Teaching My Friend Nutrition: Acne, Anxiety & Gut Health: A Health & Wellness Podcast For Women · Laura Bennett, Atavia Minoudis | Reg. Nutritional Therapist

#100. How You Can Use Lab Testing to Transform Your Acne, Anxiety and Gut Health Problems | Women's Health & Wellness

·20 min·1 clip

The DUTCH test can show hormones, gut dysbiosis, and nutrient deficiency in one hormone-focused panel.

Atavia and Laura open by saying that quick fixes can calm symptoms without touching the cause. They frame lab work as a way to stop acne, anxiety, and gut problems from looping back. Laura plays the skeptical stand-in, asking how on earth testing can read something as slippery as neurotransmitters. Atavia explains that certain tests can indicate levels tied to serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Laura reacts like she has just been told a wizard lives in a microscope. The two spend a beat marveling at the idea that a report can suggest a chemical imbalance instead of just guessing. The conversation then shifts to hormone testing. Cortisol becomes the main character pretty fast. Atavia explains that cortisol should rise in the morning, then gradually fall across the day. Laura translates that into the lived experience of waking up either moderately functional or in full-on panic. They note that a healthy pattern can include a small afternoon bump before things taper toward bedtime. The point is not to live in a cortisol canyon or have the whole day start like an emergency siren. Atavia frames this as part of reading the body more carefully instead of treating every symptom in isolation. Laura pushes for the simple version, because no one wants a lab lecture that sounds like a tax form wearing a white coat. They also touch on adrenal testing as part of the same wider hormone picture. As the episode goes on, they point listeners toward the kinds of tests and testing companies they would actually recommend. The thread tying everything together is that recurring acne, anxiety, and gut issues may need more than surface-level treatment. The hosts keep returning to the idea that understanding the pattern matters more than chasing one-off symptom relief. They close by summarizing that lab testing can be a useful tool for reducing the dark triad mess and spotting what needs attention. They also tease the next Monday myth-busting episode, where they plan to tear into a popular acne fix they do not rate.

As heard by us

Lab testing is used as a flashlight for recurring acne, anxiety, and gut trouble.

This episode treats lab testing like a flashlight, not a cure. It is useful when acne, anxiety, and gut trouble keep circling back and simple topical fixes do not hold.

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Why you'd press play

Stop guessing at the acne-anxiety-gut triad with lab testing.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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