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 well-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 does “hormone imbalance” actually 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, so to speak,” he says. amelia shelley a registered dietitian living in New York. “Various hormones regulate everything from sleep, hunger and satiety, growth, sexual development and desire, pregnancy, energy metabolism, and blood sugar levels.”
Therefore, the concept of “balance” has little meaning in the ever-changing endocrine system. “‘Hormonal imbalance’ is not a term that endocrinologists use easily, because when hormones are measured and they are not consistently within the ‘normal range’, it suggests something is wrong.” and…
Source: www.newscientist.com
