If you spend more than five minutes on Instagram or TikTok, especially if you’re a woman of a certain age, chances are you’ll meet a healthy, attractive person who will tell you what they ate today. It’s usually a bowl with oats, flaxseed, and berries, or a plate of leafy greens with some lean meat or other “quality protein,” or a salad with raw carrots and pretty much anything else, all enviable. The food is presented in moderation and accompanied by claims that these foods are balanced. It removes excess estrogen, lowers the stress hormone cortisol, supports adrenal function, and even helps get rid of your “hormone belly.”
So-called hormonal balancing diets are not entirely new. Self-help books that advocate hormonal balance as the path to health began appearing in the early 2000s, combining scientific claims with weight loss plans. But what exactly does “hormone imbalance” mean?
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As it turns out, there aren’t that many. Hormones are chemical messengers produced by endocrine glands throughout the body, including the thyroid, pituitary gland, ovaries, and testes, and regulate many important functions. “Hormones basically run the show in our bodies,” says Amelia Shelley, a registered dietitian in New York. “Various hormones regulate everything, including sleep, hunger and satiety, growth, sexual development and desire, pregnancy, energy metabolism, blood sugar levels, and more.”
Therefore, the concept of “balance” has little meaning in the ever-changing endocrine system. “‘Hormone imbalance’ is not a term that endocrinologists use lightly, because when your hormones are measured and they aren’t consistently within the ‘normal range’, it suggests something is wrong. ” states…
