signs of High Cortisol and Low Cortisol
17:10 Fatigue, Brain Fog, Belly Fat (Cortisol Symptoms)
18:08 How to Test Cortisol Levels (Blood Sugar, HRV, Sleep)
20:05 Nervous System Regulation and the Cortisol Loop
21:25 How to Lower Cortisol Levels Naturally
22:12 Gut Health, Diet, and Blood Sugar Stability
23:45 Best Supplements for Cortisol (Magnesium, B Vitamins, Omega-3)
25:35 Daily Habits to Reduce Cortisol and Stress
27:10 Chronic Stress, Environment, and Relationships
28:55 How to Break the Cortisol Loop (Step-by-Step)
30:37 Final Thoughts on Chronic Stress and Cortisol Recovery

Creators and Guests

Host
Dr. Taz Bhatia MD
Dr. Taz Bhatia is a triple-board-certified integrative medicine physician and founder of hol+, where she brings together science, spirit and the human experience to deliver holistic, whole-person care.
Producer
Pat Gostek
Founder of ClipGrowth.com - End-to-End YouTube, Podcast & Clips Management (you just record).

What is hol+ with Dr. Taz MD | The Future of Medicine is Holistic?

hol+ with Dr. Taz MD is redefining modern medicine through a comprehensive, evidence-based holistic approach; integrating functional medicine, integrative medicine, and time-tested healing systems to treat the whole human, not just symptoms.

Hosted by Dr. Tasneem Bhatia (Dr. Taz), triple board-certified physician in integrative, functional, and holistic medicine, bestselling Penguin Random House author, and founder of hol+; a comprehensive evidence-based holistic medicine platform with clinics in Atlanta, New York City, and Los Angeles, and virtual care available nationwide.

At the heart of hol+ is a revolutionary framework: the Five Body Map- physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and social/community bodies that create whole health. This whole-human approach connects hormone imbalances, gut dysfunction, microinflammation, cortisol dysregulation, metabolic disease, autoimmune conditions, perimenopause, and stress-driven illness to the full spectrum of who we are; body, mind, and spirit.

Each episode explores Dr. Taz’s original clinical frameworks ;The Cortisol Loop, Microinflammation, and The Invisible Load alongside conversations with leading experts, celebrities, and thought leaders including Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Katherine Schwarzenegger, Cameron Mathison, Carol Alt, Jane Seymour, Tamsen Fadal, and Kris Carr.

Topics include hormone health, gut health, GLP-1 and metabolic therapy, thyroid dysfunction, weight loss, inflammation, autoimmune disease, mental and emotional wellness, energetic health, and the future of holistic medicine.

This is the show where science and spirit converge- driving health, happiness, relationships, and family ecosystems.

Want to go deeper? Join Dr. Taz’s private community, the hol+ Circle ; medicine beyond the exam room. (holplus.co/circle)

A 2025 Webby Award honoree, recognized alongside the Mel Robbins Podcast in the 29th Annual Webby Awards, hol+ is built on the foundation of Super Woman Wellness, which surpassed 1 million downloads over 8 years.

This is medicine beyond the exam room. Welcome to hol+

[00:00:00] Dr. Taz: If your labs are normal and you've been running around to doctor visit after doctor visit, [00:00:05] and you can't find a real reason why you feel bad. [00:00:10] I have the explanation for you. You are more than likely stuck into what I've been [00:00:15] calling the cortisol loop. That's right. The cortisol loop is this sort of [00:00:20] hum, this vibration, this static that repeats over and [00:00:25] over again impacting how you feel.
[00:00:28] Dr. Taz: Everything from how you [00:00:30] think and focus and concentrate. To the energy that you may have to just make it through your [00:00:35] day, to your exercise recovery, your sleep quality, and at the end of the [00:00:40] day, as that hum gets louder and louder, it eventually [00:00:45] crashes and burns other systems of the body. On this episode of the podcast, we wanna [00:00:50] spend some time talking about cortisol, the cortisol loop, and nervous system [00:00:55] regulation, and why it's so important as oftentimes the [00:01:00] root cause.
[00:01:01] Dr. Taz: Of so many of your different symptoms. Before we dive in, I wanna share [00:01:05] more about Whole Plus because it's truly more than just a clinic. It's a full holistic [00:01:10] health platform. Whole plus combines holistic, integrative and functional medicine care with [00:01:15] education, self-discovery tools, and trusted wellness resources.[00:01:20]
[00:01:20] Dr. Taz: You'll find holistic health content through blogs. This podcast and videos, [00:01:25] personalized quizzes to uncover root causes, and a shop filled with practitioner approved [00:01:30] holistic products. It's designed to support your health in a holistic way, physically, [00:01:35] mentally, and long term. You can explore the full whole plus holistic health [00:01:40] experience@wholeplus.co.
[00:01:42] Dr. Taz: Again, that's HOL ppl, [00:01:45] s.co. It's so interesting for me, right? Because doing holistic medicine and integrative medicine [00:01:50] for all these years, you know, every few years we, you know, find a new [00:01:55] trend or new research or some new finding, and through it all, we've stayed consistent [00:02:00] with a couple of key themes, one of which is that the gut is the foundation of health.
[00:02:04] Dr. Taz: Your hormones are [00:02:05] critical, and your mental health is connected to many other aspects of your health. [00:02:10] But what is becoming explicitly clear? The longer I [00:02:15] practice and the more I do this is I sit with patients over and over again and I [00:02:20] connect the dots on their health. Along with my team, we are seeing clearly how [00:02:25] it's cortisol and the nervous system and the vagal nerve that are [00:02:30] actually driving a lot of the different things we're seeing sort of downstream.[00:02:35]
[00:02:35] Dr. Taz: And this is why a holistic approach to your health matters. Because you can look at the [00:02:40] labs and they can all be quote unquote normal, but they are being driven by this [00:02:45] hum. So what's normal at the end of the day may not be normal for [00:02:50] you. Let's take a second to talk more about cortisol and nervous system [00:02:55] regulation.
[00:02:55] Dr. Taz: You know, some stress is good, right? You know, it gets us outta bed in the morning. It makes us [00:03:00] achieve big things. It puts us on a path of maybe accomplishing a goal, whether [00:03:05] that's, you know, a fitness goal or a food goal, or a family goal, you name it. [00:03:10] But when that goes beyond just a temporary stressor that the [00:03:15] body can acclimate and adapt to, and instead transitions [00:03:20] into a chronic stressor where it's always there.
[00:03:24] Dr. Taz: That becomes [00:03:25] problematic. Physiologically, let's talk about what's happening before you get to [00:03:30] a cortisol loop. Essentially what's happening is we get the stressor right? Lying [00:03:35] in the room, something coming up, a big deadline, something we're scared of, something we're excited [00:03:40] about, right? 'cause stress can be good too.
[00:03:42] Dr. Taz: Well, what happens? Cortisol spikes, we [00:03:45] get that little burst. We have an adrenaline rush. It's time to go do whatever. We get that power, [00:03:50] that energy, but then it should come naturally down again, stabilizing out in [00:03:55] a good, healthy place where we can go about the other duties of our day, whether it's [00:04:00] eating, watching something fascinating on television, having a great [00:04:05] conversation, or even the most important tool of all sleeping deeply and [00:04:10] consistently.
[00:04:11] Dr. Taz: So as those stressors happen, right, good ones, bad [00:04:15] ones, they accumulate almost like a set of books on a shelf or in a library [00:04:20] and they start to build. And hopefully if you've got a great [00:04:25] regulatory system in place where you know how to manage your food and manage your stress, and you [00:04:30] have sort of the right lifestyle regimens in place, well all those temporary stressors [00:04:35] stay exactly there.
[00:04:36] Dr. Taz: They're temporary. What we in the medical community call acute [00:04:40] stress. But nine times outta 10, the patients I see, and [00:04:45] even within our own families and our friend community, it's not temporary stress, right? [00:04:50] It's chronic. It keeps aggravating, it keeps building, and we don't put the [00:04:55] recovery time into it for the nervous system to feel safe again.
[00:04:59] Dr. Taz: [00:05:00] And this is where the wheels come off. And this is the [00:05:05] cortisol loop that we've got to break. But again, let's stay in the science and the physiology of it for [00:05:10] just a second. Okay, so temporary stressors, cortisol's up, cortisol's back down. Chronic [00:05:15] stressor, cortisol stays elevated. And here's what happens [00:05:20] when you have chronic elevation of cortisol.
[00:05:23] Dr. Taz: First, you don't feel good, [00:05:25] right? And remember feelings or data and emotions matter, but that high cortisol [00:05:30] is impacting that area of the brain that is involved in how we think and [00:05:35] feel, right? The hypothalamus, the pituitary, right? The all of that is [00:05:40] interconnected together. And remember that hypothalamus in the pituitary is [00:05:45] directing two specific pathways in your body.
[00:05:49] Dr. Taz: All your [00:05:50] nervous system hormones, right, and neurotransmitter, serotonin, dopamine, gaba, [00:05:55] all of those are being instructed by this hypothalmic pituitary axis, [00:06:00] and it's being influenced by cortisol. On the other hand, [00:06:05] the influence from your pituitaries on your hormones, right? All the sex hormones, whether it's [00:06:10] estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, your thyroid, insulin, and those very much [00:06:15] play a role into everything from energy to brain health, [00:06:20] fertility, how we transition through andropause, perimenopause, menopause, and so [00:06:25] much more.
[00:06:26] Dr. Taz: So this hormone, cortisol, temporary stress, are great, up, [00:06:30] down, resolved. We don't have an issue. We're not in a cortisol loop. When we are [00:06:35] chronically experiencing elevated cortisol, hypercortisolism is [00:06:40] what they call it, then that in turn is impacting these other two critical components of [00:06:45] our health. But here's the next step in that whole pathway.[00:06:50]
[00:06:50] Dr. Taz: After that cortisol stays elevated for too long of a period of time. Guess what [00:06:55] happens next? It crashes. So we go from high cortisol and [00:07:00] after a certain amount of time when we stay in the cortisol loop for too long, we [00:07:05] go into a low cortisol state. And when we go into a low cortisol state, [00:07:10] then again, we are trying to do things to get that energy back, right, to [00:07:15] feel safe again.
[00:07:16] Dr. Taz: So that's where we may reach for sugar or carbohydrates [00:07:20] or fatty foods, or we may binge drink, right? Alcohol, [00:07:25] drugs, all the darkness that's out there. Or we may simply self-destruct [00:07:30] because we don't have the capacity to do what it takes to get out of this loop. [00:07:35] So we go from high cortisol to low cortisol, and all [00:07:40] of that is happening over the span of time.
[00:07:42] Dr. Taz: It's not something that happens in a day [00:07:45] or a month or even a year. It's usually years that are piling [00:07:50] on each other one after another until a decade passes, maybe two. [00:07:55] And then the next step in this loop is chronic [00:08:00] disease. So much so that scientists today are recognizing over and over [00:08:05] again how disease is really rooted in this cortisol loop.
[00:08:09] Dr. Taz: And the [00:08:10] sooner and the earlier we can sink our teeth into it, the more we can [00:08:15] turn all of this around. And so I wanna make sure you have this visual. I literally [00:08:20] want you to see a loop in your mind, in your mind's eye, and see sort of this [00:08:25] spinning from an acute stressor, right? Something good, something bad, [00:08:30] that cortisol is going up, it comes back down.
[00:08:32] Dr. Taz: I. But that acute stressor now [00:08:35] becoming a chronic stress response. We even have a name for it actually. We have a [00:08:40] diagnosis for it, chronic inflammatory response syndrome, or cs. We see that [00:08:45] all the time in clinic, and as that cortisol is now elevated, right? It's eating [00:08:50] everything up. It's impacting the gut.
[00:08:52] Dr. Taz: It's eating up your nutrients. It eats up magnesium, [00:08:55] your B vitamins, your vitamin D, your Omega-3 fats, your protein. It wants more and more and [00:09:00] more. It's insatiable. And when it can't be fed, [00:09:05] it starts crashing every other system. Your hormones, your [00:09:10] neurotransmitters, your gut health, your brain health, and so much more.
[00:09:14] Dr. Taz: [00:09:15] And then you become low cortisol. And then since there are [00:09:20] no more reserves to take, right, the monster stolen everything. You start [00:09:25] to develop disease. All right, let's look at the science behind this for just a second, because there's so much, and I [00:09:30] don't wanna bore you with a ton of it, but I think it's relevant and it's important, especially when we're [00:09:35] talking about evidence-based holistic medicine.
[00:09:37] Dr. Taz: This is an article or journal from Cells in [00:09:40] 2023 published, and it talks about some of the neurological diseases that we [00:09:45] see in practice today, and we have worked with so many patients on, moreover, here's a direct [00:09:50] quote. Chronic stress is closely linked to the progression of [00:09:55] neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, [00:10:00] driven by excessive cortisol production and HPA access dysregulation, [00:10:05] HPA Hypothalmic pituitary axis.
[00:10:07] Dr. Taz: Along with [00:10:10] neuroinflammation in the central nervous system. We've been talking about neuroinflammation for [00:10:15] a really long time in our practices at Whole Plus, but here we've got the research [00:10:20] finally saying and showing what we've been seeing in the exam room. [00:10:25] The relationship. Furthermore, still quoting the relationship between cortisol [00:10:30] dysregulation and major depressive disorder is complex [00:10:35] characterized by HPA, access, hyperactivity, and chronic inflammation.
[00:10:39] Dr. Taz: [00:10:40] Lastly, chronic pain is associated with abnormal cortisol patterns [00:10:45] that heightened pain, sensitivity, and susceptibility. [00:10:50] Understanding these multifaceted mechanisms and their effects is essential, and they offer insights into [00:10:55] interventions to really help, uh, sort of allay or mitigate the role of chronic [00:11:00] stress and cortisol dysregulation in these conditions.
[00:11:03] Dr. Taz: Do you guys know how many patients [00:11:05] we've seen with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and diseases like a LS, [00:11:10] that essentially were triggered by a cortisol response? This is a pattern that we've seen [00:11:15] over and over again. And while treatments today focus often on the disease process [00:11:20] itself, they don't connect it back to the cortisol loop.
[00:11:23] Dr. Taz: We have got to be thinking about the [00:11:25] cortisol loop when it comes to chronic disease. There's also a really [00:11:30] interesting differentiation between men and women, uh, when it comes to cortisol. In fact, they [00:11:35] describe this as not so much about high cortisol and low cortisol, but [00:11:40] more about cortisol.
[00:11:41] Dr. Taz: Hyperresponsiveness, meaning men and women have different. [00:11:45] Cortisol Hyperresponsive states. In one particular study we talk about. [00:11:50] Uh, this is actually from the journal Stress published in 2020. [00:11:55] Women have smaller cortisol responses to psychological stressors than men do, and [00:12:00] women actually taking hormonal contraceptives have smaller responses than [00:12:05] women that are not on any sort of oral contraceptive.
[00:12:08] Dr. Taz: Cortisol secretion [00:12:10] undergoes substantial daily variation. Remember, cortisol is elevated in the morning, has lower [00:12:15] levels in the afternoon, and these differences are com are accompanied by our [00:12:20] response to stress. So just think about women, for example, right? If cortisol is on [00:12:25] a up and down, right high in the morning, low as you go throughout the day, which it's supposed to, and it's supposed to [00:12:30] bottom out at night.
[00:12:30] Dr. Taz: So we get a good night's sleep. So you add that cortisol variation [00:12:35] into our hormonal variation, right? Where we have cycles of estrogen and [00:12:40] progesterone into a circadian rhythm, right? So now we have all these different rhythms adding [00:12:45] up as a part of this cortisol loop, talking to an influencing one another.[00:12:50]
[00:12:50] Dr. Taz: Women are in a different position when it comes to cortisol [00:12:55] hyperresponsiveness, for example. When our estrogen is in a good place, [00:13:00] we may have better cortisol hyperresponsiveness rather than when our [00:13:05] estrogen is depleted or progesterone is depleted, for example, than we have [00:13:10] may. We may have more issues there.
[00:13:12] Dr. Taz: Women on HRT experience a similar [00:13:15] phenomenon. Their stress bandwidth changes depending on what's happening with their [00:13:20] hormone replacement therapy. And women undergoing IVF or IUI or any [00:13:25] of these treatments will experience the same shifts. So when it comes to [00:13:30] women, part of the cortisol loop is their hormone ecosystem and hormone [00:13:35] balance and how it plays into this overall equation.
[00:13:38] Dr. Taz: But we can't take men [00:13:40] out from it completely because men are protected with testosterone levels as long as [00:13:45] that testosterone stays in the right zone. Right? We've done lots of talks on [00:13:50] hormones before, lots of episodes on hormones, you know, on this podcast and outside of it. [00:13:55] But again, everything has to be in a sweet spot.
[00:13:57] Dr. Taz: So when men are in that sweet spot of [00:14:00] testosterone. Their cortisol is manageable, but the minute they fall too [00:14:05] low or the minute they fall too high, they enter the cortisol loop in a very [00:14:10] different way and their bandwidth goes down as well. So all of us [00:14:15] are dealing with the cortisol loop, even our children today.[00:14:20]
[00:14:20] Dr. Taz: Because children today no longer just have temporary stressors. They have chronic [00:14:25] stressors from food quality, from the environment, from blue light, and from so [00:14:30] many different things they're getting exposed to day in and day out. So this is a universal conversation. [00:14:35] So children are now entering this cortisol loop even faster or [00:14:40] earlier than what we entered in the past.
[00:14:42] Dr. Taz: And it's the reason why everyone's [00:14:45] like, why the infertility, why the cancer at an early age? Why the [00:14:50] obesity? This is the reason why everyone is entering this cortisol loop [00:14:55] earlier and earlier and earlier, shifting disease manifestation [00:15:00] downward. What we used to see at 40, we now see at 30 what we used to see at 50, [00:15:05] we now see at 40 and so on.
[00:15:07] Dr. Taz: So this is why I used to say [00:15:10] for so long that the gut is the root of your health, and I still believe that, but I [00:15:15] feel like we can't talk about anything now. Without talking about this in particular. [00:15:20] So let's break down what we can actually do about this particular [00:15:25] phenomenon. So if we are trying to break this cycle, right, if we're trying to disrupt it a [00:15:30] hundred percent, there are a couple of things we need to be aware of that are sort of subheadings when we [00:15:35] think about the cortisol loop.
[00:15:36] Dr. Taz: And those include understanding where your gut health [00:15:40] is, where your hormone health is, and where your brain health is. And we wanna [00:15:45] tie it to some of the most common symptoms that we see over and over that are [00:15:50] indications that you a cortisol loop. So let's start with you first. If you are [00:15:55] experiencing fatigue of any kind, right?
[00:15:57] Dr. Taz: You're tired, or what was easy to do is now [00:16:00] taking a heroic effort. Number one, sign that you're in some kind of cortisol loop. [00:16:05] A second one is you cannot think. You cannot focus. You cannot process [00:16:10] information the way you once were able to. You have some level of brain fog or [00:16:15] a DD or a DHD. You might be, you guessed it in a cortisol loop.
[00:16:19] Dr. Taz: [00:16:20] If you are starting to see belly fat or belly fat is coming and going, [00:16:25] you're in a cortisol loop. 'cause that chronic stress response is [00:16:30] signaling your liver and your insulin to store fat. You're in a cortisol loop, [00:16:35] all the different hormonal symptoms, early PMS, [00:16:40] perimenopause, menopause, having trouble getting pregnant again.
[00:16:43] Dr. Taz: These are all signs that you may [00:16:45] be swimming in this cortisol loop. And last but certainly not [00:16:50] least, are all the diseases of inflammation, right? The skin flares, the autoimmune [00:16:55] flares, joint pain, muscle weakness. You might be in a cortisol loop if you're listening [00:17:00] to this and thinking, I know something is often my body, but [00:17:05] I don't know where to start.
[00:17:06] Dr. Taz: This is for you. That's why I created the [00:17:10] circle. The circle is my private community where I and my team focus on understanding [00:17:15] your body from hormones and stress to metabolic health and longevity with [00:17:20] real life guidance that you can actually use. This is about clarity and [00:17:25] consistency and support beyond the exam room, and maybe outside of all the [00:17:30] different appointments and experts that you've been running around to.
[00:17:33] Dr. Taz: You can try the circle with a [00:17:35] one month trial using the promo code podcast@wholeplus.co [00:17:40] back slash circle. Again, that's whole plus HOL [00:17:45] ppls.co/circle. Alright, let's jump back into the episode. So, so [00:17:50] many symptoms that we see day in and day out in practice are tied [00:17:55] back to this physiology around cortisol, how it started out high, how it [00:18:00] dropped down to being low, how there's more cortisol hyperresponsiveness, and how people [00:18:05] simply cannot find their way out of it.
[00:18:08] Dr. Taz: So if you are nodding your head as you're [00:18:10] listening or watching, you know, this particular episode and you're like, oh my God, that's me, and that's me too, [00:18:15] and you're not really sure where to go or what to do about it, this is the [00:18:20] part of the podcast where we're gonna try to, to really kind of help you track, [00:18:25] first of all, and secondly, maybe walk away with three or four things that you know you [00:18:30] can sink your teeth into to pull yourself out of this.
[00:18:33] Dr. Taz: Okay, so [00:18:35] again, I talked about the symptoms that may match you being in a cortisol loop. They're actually [00:18:40] trackers. If you needed more data, that could help you as well. And I think I've talked about this before, but [00:18:45] for example, looking at your blood sugar and the stability of your blood sugar is one way.
[00:18:49] Dr. Taz: If [00:18:50] your blood sugar is very unstable, if it's going up and down and all over the place, again, that's [00:18:55] a sign of cortisol dysfunction. If your HRV or your heart rate variability is low, [00:19:00] if it's below about 40, you may have cortisol dysfunction, and that's something to look [00:19:05] into as a root cause of any of the symptoms that you might be experiencing.
[00:19:09] Dr. Taz: If you've [00:19:10] got the 3:00 AM wake up, that's another one, and you can tie that now to the quality of [00:19:15] your sleep. So if you're not getting 90 minutes of deep sleep and 90 minutes of REM sleep, [00:19:20] again, you may be in a cortisol loop. So this is tactical stuff, [00:19:25] whether it's from symptoms or trackers that you can start to look at, to arrive at [00:19:30] this conclusion on your own, before you even enter maybe one of our clinics or anywhere [00:19:35] where we are testing cortisol along with the other markers of the immune system, inflammation, [00:19:40] hormones, and so much more.
[00:19:41] Dr. Taz: And remember, if you are looking at lab values for [00:19:45] cortisol, you wanna look at morning values, ideally saliva or first morning blood [00:19:50] values that are gonna help you to understand kind of what your body is doing with this. And [00:19:55] oftentimes we'll pair that cortisol value with the DHEA or D-H-E-A-S, which is another [00:20:00] adrenal marker that helps us to understand what's happening with cortisol.
[00:20:04] Dr. Taz: [00:20:05] So there's so many different ways to track, but when we go back to the fact that so many [00:20:10] people are already here, even our children, even our elders and [00:20:15] everybody in between, and we really need a targeted way to help unwind this, [00:20:20] then we've gotta think about the body. In a holistic way, using that [00:20:25] sort of five body analogy that I talk about over and over again, where you have a physical [00:20:30] body, an emotional body, a mental body, right, a sort of community body, and a [00:20:35] spiritual or energetic body.
[00:20:36] Dr. Taz: And while that might sound woo woo. To many of you, [00:20:40] right? We know today we've got the research showing how our [00:20:45] emotions and our physicality are interconnected. How energetically emotions live in a [00:20:50] certain place in the body, and how all of that works together to determine if we're [00:20:55] gonna stop the hum or the static when you have a cortisol loop, [00:21:00] or if we're gonna allow it to perpetuate to a sound and an amplification.
[00:21:04] Dr. Taz: [00:21:05] Where it takes over the whole body, right? So these are the things to be thinking about when we want you to [00:21:10] have an understanding of how cortisol is impacting your overall health [00:21:15] and ultimately leading to chronic disease. So let's start with maybe some things you can [00:21:20] do, right? Because we want, we wanna be hopeful and optimistic, not just all gloom and doom.
[00:21:24] Dr. Taz: [00:21:25] So I'm gonna narrow it down to probably three key areas that will [00:21:30] help cortisol. Kind of find its healthy place and at the same time [00:21:35] help you to reregulate your nervous system. 'cause nervous system regulation is all [00:21:40] about teaching the body all five bodies, that it's safe, that there's a [00:21:45] space for quiet and for healing.
[00:21:47] Dr. Taz: And if the nervous system doesn't get that [00:21:50] cortisol will never get back to that stable level where it's high in the morning and [00:21:55] then gently falls as the day progresses. So let's talk about this for a [00:22:00] second, because the nervous system and nervous system regulation is related to [00:22:05] cortisol and to your vagus nerve, which in turn communicates with the organ that I [00:22:10] keep coming back to, which is the gut.
[00:22:12] Dr. Taz: So there's a gut vagal [00:22:15] response that's very critical and helping your body regulate safety and [00:22:20] regulate its response to cortisol. So really reestablishing that [00:22:25] gut vagal safety or that vagal tone is looking more deeply at the [00:22:30] digestive process and making sure you're still feeding it with foods that help you function, right?
[00:22:34] Dr. Taz: [00:22:35] So consistent blood sugar foods, foods that are low in refined sugar processed [00:22:40] foods. You guys have heard this stuff before. You're probably rolling your eyes right now, but [00:22:45] here's what I want you to take away. If you are stuck in a cortisol loop. We have to [00:22:50] have consistency of eating 'cause eating is rhythmic and anytime we take a [00:22:55] rhythm away, we influence cortisol's ability to disrupt our health.[00:23:00]
[00:23:00] Dr. Taz: So eat consistently. If there's nothing else that you can do, eat roughly every [00:23:05] four hours, keeping about a 12 hour fast, that allows blood sugar to [00:23:10] reestablish stability. Secondly, when it comes to the gut and thinking about [00:23:15] gut health overall, make sure you're choosing more foods that are [00:23:20] clean and whole, versus foods that are packaged or processed.
[00:23:23] Dr. Taz: Bottom line, it helps the [00:23:25] microbiome, it helps gut bacteria, it helps you to get the nutrients you need. [00:23:30] And next when you're in this cortisol loop, things like gut motility or how [00:23:35] well the body can move food through the gut gets impacted. So use [00:23:40] digestive enzymes to help you break those foods down a little bit more effectively.[00:23:45]
[00:23:45] Dr. Taz: And if you can get quiet and like really narrow down that the gut [00:23:50] is really where you're having the most issues when it comes to the cortisol [00:23:55] equation, let's support it more, right? This is where we've started adding in things like [00:24:00] peptides, like BPC or PDA or KPV to support the. [00:24:05] We add in amino acids like glutamine, for example, to support a [00:24:10] healthy gut lining.
[00:24:11] Dr. Taz: And sometimes you do need some supportive probiotics as well to [00:24:15] really help seal up those gut junctions so that the body can start getting the nutrients it [00:24:20] needs. And I would pair all of that gut strategy with a nutrient [00:24:25] strategy to rebuild the body so cortisol can quiet down, [00:24:30] and that's gonna be your beam vitamins, your magnesium, and your healthy fats, and again, amino [00:24:35] acids and trying to get those through food.
[00:24:36] Dr. Taz: For sure, but also those are the core [00:24:40] supplements that your body might need. A good B vitamin or a B multi, as I call it, [00:24:45] a magnesium, ideally a magnesium chelate, or a glycinate. And last but not [00:24:50] least, an Omega-3 that's gonna help support the body. Along with, you know, [00:24:55] increased consumption of fats like MCT, fats and olive oil, all of those are [00:25:00] going to help you in a cortisol equation.
[00:25:02] Dr. Taz: No long fasting, no crazy [00:25:05] diets, no restrictive eating. All of that just makes the cortisol loop [00:25:10] worse. So this gut diet cellular component is something that we all can do [00:25:15] and you can do no matter where you are, and you can implement for your children as well, or even for your [00:25:20] seniors or your partners. So that's probably like ground zero, right?
[00:25:24] Dr. Taz: Or or [00:25:25] starting point, whatever we wanna call it, home base for really dealing with the cortisol [00:25:30] loop and then adding the nutrients into support. The next place I would go is [00:25:35] really thinking through how you can reregulate that vagus nerve or your [00:25:40] vagal tone and looking, this is where lifestyle matters guys, and looking at [00:25:45] how we lay our lives out.
[00:25:47] Dr. Taz: Right. I run what some [00:25:50] people say when they follow me an exhausting lifestyle, right? They're always like, I dunno how you do it. I don't [00:25:55] know where, how you're in one city versus another, sitting and doing all these different things. But guys, I [00:26:00] am deliberate and I am insistent on protecting [00:26:05] my energy when I am not doing these things.
[00:26:07] Dr. Taz: I checked out just this last Saturday [00:26:10] for probably four hours. I was not available to my family or to anybody [00:26:15] else. I needed to recover from the stress I had experienced that week. So [00:26:20] what did that look like for me, just to give a personal story? Well, it looked like going and getting a massage, getting a [00:26:25] facial, you know, doing acupuncture, going in my sauna, right?
[00:26:28] Dr. Taz: All of these [00:26:30] things that forced my nervous system to calm down. And the daily [00:26:35] practices matter too. This is where micro habits make a macro difference. [00:26:40] The 10 minutes of meditation in the morning or night, the 10 minutes of movement throughout the day, the [00:26:45] 10 minutes of just thinking about your food and planning it all add up to a [00:26:50] lifetime of healthy habits.
[00:26:51] Dr. Taz: But most importantly in this context, over [00:26:55] time, 'cause everything accumulates over time, it breaks the cortisol loop [00:27:00] and it starts to make you feel alive again. And moving [00:27:05] on from building a lifestyle, right? And when we build that lifestyle, I want you to apply that [00:27:10] five body approach to it again, right?
[00:27:11] Dr. Taz: So it's not just about the chemistry, which we keep coming back to over and [00:27:15] over again. And it's not just about how you structure your day, which is all very important, [00:27:20] but it's even about some of the things that you might not be paying attention to. Does [00:27:25] your home have a high cortisol rhythm or too much cortisol?
[00:27:28] Dr. Taz: Hyperresponsiveness? [00:27:30] Are there peaceful areas or quiet areas? Are you in an environment where you can [00:27:35] relax? Are your relationships cortisol balancing or cortisol [00:27:40] provoking? Those are all questions to ask yourself if you really wanna be on a [00:27:45] healing journey. Right, because breaking the loop or breaking the cortisol [00:27:50] cycle is not something that's gonna happen with one supplement or [00:27:55] one medication, or one hormone or one thing to do.
[00:27:58] Dr. Taz: It's going to be that [00:28:00] consistency of healthy habits that address all the dimensions of your health. [00:28:05] So if we start to break this down and wanna treat the [00:28:10] body and the nervous system and help it understand it's okay, it's safe, [00:28:15] the fires are not there, they're out and really retrain it, then we [00:28:20] have to be very deliberate about where we start and end when it comes to this [00:28:25] cortisol equation.
[00:28:26] Dr. Taz: I think you start with a gut, but you build a healthy [00:28:30] lifestyle. I think you evaluate everything around you. What is [00:28:35] fulfilling and good stress, and what is chronic stress that probably needs to be eliminated [00:28:40] or at least put with some boundaries around it. What are the things you can take that [00:28:45] make you feel better?
[00:28:46] Dr. Taz: And what is the role of hormone replacement therapy or hormone therapy [00:28:50] in general, along with medications, pharmaceuticals, and supplements in breaking the loop. [00:28:55] I wanna give you kind of a linear plan to safety and to [00:29:00] nervous system regulation. I think it's non-negotiable that you start with the [00:29:05] gut. So do the gut work that we laid out.
[00:29:08] Dr. Taz: I think it's non-negotiable that you [00:29:10] provide the body with fuel, especially if it's exhausted. Every single reserve. [00:29:15] It's got to help it manage the cortisol loop. Again, to remind you, that was b, [00:29:20] d magnesium, Omega-3 fats, amino acids, all the things right? [00:29:25] And then I think you move into looking critically at the [00:29:30] things you can bring in into your daily life.
[00:29:32] Dr. Taz: 10 minutes, what is 10 minutes gonna look like for you [00:29:35] a couple times a day? And then from there you move into your lifestyle. What is [00:29:40] present that is causing you chronic stress and start to make some changes there. [00:29:45] Your next step is to go into modality mode where you are allowing [00:29:50] others to help you teach your body to understand safety.
[00:29:54] Dr. Taz: That could look [00:29:55] like acupuncture, massage, craniosacral therapy, energy work. You know, any [00:30:00] of the things being out in nature, you pick, but something that allows the [00:30:05] nervous system to feel safe. That to me is layer one. [00:30:10] And if you're ready to graduate to the next layer, then we start to look at hormones and [00:30:15] where hormone therapy might play a role.
[00:30:17] Dr. Taz: In this equation, we start to look more critically at [00:30:20] inflammation. And do we need to target inflammation a little bit more? We look at the immune system [00:30:25] and immune health. We look at what we can do for better cognitive health, but those are all [00:30:30] layer two. And remember, you shouldn't be going to layer two without walking through [00:30:35] layer one first.
[00:30:37] Dr. Taz: So the cortisol loop. Real [00:30:40] and it's present in all of us, and it's causing a slow, [00:30:45] destructive decay of all aspects of our health at every level. I want us to turn that [00:30:50] around and it's fundamental to the holistic approach. It's a part of where maybe even [00:30:55] personally, I fail sometimes because I can get caught up in whatever's going [00:31:00] on and forget my own advice.
[00:31:02] Dr. Taz: I'm just being honest with you guys. [00:31:05] But I want us all to do better for ourselves and for our families, and for [00:31:10] our health, and for being able to show up in the world the way we're supposed to. [00:31:15] So it's time to get out of the cortisol loop. It's time to understand it, wrangle it, wrestle with [00:31:20] it, acknowledge it as the elephant in the room, and build a healing [00:31:25] plan that works.
[00:31:27] Dr. Taz: All right. I'm gonna stop there because I could probably go on [00:31:30] forever about this particular topic, but on this show, we tackle all aspects [00:31:35] of this, right? But if we're trying to think holistically, we can't put [00:31:40] anything together without thinking about this. All right. I hope you [00:31:45] enjoy this episode. We post new episodes every week.
[00:31:47] Dr. Taz: I'll see you guys next time. Before [00:31:50] you go, take a second to reflect on what stood out for you today. Then if you [00:31:55] can leave a quick review wherever you're listening, it really helps other people [00:32:00] discover Whole Plus and start their own healing journey. And don't forget to follow me on [00:32:05] Instagram at Dr. TAs md.
[00:32:06] Dr. Taz: I love hearing how these episodes are supporting [00:32:10] you.