Note: There is a special addendum at the end of this podcast episode in which Ben mentions the book "", by a man named Toby Sumpter and the . Last month, I released the podcast episode entitled "". In that episode with fellow podcaster and health consultant Chris Kelly, we delved into the mystery of why cortisol can be so high in someone such as myself who sleeps well, does meditation, yoga, and lives a relatively stress-free life. It was a fascinating, extremely popular episode, but created just as many questions as it answered about what really causes high cortisol in people, and whether it's something you even need to worry about in the first place! To delve into the cortisol mystery more, after that episode, Chris Kelly introduced me to , a naturopathic doctor from Maryland, with an amazing series of . Dr. Walsh has an extremely sharp mind, an extensive fitness background, a degree in naturopathic medicine, and a host of additional training and certifications. His wife is a naturopath too, so his children are probably some of the healthiest on the planet. When tough cases or head-scratching lab results arise, Dr. Walsh turns from mild-mannered dad and husband into forensic physiologist, pulling out his microscope to analyze blood, saliva, urine, lifestyle and whatever else he has to, in order to solve the medical mystery. Dr. Walsh ran an extensive series of follow-up lab tests on me, primarily through the laboratory testing services of another functional medicine practitioner - a chiropractor in Atlanta, Georgia named . At his company, , Dr. Hurst uses advanced laboratory tools to uncover hidden dysfunctions and uses primarily drugless treatment plans to restore those dysfunctions. has a number of direct-to-consumer tests that are not traditional lab tests and can instead be custom panels that a doctor or patient can order. They even offer some functional lab testing in Europe. In this episode, Dr. Brady Hurst, Dr. Bryan Walsh and I completely geek out on the high cortisol lab testing results and during our discussion, you'll discover: -The secret ingredients the green morning smoothie that Dr. Bryan gives to his young children... -How to keep your morning green smoothie from getting oxidized or damaged by the blender... -The seven stage home filtration process Dr. Brady uses to filter his water... -The very first additional hormone you should test for if you find out your cortisol is high... -The best lab panel to look at whether or not your body is actually producing adequate antioxidants... -When high HDL (commonly known as good cholesterol) can actually be a bad thing... -How high cortisol down-regulates your metabolism and your insulin sensitivity and puts your body into fat storage mode... -Why thyroid replacement medications or natural thyroid supplements rarely work to fix the thyroid... -When you don't need to actually worry about high liver enzymes on a blood lab test... -The hidden laboratory marker that can tell you if you need to be consuming more sea salt and minerals... -How to tell if your body has excess oxidative stress, and what you can do about it... -And much more! Resources from this episode: - - - -Article: - - - - - - Ben tested the following: a. NMR Lipoprofile b. Oxidized LDL c. ACTH, cortisol, and aldosterone d. LH, FSH e. Free and total testosterone f. Prolactin g. C-peptide - Extra Notes: After our call, in a flurry of e-mails, Dr. Walsh also recommended the following follow up tests: Lymphocyte subset panel (CD4/CD8) – Your lymphocytes are relatively low compared to your neutrophils, so I’m not sure it would show much, but this panel shows ratios of lymphocytes, regardless of their total levels, and could offer a little info. Cytokine panel – I’m a little hesitant on the accuracy of these panels, but they are used in research, so I think they are accurate enough for our purposes. This might show a tendency for a Th1/Th2/Th17 shift, which could be interesting to know. High cortisol is ofte