Oxytocin: The “Hormone of Humanity” That Might Be Quietly Running Your Gut, Your Brain, and Your Healthspan

We’re told oxytocin is the “love hormone”—a cuddle chemical, a bonding buzz, a feel-good spray for stressed-out humans. But in this episode of the Crackin’ Backs Podcast, Dr. Devaki Lindsey Berkson makes a much bigger claim: oxytocin is the hormone of humanity—and it may be one of the most overlooked levers for inflammation, connection, digestion, mood, and resilience.

If you’ve felt more anxious, more disconnected, more inflamed, or simply “not yourself” lately… this conversation hits differently. Because it suggests the issue may not be willpower. It may be signaling.
 

Meet Dr. Devaki Lindsey Berkson: A Functional Medicine Pioneer Who Reads the Science Most Doctors Don’t Have Time For

Dr. Devaki Lindsey Berkson is a clinical nutritionist, functional medicine voice, and long-time educator in hormone health. She’s known for translating dense research into real-world clinical strategy—especially in areas where medicine has been slow to evolve: endocrine disruption, bioidentical hormones, women’s health, and the deeper “why” behind chronic symptoms.

In this episode, she goes beyond the trendy oxytocin headlines and pulls from a deep well of scientific literature—so deep, she jokes her new oxytocin book is 193 pages… with 556 scientific citations.

Her core message: oxytocin isn’t just about love. It’s about life—from birth forward.
 

The Science Story That Changes Everything: Oxytocin Starts at Birth… and Never Stops Signaling

Dr. Berkson begins where oxytocin’s story truly starts: birth.

Oxytocin helps the mother’s uterus contract to bring a baby into the world. It helps the breast contract to deliver milk. And the baby—she explains—arrives “bathed” in oxytocin, with receptors across the body ready to receive protective signals.

Why does that matter? Because birth is metabolically intense—a highly pro-oxidative event. Oxytocin signaling may help reduce inflammation and support tissue integrity early on… and then, according to Dr. Berkson, it keeps signaling across the lifespan.

This is where the episode turns from “interesting” to “holy crap.”

Oxytocin receptors—she explains—aren’t limited to the brain and reproductive organs. They show up in places most people would never expect, including the digestive system “from mouth north to south,” influencing areas like the pancreas and liver—and potentially playing a role in blood sugar stability, gut motility, and inflammation.

5 Key Insights From This Episode

1) Oxytocin isn’t just a “bonding hormone”—it’s a full-body signaling molecule

Yes, oxytocin is associated with bonding, orgasm, and attachment. But Dr. Berkson emphasizes it also signals throughout the body—especially through the GI tract—and may influence inflammation, oxidative stress, and tissue health in ways most people never learn in a typical doctor visit.

2) Oxytocin may support gut motility—especially when the gut “stops squeezing”

One of the most practical clinical angles she shares: oxytocin is a contractile hormone—not only for uterus and breast, but potentially in the gut as well.

That matters for conditions like gastroparesis (delayed stomach emptying), which is more common in diabetes and is a concern for some people using GLP-1 weight loss medications who worry about slowed gastric motility.

Her take: oxytocin (nasal or liquid forms) may be used strategically to support contraction and motility—under knowledgeable guidance.

3) Oxytocin may help stabilize blood sugar through pancreatic signaling

Dr. Berkson points out oxytocin receptors are present on pancreatic cells involved in glucose regulation. In her view, oxytocin can sometimes help people with “brittle” blood sugar swings by supporting steadier signaling—an intriguing angle for anyone focused on performance, energy stability, and longevity.

4) The “Pitocin problem”: pulsed vs. continuous oxytocin may matter more than we think

This is the most controversial—and fascinating—section.

Dr. Berkson explains natural oxytocin is pulsatile—it pulses, pauses, pulses again. But Pitocin (synthetic oxytocin used during labor) is typically delivered continuously via IV without that pulse pattern.

She describes concerns from forward-thinking clinicians and cites emerging research suggesting associations between Pitocin-exposed births and increased risk of neurodevelopmental outcomes (she mentions ADHD/autism risk increases). Her broader point: how we deliver hormones may influence receptors—and receptor health is everything.

5) Oxytocin isn’t a solo act—it’s a “team player” with magnesium, thyroid, and estrogen

A key nuance: not everyone responds the same way to oxytocin. Dr. Berkson frames oxytocin as part of a hormonal symphony, often needing foundational supports like:

• adequate magnesium status (she emphasizes RBC magnesium vs serum)

• stable thyroid signaling

• appropriate estrogen signaling (even in men, because hormones don’t operate in isolation)
   

Translation: you can’t treat oxytocin like a quick hack if the terrain is depleted.
 

Why This Conversation Matters Now

We’re living through an era of loneliness, polarization, anxiety, and chronic inflammation—and we’ve normalized it as “just the world now.”

Dr. Berkson makes a different argument: what if part of the modern mental-health and social-health collapse is biochemical? Not only biochemical—she’s clear it’s multifactorial—but influenced by a hormone whose job is literally to help humans feel safe, bonded, and “right” with their world.

Then she adds the bigger layer: endocrine disruption.

Plastics, BPA, heavy metals, pesticides, microplastics—she argues oxytocin may be especially vulnerable to disruption, potentially dulling the very signals that support resilience, calm, connection, and tissue health.

Whether you’re a clinician, athlete, parent, or simply someone trying to stay sharp and stable in a chaotic world—this episode forces a new question:

Are we treating symptoms… while ignoring the signaling environment?
 

What You’ll Learn

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why Dr. Berkson calls oxytocin the “hormone of humanity”

• How oxytocin may influence inflammation, oxidative stress, and tissue health

• The surprising roles of oxytocin in gut motility, blood sugar stability, and pancreatic signaling

• Why pulsed natural oxytocin differs from continuous delivery (and why that may matter)

• How endocrine disruptors may interfere with oxytocin and broader hormone function

• Why oxytocin responses vary—and what supports (magnesium, thyroid, estrogen) may affect efficacy

• The bigger functional medicine frame: hormones as a symphony, not a single-lab-value equation

• The implications for mood, bonding, intimacy, resilience, and long-term healthspan
   

The Bigger Takeaway: Oxytocin as a Performance + Longevity Signal

This isn’t just a “relationship hormone” conversation.

It’s a nervous system regulation conversation.
A gut-brain conversation.
A metabolic health conversation.
A longevity and healthspan conversation.

And maybe—quietly—a reminder that biology isn’t separate from behavior. Sometimes the fastest way to change your mindset isn’t more discipline… it’s restoring the signals that make you feel safe enough to be yourself again.

For the full story and unfiltered conversation, listen/watch the Crackin’ Backs Podcast.