And other midlife health myths Dr. Gillian wants you to stop believing.
I am old enough (48, for the record) that a lot of the health information I picked up before going to medical school came from books and magazines. You had to seek it out by taking a trip to the library or the book store. While Seventeen magazine may have traded in some sensational stories, you could generally rely on the idea that the information you were reading was mostly true.
My, how things have changed! Health information isn’t just the purview of print media, it’s available everywhere from TikTok and Instagram to online publications and blogs. We no longer have to seek out information. It is coming at us with the force of a firehose. And unlike the books I read as a teen or even Seventeen, no one is vetting many of the claims served up to us every hour of every day.
It’s no surprise that women are confused. Many of my conversations with friends, patients, and readers center around the myths commonly circulating on the internet.
Women need to balance your hormones
Our hormonal system evolved to respond to help our body adapt to our environment, inside and out. The complex interconnected feedback loops that form the endocrine system — that is the system of several dozen hormones and the glands that make them — have been keeping women’s bodies humming along smoothly for millennia.
Women don’t need to take supplements or adaptogens or eat a special diet to balance their hormones because they do it all on their own. Hormones are self-balancing.
That is not to say that the endocrine system never goes off the rails. I have a job because sometimes our hormones do go awry. But when hormones do get out of wack, fixing it is the job of an expert who may prescribe medications. The poorly studied, poorly regulated herbal blend marketed to you on social media isn’t going to fix it.
Women should take a daily multivitamin
During each patient visit I ask patients about the medications they take. I follow that up with the question, “What about supplements.” About half the time my patient responds that she doesn’t take any supplements even though she knows she should at least take a multivitamin.
In fact, there is zero evidence that women benefit from taking a daily multivitamin. If you are eating a relatively healthy balanced diet you are unlikely to have significant vitamin deficiencies. And if you are deficient in something – say iron or B12 for example — there isn’t enough of those vitamins in a daily multivitamin to fix a deficiency.
Instead what most women can benefit from in midlife is just a few simple additions to their routine: creatine, collagen, protein, calcium, and vitamin D. If you have heavy periods, or are vegetarian or vegan you could consider asking your doctor to check for iron deficiency and B12 deficiency. If you are deficient in a vitamin you should take a single ingredient supplement with guidance from your doctor.
Estrogen is the answer to all midlife’s woes
Estrogen is a key hormone regulating women’s bodies and when estrogen levels drop in perimenopause and menopause women often experience symptoms. But the idea that every woman should slap on an estrogen patch at age 40 is not backed by science.
Estrogen has been shown to reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flushes and night sweats. It has been shown to improve sleep. It has also been shown to slow bone loss in menopause. And estrogen applied in the vaginal has been shown to treat vaginal dryness and atrophy that can cause vaginal and urinary tract infections. Applying estrogen to the face can reduce wrinkles (alas there is no FDA approved estrogen face cream yet). That’s pretty much it.
It has not been shown to prevent dementia or heart disease. It does not help you lose weight. It has not been shown to treat the depression and anxiety so many women experience in perimenopause. Often this is because the research needed to show that estrogen is an effective treatment hasn’t yet been done. In some cases, the studies needed are technically difficult and may never be done.
A little skepticism goes a long way when it comes to health advice online. If a claim sounds too good, too scary, or too simple to be true, it’s worth asking a few questions. What health advice has stopped you in your scroll lately? What are you still not sure you believe? I’d love to hear it.
And in the meantime, head over to Plainspeak’s Instagram, where we’re busting more midlife health myths—and telling you what’s actually worth paying attention to.
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Dr. Gillian Goddard
Endocrinologist, adjunct assistant professor of medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and author of The Hormone Loop. The best thing about midlife is no more imposter syndrome. I am confident in my expertise.
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