Hormone Health Is The Wellness Trend Of The Moment - But Are There Downsides?
One hot topic in constant discussion is wellness, specifically hormone health. Hormone health can be a confusing topic, but the main purpose of your hormones is to keep things balanced so your body can do what it does best. If your hormones are imbalanced, it can cause issues with your metabolism, mood, sleeping cycle, and sex drive, so it's important for everything to stay in order so you can live your life in good health. Something small like feeling more tired than usual could be a symptom of a hormonal imbalance. Moreover, medication you take every day like birth control could also have an impact on your body and your hormone health due to the different hormones in the pill.
It seems like the hunger for hormone-related information is only growing, too. A quick search of hormone health brings up over 700 million views on TikTok — clearly, there is a market for this topic, but is TikTok the right place for it? Here's everything you need to know about the hormone health trend, what does and doesn't work, and why you should always do your own research on topics like this.
Taking everything you hear on TikTok seriously could be dangerous
According to nutritionist @miaharrisnutrition, supplements are a great way to support your hormone health. A few of the main supplements mentioned continuously within hormone health TikTok are zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B, which Harris claims will alleviate anxiety, calm sugar cravings, give you more energy, help with gut issues, and clear up hormonal acne.
It isn't just supplements, either. Plenty of TikTok users have shared what they eat in a day to "balance their hormones." Nurse practitioner @layne_vanlieshout says certain foods like walnuts, sweet potato, salmon, and berries will help to level your blood sugar and reduce stress. However, remember that these foods are not miracle cures. As hormone expert and OB-GYN Dr. Shoma Datta-Thomas told Motherly, "specific diets laid out on TikTok are not always scientifically backed with large research trials," so you should tread with caution before jumping in headfirst to a new diet regime.
TikTok may have a whole host of people posting information about hormone health, but what do medical professionals think about the hormone health craze?
Don't take everything you hear about hormone health at face value
Speaking to The Zoe Report, board-certified surgeon and inflammatory autoimmune conditions expert Dr. Raymond Douglas brought up his concerns that you can cure hormone health without medical help, stating, "Probably the greatest misconception is that hormone imbalance does not need any medical attention or the fact that anyone can achieve the right hormone balance without medical attention."
This is a view echoed by lead scientist and co-founder of HLTH Code Dr. Benjamin Bikman, whose main concern was about the "opportunity to provide faulty information" that could occur with the rise of hormone health discussions on TikTok. Dr. Bikman also brought up how important it is to get a potential hormone imbalance properly diagnosed, telling The Zoe Report, "True hormone disorders are uncommon, and we should avoid the temptation to assign too much blame on hormones for not feeling well."
Basically, your FYP may be telling you that you can cure your weight gain, fatigue, and general out-of-sorts feeling by eating walnuts and taking supplements, but this isn't the case for many. TikTok is a good starting point for figuring out your symptoms, but it's definitely best to get checked out before you start adding heaps of expensive supplements and food swaps into your lifestyle.