What does “balancing your hormones” mean?

“(The concept of hormone balancing has) become a big trend in wellness culture and social media,” says registered dietitian, podcast host and author. Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CEDS, who recently dedicated a podcast episode about the subject after receiving a large number of questions from listeners on the subject. Fitness instructors, food bloggers, alternative medicine practitioners and influencers of all stripes are using social media to tell their followers that if they’re tired, bloated, acne-prone, carrying more weight than they’d like, or really not feeling optimized in any way whatever it is, they might work to “balance their hormones.” » The remedies proposed are often diets, supplements, And workout programs.

And for some, curiosity about hormones increases. According to Google Trends data, search for the term “hormonal health” have increased steadily and dramatically over the past five years, peaking last spring. At first glance, this interest may seem quite natural. Hormones play a role in digestion, metabolism, energy, and more, so why shouldn’t we pay attention to it when it comes to how we feel on a daily basis? The only problem is the fact that the concept of “balancing your hormones” is largely nonsense.

It is possible to have a real medical condition known as hormonal imbalance (meaning a hormone or group of hormones is out of the normal range for your age). However, the existence of these conditions does not mean that there is an inverse situation of an ideally “balanced” hormonal state. In the case of a hormonal imbalance, the best course of action is to seek a medical diagnosis and treatment from a doctor tailored to your personal symptoms – not simply heed the advice (and products) of a doctor. expert (or “expert”) that you meet on social networks. media.

“If you really think you have a hormonal imbalance, seek help from a doctor,” says Misha Zilbermint, MD, chief of the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, and associate professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine. If you, like many people, are curious about what constitutes optimal hormonal function, what experts want you to know is that the concept of “balancing” them is not a medically valid or recommended path .

To begin with, what are hormones?

Our glands, muscles and other tissues secrete chemicals called hormones which travel throughout the body in the blood, sending messages between our organs and prompting them to carry out their various tasks. There is more than 50 known hormonesand researchers continue to discover both more hormones and the functions of known hormones.

Hormone levels vary from person to person¹and the levels themselves changes over time². Doctors do not expect a teenager and a retiree to have the same testosterone levels³for example, according to Raymond de la Rosa, MD, specialist in endocrinology at Millennium Physician Group in Florida. “Some people may have a little higher levels, some people may have a little lower levels, but that doesn’t mean it’s abnormal,” says Dr. Zilbermint. “Everyone is different because our bodies have so many hormones, (and) each of the hormones has a different prevalence.”

What Medical Experts Think About the Phrase “Balancing Your Hormones”

“This expression makes no sense and is too broad,” says Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, MD, obstetrician-gynecologist and specialist in integrative and Ayurvedic medicine. Although she says she has her feet in the world of research-based medicine and holistic medicine, she is confused and concerned by the term. “I think the implication is supposed to be about homeostasis – or what’s called a ‘balance point’ – but actually our hormones are supposed to fluctuate. It is true (that for people who menstruate, hormones) should do so with some predictability and rhythm over the course of our menstrual lives. But the promise of perfection is based at best on misunderstanding and at worst on manipulation.

One misunderstanding implied by the term “hormone balancing” is that all doctors approach a hormonal problem as a ratio or formula, looking at different levels in relation to each other. But most doctors evaluate hormones individually, not systemically. “We check for any hormonal dysfunction, hormonal excess or hormonal deficiency,” says Dr. De la Rosa. “It’s not a balancing protocol. We are looking for the appropriate levels.

“The promise of perfection is based at best on misunderstanding and at worst on manipulation. » —Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, MD

If you see your doctor with concerns about your energy, mood, or other function that might be related to hormones, he or she may order a blood test that will look at the levels of an individual hormone or a small group of hormones. related. Your doctor will need to order the specific test you need based on your particular concerns, says Dr. De la Rosa. There is generally no general, all-encompassing test for “hormone levels.” For example, a doctor might test a patient with considerable weight gain or loss for thyroid hormones since the the thyroid gland regulates metabolism.

If a hormone or group of hormones exceeds expected levels, the problem is addressed, but it is not an exercise to balance all hormones.

So why is today’s digital world particularly conducive to social media users, particularly for pursuing the misinformed goal of balancing their hormones? Dr. Gilberg-Lenz emphasizes that a overloaded medical system and his legacy of dismissing women’s health concerns This means that patients won’t necessarily get what they’re looking for when they ask a doctor about hormones. As we saw unfold in the misguided reaction to hormonal contraception, the promise of a “natural” wellness solution can be “appealing to people who feel like they’ve been to the doctor for symptoms and issues without getting any help or relief,” says Harrison. (Meanwhile, since the science on aging and longevity – and the role of hormones in this process – is still a work in progress an active area of ​​researchthere are aberrant doctors who TO DO take a more active approach by changing hormone levels, sowing both interest and confusion.)

Hormonal health can also be a screen for ways to talk about weight loss: focusing on bloating and metabolism may seem more body-neutral than using the words “weight loss,” even if the end goal of losing weight is the same. Harrison says this aligns with cultural expectations of what it means to be a healthy, productive member of society. “In some cases, people don’t necessarily have a medical problem, but it’s more a cultural pressure to never have a bloated stomach or to be constantly energetic,” Harrison says. Rather than recognizing that these are normal parts of life, hormones take responsibility for them.

Can or should you be proactive about your hormonal health?

In general, hormonal health isn’t something you need to actively worry about. “(Hormones) are always in motion and the body generally does a great job of regulating them on its own, except in the case of these true endocrine disorders,” Harrison says.

Additionally, exercise programs, supplements, and other products promising to “balance your hormones” that are not prescribed by your doctor are probably ineffective and potentially harmful. It is not wise to take a hormone without medical supervision, nor to follow a “hormone balancing diet” which could lead to eating disorders and ultimately cause a hormonal problem.

“Ultimately, there is no universal hormone that you can take to fix everything, and there is no single vitamin or pill that will solve this problem,” says Dr. De la Rosa.

Although lifestyle choices can affect certain hormone levels, the truth is that there are a multitude of conditions that can only be treated by a doctor. For example, if someone has high levels of cortisol⁴ (a hormone whose production is supercharged by stress), they might be able to start to meditate⁵ to bring it back to baseline. But if a person the adrenal gland is not working properlythey could be producing an insufficient amount of cortisol, and no amount of lifestyle changes, supplements, or diets will adequately treat this problem.

“I think the question is,” Harrison says, “how do we find empathetic health care providers who will give us evidence-based medicine and who will also acknowledge the limitations of what we don’t know in conventional medicine in a way that Who won’t push people toward unproven and potentially harmful treatments that they might find in alternative spaces? » If we can find the answer, maybe we can finally stop falling prey to false problems – and false solutions – peddled on TikTok.