In a TikTok video posted earlier this year, content creator Isabella Mainwaring says that “hormone imbalances” had taken away 10 years of happiness from her life.
Acne, bloating, difficulty in losing weight, disordered eating patterns, and anxiety and depression were among her symptoms. However, she details how so-called “hormone balancing” changes helped her “get her sparkle back.”
“I educated myself and realized that we live in a world designed for men and their 24-hour hormone cycle, which completely excludes our experience of a 28-day, on average, hormone cycle,” Mainwaring says in the video. “So I embraced my cyclical design and adjusted my diet and exercise to each of the four phases of my cycle. I feel like a whole new person – I have so much energy, clarity and I’m happy.”
The video comes off almost like a pharmaceutical ad – except instead of a specific drug or treatment, Mainwaring is marketing the idea of hormone balancing as a catch-all phrase to treat hormone-related issues.
It’s part of a much larger trend on TikTok, where the hashtag #hormonebalancingtips have gathered more than 23 million views.
Countless videos tout the benefits of hormone balancing – whether the tips involve eating raw carrot salads, getting sunlight every morning, or drinking dandelion root tea.
What is hormone balancing?
The idea behind the hormone balancing and cycle syncing trends is to optimize hormonal health during various changes the body undergoes. It’s focused almost exclusively on women and mostly involves diet, exercise and sleep changes.
Hormone imbalances, after all, are a real medical concern that entail too little or too much of a certain hormone or multiple hormones.
Those imbalances can be associated with a number of different conditions, including polycystic ovary syndrome, acne, diabetes, thyroid disease and obesity. Symptoms of hormone imbalances can be broad, from fatigue and weight gain to high blood cholesterol levels.
Hormone balances can also be identified through tests at the doctor’s office and are typically medically treated depending on the cause. Low hormone levels might involve hormone replacement therapy, in the form of pills or injection. High hormone levels are treated with surgery, medication or radiation therapy.
On TikTok, however, the hormone balancing trend claims to cure imbalanced hormones solely through a holistic lens and lifestyle changes – some of them without merit. The TikTok trend is also tied to tracking menstrual cycles – another trend called “cycle syncing.”
In one video with nearly 25,000 likes, TikTok creator @bymariavillaman breaks down a list of several steps to “enter your balanced hormones era,” with becoming aware of your menstrual cycle being the number one step.
“You’ve probably already heard of cycle syncing; it’s everywhere on TikTok,” she says.
She goes on to claim that people have “four phases of your menstrual cycle – with each phase comes different energy levels, different social capacity… and your digestion is affected.”
“Knowing more about these four phases will really help you dominate your menstrual cycle and dominate your life,” she says.
The tips include getting sunlight in the morning, eating a full protein-rich breakfast before any coffee, eating raw carrot salads and, for some reason, using a dry brush on your skin before or after showers.
Other videos feature before and after photos that show the creator’s previous issues like acne or bloating disappearing following the so-called hormone balancing changes.
What the clinicians say
Some of the steps listed in the viral videos are common sense: Maintain consistent sleep and waking times, limit phones and blue light use before bed, take morning walks and eat plenty of healthy, whole vegetables. Raw carrots, after all, can’t be harmful.
Still, the issue lies in TikTok creators making claims that holistic changes, supplements or cycle syncing will treat conditions that typically require a doctor’s guidance and real medical treatment. Additionally, the trend could contribute to people thinking they have hormone imbalances when they really don’t.
Plenty of food products and supplements claim to improve hormone balance, but they often lack clinical evidence to support those assertions.
As a complement to medical treatment, however, doctors may suggest taking on some lifestyle changes – like keeping stress (and cortisol) levels down and exercising regularly.
TikTok can offer a place for patients to vent and connect with others who may be experiencing similar symptoms. Of course, this all has to be taken with a grain of salt, clinical psychologist Kristen Casey recently told VICE.
“While seeing others express themselves on TikTok can be validation, especially when you share a diagnosis or health concern, it’s not the same as receiving medical treatment from a professional,” she told the outlet.
That being said, the hormone balancing side of TikTok can be helpful for people who do want to incorporate holistic lifestyle changes into their self-care routine when dealing with hormonal imbalance – or who simply want to look for inspiration to improve their diet and exercise.
Still, viewers will have to learn how to separate the unfounded claims from the trend.
