The Dr. Josh Axe Show
The Dr. Josh Axe Show

The Hidden Root Cause of Low Testosterone, Thyroid Issues & Menopause | Dr. Stephen Cabral

July 16, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Dr. Stephen Cabral spent a decade of his life battling a dozen diagnosed diseases, including Addison’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 2 diabetes, before he finally recovered. His path to healing began not with a conventional blood panel, but with a saliva hormone test that revealed his body wasn’t producing cortisol. That discovery changed everything—and it anchors the core argument of his conversation with Dr. Josh Axe: most chronic hormone problems are not what they appear to be, and the standard lab work most people receive is insufficient to find the real cause.

The Cortisol Connection

Cabral’s central clinical observation is that low testosterone, thyroid dysfunction, and menopausal symptoms are often misidentified. “More than any other hormone, it tends to be a cortisol issue,” he says. The body constantly makes a choice: produce sex hormones (estrogen, testosterone, progesterone) or produce cortisol to stay in survival mode. When cortisol is chronically elevated—especially at night—it steals the raw materials needed for the other hormones. This explains why some men in their 30s feel they need testosterone replacement therapy while other men in their 50s have perfectly healthy levels. The difference is not age; it is unaddressed stress on the HPA axis.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (03:09) **Dr. Axe Introduces the Episode and Dr. Stephen Cabral** - Dr. Axe sets up the topic: root cause medicine for hormone conditions, advanced lab work, and why standard blood tests often miss the real problem.
  • 2 (04:44) **Dr. Cabral’s Personal Health Journey: A Case Study in Root Cause** - Dr. Cabral shares his decade-long struggle with a dozen diseases (Addison's, RA, type 2 diabetes) that conventional medicine failed to diagnose.
  • 3 (08:38) **The Cortisol Connection: Why It’s More Important Than Sex Hormones** - Dr. Axe and Dr. Cabral agree that low testosterone or estrogen issues in men and women are almost always a cortisol problem first.
  • 4 (11:37) **Why Men in Their 30s Have Low Testosterone (and It’s Not a TRT Issue)** - Dr. Cabral reveals that low testosterone in younger men is a symptom of a deeper problem, not a condition to be fixed with hormone replacement.
  • 5 (18:08) **Top Three Steps to Fix Cortisol and Reset Your Rhythm** - Dr. Cabral outlines his hierarchy for bringing the body out of survival mode and into balance.
  • 6 (24:41) **The Cold Plunge Warning: Not for Everyone** - Dr. Cabral cautions against the cold plunge craze for most people, especially those with low energy and cold body temperature.
  • 7 (26:22) **The 12 Root Causes of Low Thyroid (and Why You Only Have 2-3)** - Dr. Cabral explains that instead of trying all 12 fixes at once, advanced lab testing narrows down the specific causes for each individual.

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Guests on this episode

Dr. Josh Axe

Show Notes

Your bloodwork can come back “normal” while cortisol, nutrient deficiencies, gut dysfunction and hidden immune triggers continue driving exhaustion, weight-loss resistance and hormonal decline. Dr. Stephen Cabral joins Dr. Josh Axe to explain why treating an isolated diagnosis may fail when the real problem is an interconnected biological pattern that standard testing never uncovered.


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00:00 — Why “Normal” Bloodwork Can Miss the Root Cause

01:46 — Dr. Stephen Cabral on Personalized Root-Cause Medicine

03:28 — How Addison’s Disease, Autoimmunity and Diabetes Became Connected

07:14 — The Cortisol Connection to Thyroid, Testosterone and Blood Sugar

11:11 — How Chronic Stress Disrupts the Entire Hormonal System

14:58 — At-Home Hormone,

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