The Top 7 Physiological Causes of Anxiety You Might Be Overlooking | Ep 384

The Funk'tional Nutrition Podcast

Erin Holt

Mental Health, Health & Fitness, Alternative Health, Nutrition

4.9 • 759 Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What if your anxiety isn’t something to fix, but a message from your body that something needs to change? In this episode, Erin breaks down the most common hidden physiological roots of anxiety, from disrupted circadian rhythms and blood sugar imbalances, to hormonal shifts and neuroinflammation, all of which leave your body feeling stuck in overdrive!

You’ll learn how everyday habits like poor sleep, under-eating, and overexposure to artificial light can create biological stress that fuels anxious feelings. More importantly, Erin explains how to decode those signals, understand what your body’s really asking for, and reconnect the dots between your physical health and emotional wellbeing, so you feel calm and grounded again.

P.S. Join the waitlist for Manifest Your Health so you can rewire your body’s patterns and align your health with the life you want to live.

In this episode:

Why sunlight might be the most underrated anxiety treatment, and how living out of sync with nature’s cycles disrupts your circadian rhythm
A surprising connection between skipping breakfast, caffeine on an empty stomach, and mid-morning panic
Why hormone imbalances like low progesterone and thyroid issues can amplify anxiety, and what labs reveal about it
The link between methylation, detox pathways, and feeling “wired but tired”
How inflammation in the brain and gut dysbiosis create a feedback loop that perpetuates anxious thinking

Resources mentioned:

Want help identifying your root anxiety causes? Apply to work with us 1:1 here!

Join the waitlist for Manifest Your Health

FOR OUR FULL LIST OF LINKS + RESOURCES, HEAD TO:

https://www.thefunktionalnutritionist.com/podcast/384-anxiety

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Transcript

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0:00.0	We are of nature. Our bodies are of nature. So when we live our lives outside of the rhythms of nature,
0:10.2	we do not thrive physically or mentally or emotionally. Like no parts of our system are functioning on
0:17.5	all cylinders if we're out of step with nature's cycles.
0:22.8	And that's just life in the big city.
0:24.4	That's just showbiz, babe.
0:25.6	No amount of biohacking is going to hack your way out of the human body you're occupying.
0:31.9	When we live abnormally, meaning outside of what our biology requires, then it's a very natural and normal
0:40.9	response to feel abnormal. Welcome to the functional nutrition podcast, spell it with a K,
0:47.2	because we do things a little differently around here. I'm your host, Erin Holt, and I've got
0:51.1	15 years of clinical experience as a functional nutritionist and mindset coach, creating a new model that I call intuitive functional medicine, where we
0:59.0	combine root cause medicine with the innate intelligence of your body. This is where science meets
1:04.6	self-trust. Your body already knows how to heal, and this show is going to show you how.
1:10.3	If you're looking for new ways of thinking about your health, be sure to follow and share with
1:14.2	a friend because you never know whose life you might change.
1:18.6	Today we are talking about root cause drivers of ye old anxiety.
1:24.6	It's a big one.
1:25.5	It's a big topic, one that I'm pretty intimately familiar with as
1:29.5	somebody who has dealt with anxiety stuff for a long-ass time. I was on benzos in my early
1:35.6	20s for pretty debilitating panic attacks and have found ways to manage anxiety through a lot of
1:43.8	different channels. I personally do not love to
1:46.7	always pathologize anxiety because oftentimes, many times, dare I say most times,
1:54.1	anxiety presents as a message. And if we're just trying to curb the anxiety or silence the
	...

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