Every year, we see countless women’s health trends pop up on #HealthTok. With each season–or, really, with each month, a new hack surfaces — everything from celery juice, to period cycle syncing workouts, to yellow dragon fruit.
But as a doctor and health coach team, trained to look at the root cause of conditions, we’re less interested in the trend and more interested in the hidden symptoms they reveal.
For example, we know that while yellow dragon fruit may have some personally reported laxative effects, what it’s likely doing is actually just introducing fiber to a diet that’s already unbalanced in the day-to-day.
As women, we’re often conditioned to dismiss our symptoms and opt for a quick-fix rather than get to the root of what’s wrong. And it makes sense — 55 percent of women report feeling dismissed or ignored by their doctor. But most of the time, the answer isn’t found on TikTok – it’s in your body.
One of the questions every doctor we work with at Parsley Health is trained to ask patients is about some of our everyday functions: from bowel movements, to period pain, to hunger levels. And sure, it can make people uncomfortable to describe these intimate details. But these symptoms may be the clue to your overall health.
Rather than waiting for the next health trend to solve a symptom you didn’t realize you had, here are five key health signals to keep a close eye on:
You should feel hungry in the morning.
Not feeling hungry until lunchtime is not a badge of honor! It’s signaling that there may be an underlying issue, such as elevated cortisol levels, a hormone imbalance, or a sluggish liver. It may take time for your appetite to return (fake it till you make it!), but over time, eating a balanced meal within 60 minutes of waking up will support your health and longevity. Starting the day with protein and fiber can keep your mood and energy levels more stable as the day goes on and lower your likelihood of “hanger.”
You should poop well.
Frequency, urgency, and consistency can give doctors insight into your micronutrient status, hormone balance, microbiome, stress levels, digestion, hydration and diet, and more! For example, if you regularly notice your stool is greasy, you likely aren’t digesting fat well. Every part of your #2 tells us something about your health. Women should be having one to three bowel movements daily, and they should be well formed, easy to pass, and feel complete – without the aid of super fruit found on TikTok.
You should have energy between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
If you regularly experience a ‘crash’ in the afternoon, listen up! Energy dips in the afternoon are not normal and could be pointing to a number of imbalances, particularly for women. Often, these dips are caused by dehydration: more than 75 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated. Try drinking a tall glass of ice water. You may also be experiencing a blood sugar crash from an imbalanced lunch. Did you have fiber, fat, and protein in your meal? Or, if you’re like many people, your day consists of running from one task to the next with little to no downtime. Our brains aren’t made for that! Try taking a 5 minute break outside to re-center yourself.
You should be able to fall asleep quickly–and stay asleep.
Long-term health depends on getting seven to nine hours of quality sleep nightly. Sleep stimulates the secretion of hormones that regulate tissue repair and regeneration, liver cleansing, muscle building, and clears the neurotoxins that build up in your brain throughout the day. Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep can be a sign of excess cortisol, so building a pre-bedtime stress reduction practice is crucial! Try a screen-free wind down for 30 to 60 minutes before bed.
Your period should not be debilitating.
If you’re a person who menstruates, you may have been taught that periods are supposed to be extremely uncomfortable and disruptive – and that’s just simply not true! Yes, it can be normal to experience a few mild changes during this time. But a period that causes you to experience agonizing pain, unmanageable bleeding, or unrelenting anxiety or depression is not something you “just have to live with.”
If your period is making it impossible for you to leave the house or engage with your life the way you would like to, your body may be trying to tell you something. Even with the incredible rising awareness of endometriosis, most people haven’t yet incorporated the condition into their monthly flow-analysis. Fortunately, a doctor can help you figure out what is happening and how your pain can be appropriately managed.
In our practice, we consider periods such an important indicator of overall health, that we refer to it as the “fifth vital sign.” Start tracking or monitoring some of your most difficult symptoms and seek out the help of an experienced and knowledgeable healthcare team who will listen to your symptoms, uncover what might be causing them, and recommend how to manage them.
Women are told every day that when we feel like crap, suffer from anxiety, feel our moods jump and dip like a ship in a hurricane, and find ourselves too tired to get out of bed that it’s “all in our heads” or “because we’re women.” But the truth of the matter is you don’t have to feel bad all the time. If we feel bad long enough, bad becomes the new normal, but you deserve better than that. If you’re struggling with any of the indicators above, these are powerful alarms going off that may suggest something is going awry at the foundation level of your health, and they increase the risk of burnout, depression and anxiety.
We recommend reaching out to your doctor and asking them to run some routine tests that will help them connect the dots to find the root cause of your symptoms. Specifically, you’ll want to ask them to test your thyroid hormones, blood sugar and insulin levels, possible iron deficiencies, and inflammation rates – all standard tests covered by basic insurance. At the end of the day, let this be your one takeaway: don’t just try to use TikTok trends to fix your health – symptoms are your body trying to tell you something. It’s time to listen.
Erica Zellner
Erica Zellner is a Los Angeles-based Clinical Nutritionist and Senior Health Coach with six years of functional nutrition and health experience. She works with everyone, on issues from biohacking optimizers to tackling complex environmental toxicities like mold. She earned her Master’s degree in Nutrition and Integrative Health from the Maryland University of Integrative Health. She also holds her Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) and Licensed Dietitian-Nutritionist (LDN) credentials.
Dr. Jaclyn Tolentino
Dr. Jaclyn Tolentino is a Board-Certified Family Physician with a collaborative, holistic approach to practicing medicine. She holds a subspecialty certification in Hormone Optimization, has received extensive training in Functional Medicine through the Institute of Functional Medicine, and additional training in oncology nutrition. Jaclyn is a breast cancer survivor and is passionate about troubleshooting issues involving the gut, immune system, and hormones. She brings a comprehensive, whole-body approach to working with Florida and California-based patients as a Senior Doctor of the virtual team at Parsley Health.