Your Gut: Where Stress and Alcohol Leave Their Mark

Stress and alcohol don’t just mess with your mood — they change the landscape of your gut. Over time, this can affect everything from your immune system to your mental clarity.

That’s why I often recommend the GI360™ — a comprehensive look at what’s really going on in your digestive system.

🔍 This test reveals:

• The balance between healthy and harmful gut bacteria

• The presence of parasites, yeast, or viruses

• Signs of inflammation or leaky gut

• How well your digestive enzymes are working

• Levels of key short-chain fatty acids like butyrate and acetate — vital for gut repair and mood regulation

💡 Why it matters after alcohol use:
Alcohol damages the gut lining, disrupts the microbiome, and fuels inflammation — even at moderate levels. This can lead to brain fog, poor nutrient absorption, low mood, and a weakened immune system. If you want to heal your body and think clearly again, restoring gut health is a vital first step.

Metabolism, Mitochondria & Mood Chemistry — All in One Simple Urine Test

The OAT is one of the most powerful functional tests I use for patients recovering from alcohol use. It gives me a snapshot of over 70 key metabolic markers from a single urine sample — helping uncover why you might feel flat, foggy, or fatigued even after you’ve stopped drinking.

🔍 What it measures:

• Mitochondrial energy production (your cells’ fuel systems)

• Neurotransmitter metabolites — including dopamine, serotonin, and GABA

• Oxidative stress and detox burden

• B-vitamin and antioxidant status

• Candida, yeast, and fungal overgrowth (often worsened by alcohol)

Why it matters after alcohol use:
Alcohol takes a toll on your cellular energy, brain chemistry, and detox capacity. The OAT helps me pinpoint where the damage is — and where to focus first so you can start thinking clearly, feeling better, and getting your spark back.

Your Blueprint for Recovery, Resilience, and Repair

Your genes don’t determine your fate — but they do set the stage. I use DNA testing to understand how your body responds to stress, clears toxins, processes alcohol, and uses key nutrients for repair.

🔍 What it analyses:

• COMT, MAO, and MTHFR variants — impact dopamine, serotonin, and your ability to methylate (crucial for mood, focus, and detox)

• Detox pathways (GST, CYP450 enzymes) — reveal how efficiently your body breaks down alcohol and environmental toxins

• Inflammation genes (TNF, IL-6) — highlight whether you’re genetically prone to chronic inflammation

• Nutrient transport and receptor genes — affect how well you absorb and utilise B vitamins, magnesium, and other key cofactors

💡 Why it matters after alcohol use:
If you’ve been drinking heavily or for years, your body may already be under stress. But if you’ve also inherited certain gene variants, recovery can feel harder — and progress slower — unless you work with your biology, not against it. This test helps me personalise your care plan based on how you were built.

Your Thyroid: The Metabolic Master Controller

Your thyroid sets the pace for everything — your energy, mood, focus, metabolism, even your body temperature. And long-term alcohol use, stress, and inflammation can throw it completely out of balance.

🔍 What I test:

• Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) — your brain’s signal to the thyroid

• Free T3 and Free T4 — the active hormones that drive your metabolism and brain function

• Reverse T3 — a stress-triggered “blocker” that can shut down energy even when other levels look normal

• Thyroid antibodies — to screen for autoimmune issues like Hashimoto’s, which often fly under the radar

💡 Why it matters after alcohol use:
Alcohol impacts thyroid function both directly and indirectly — through liver stress, nutrient depletion, and hormone disruption. If you’re feeling sluggish, foggy, gaining weight, or just “off,” it could be your thyroid slowing things down. This panel helps me uncover whether your engine is running too slow — and why.

A 24-Hour Hormone Snapshot: Cortisol, Sex Hormones, and Melatonin

The DUTCH test is the gold standard for hormone testing in functional medicine. It tracks your hormone rhythms across the entire day and shows exactly how your body is producing, using, and clearing them.

🔍 What it reveals:

• Cortisol and cortisone patterns — how your body responds to stress, including the chronic stress alcohol puts on your system

• DHEA levels — a key hormone for reducing inflammation and protecting against aging, often depleted by heavy drinking

• Estrogen, progesterone, testosterone — sex hormones that alcohol can throw wildly out of balance, affecting mood, energy, and recovery

• Melatonin — your sleep hormone, frequently disrupted by alcohol, leading to poor sleep quality

• Metabolite pathways — including how well your body detoxifies estrogen and other hormones, which is critical when alcohol adds extra burden on your liver

💡 Why it matters after alcohol use:
Alcohol rewires your stress response, dampens protective hormones, and wrecks sleep. The DUTCH test helps me see exactly where your hormonal system is struggling — so I can tailor your treatment to restore balance, resilience, and restful nights.

Uncover Hidden Inflammation and Energy Roadblocks

Alcohol doesn’t just impact your liver and brain — it quietly raises your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and systemic inflammation. This blood panel gives me a clear picture of your metabolic and cardiovascular health, so we can catch problems before they take hold.

🔍 What I assess:

• Fasting insulin and glucose — to check blood sugar control, often disrupted by alcohol

• HOMA-IR (insulin resistance) — a key marker of early metabolic dysfunction

• hs-CRP — a sensitive test for chronic inflammation, which alcohol can fuel

• Homocysteine — linked to heart risk and methylation pathways that affect detox and mood

• Cholesterol subtypes — including LDL particle size and HDL function, not just total cholesterol

• Omega-3 and Omega-6 ratios — essential fats that influence inflammation and brain health

Why it matters after alcohol use:
Even if you feel fine now, alcohol’s long-term effects can silently damage your heart and metabolism. This panel helps me identify risk early and design targeted lifestyle and nutritional strategies to protect your cardiovascular health and energy.