Gut Health & Cortisol
Gut health and Cortisol play an essential role in overall health and wellbeing. A number of vague symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, and inflammation can be traced back to one of these. At Horizon, we offer in-depth testing, evaluation and guidance on how to balance your gut microbiome and cortisol levels.
Cortisol
Often referred to as the “stress hormone”, cortisol plays a crucial role in the body’s response to stress by regulating blood sugar, blood pressure, and energy levels during a stress response.
Beyond stress, cortisol has several essential everyday functions including regulating metabolism, reducing inflammation, and supporting the immune system. Healthy cortisol levels fluctuate throughout the day, highest in the morning and lowest at night.
Chronic stress or certain medical conditions can lead to consistently elevated cortisol levels, which can negatively impact health. Inversely, chronic stress can also cause too low cortisol levels when it should be higher (in the morning) also causing a deterioration of physical and mental health. Disregulation of cortisol can contribute to weight gain, high blood pressure, sleep disturbances, decreased immune function, and mood disorders like anxiety and depression.
Getting an accurate assessment of cortisol level requires testing several times a day to ensure that cortisol levels are high when they need to be and low when they need to be.
Gut Health
Gut health is fundamental to overall health, as the gut plays a key role in digestion, nutrient absorption, immune function, mental health, hormone balance, metabolism, blood sugar and inflammation regulation.
An imbalance in the gut microbiome, known as dysbiosis, has been linked to conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune disorders, and even mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Therefore, the status of your gut microbiome has a direct impact on your overall health and how you feel each day.
-
Bloating, gas, abdominal pain
-
Digestive problems
-
Food intolerance and sensitivities
-
Bad breath
-
Hormone imbalance
-
Depressed or anxious mood
-
Rashes, acne, psoriasis
-
Fatigue
-
Brain fog and trouble concentrating
-
Inflammation and joint pain
-
Like most things, there isn’t a “one size fits all” with gut health. Triggers for dysbiosis are individualized and most people are completely unaware of what foods and environmental factors are causing their symptoms. Together, we can start your journey to better gut health.
The gut contains trillions of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms, collectively known as the gut microbiome, which maintain a balanced ecosystem essential for many bodily functions.